By Josh KatzowitzWhile the Buccaneers coaching search has turned somewhat disastrous -- a flip-flop rejection from Oregon’s Chip Kelly will do that for you -- it seems like Tampa Bay also is getting closer to naming their next head coach.
And that new head coach is reportedly Rutgers coach Greg Schiano.
620 WDAE in Tampa reported (via the Tampa Bay Tribune) that Rutgers coach Greg Schiano also is a candidate, and ESPN's Adam Schefter later reported that team plans to hire Schiano and that the two sides are working out a contract agreement.
The Newark Star Ledger reported earlier this month that Schiano wouldn't have an interest in coaching in the NFL. Schiano was a secondary coach for the Bears from 1996-98, and he's been at Rutgers for the past 11 years. In the past, he's turned down potential head coaching opportunities at the University of Michigan and the University of Miami.
But like the Chip Kelly story, this potential hire has seemingly come ouf nowhere.
As CBSSports.com’s Will Brinson wrote Wednesday, former Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman and Panthers offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski were reported to haved received second interviews with the team. On Thursday, Titans defensive coordinator Jerry Gray told the Tampa Bay Times that he’s officially out of the running.
"Told me they were going in a different direction," Gray told the newspaper.
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Gray found out he was no longer in the running during an early-morning call from Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik, and the paper also reported that a source said the team is planning to continue paring down the coaching candidate list today.
Other than Chudzinski, Sherman and Gray, the team also was connected to Marty Schottenheimer, Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, new Dolphins coach Joe Philbin, Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips (who pulled his name out of the search a few weeks ago) and Packers quarterback coach Tom Clements.
Gray also had been a candidate for the Colts job that went to Chuck Pagano on Wednesday.
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