Rutgers head coach Gregg Schiano refuses to state whether he knew Sandusky was molesting young boys

[Rumrunner]

What the kind of weasel word answer is this. Either he knew that Sandusky was a child molester or he didn't. I sure as heck hope that his butt is dragged into a grand jury room. Greg Schiano was a defensive back coach directly under Sandusky from 1991-1996.:

You worked for six years under Jerry Sandusky. Did you have any inkling of what was going on?

Schiano: Because of the situation being what it is, I'm not even going to get into it. I'm so far removed. Again, you don't need people making commentaries on things like this. It's just a sad thing.

http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2011/11/joe_paterno_retirement_saddens.html

 

[mets1090]

Why wouldn't he just say I had no idea and I don't want to talk about it?

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Stop it. You're grasping at straws.

 

[UCDaveD]

Subpoena

 

[mattp]

there's really no need for the witch hunt.

i'm sure anyone at all associated has been told to keep quiet, whether for personal liability reasons, or just because there's an ongoing investigation. it's generally pretty standard for anyone who could be called into court to be told to keep quiet.

obviously Sandusky worked with a lot of people, and it's likely that most had no idea what was going on, but if they now reflect with the knowledge they have, maybe things look different than they did at the time. a lot of things that seemed innocent at the time may now appear sinister and it's important that things are investigated properly. the last thing you want is a trial of public opinion in the media a la the Duke Lacrosse incident.

 

[Jax Husky]

What's wrong with you people? Dragging Schiano into this? This makes UConn fans look like . Why isn't PP stepping up and talking to everyone about it?

 

[HuskyNan]

As I said earlier, he may have been told not to comment by lawyers, either for the DA's office or the defense until he's been deposed. Another possibility is that Rutgers told him not to comment.

 

[Dann]

leave GS alone is my opinion. just like i hope they leave PP alone.

but on another side of it i will say this. becuase of GS's connection to PSU i hope that after PSU cleans house they cannot make GS the coach there becuase of his connections. why? if GS goes to PSU then rutgers then becomes a crapy program once again, not that they are anything special right now but they are a quality team that we play every year and as of right now the only other BE team that we care about in this region. rutgers with GS is better for uconn right now.

 

[Nostical]

No one with any connection to PSU,past or present,will ever coach there.

 

[freescooter]

Seriously...leave him alone. If he was somehow involved, ie he knew something it will come out soon enough. And as Nan said it is pretty likey he has been advised by the rutgers attorney, likey by others including his own not to say anything about this, especially if there is a possibility he'll be deposed. But beyond that, as Matt said, sometimes things look very different when you know the facts...Friend of ours tells a story about a priest in their parish in Boston growing up who had a great reputation in the neighborhood...used to take kids to Fenway, had tickets to BC football, the Bruins...everyone thought he was a great guy looking out for neighborhood boys, particularly those who had single mothers, things like that....everyone was crushed when he got transferred to a new parish...of course 20 years later, his name came up in the Boston priest-pedofile scandal as a major offender...In hindsight his "good deeds" don't look so good. they were at least in a number of cases, nothing more than an opportunity to take advantage of young kids. Can't you see the same thing with Sandusky and his organization? Or Schiano's view of some of these thing?

 

[Rumrunner]

As I said earlier, he may have been told not to comment by lawyers, either for the DA's office or the defense until he's been deposed. Another possibility is that Rutgers told him not to comment.

He did comment, that is the point. He could have said, "I had no idea" but didn't.

Maybe he had no "inkling", maybe he did. But guess what? He's paid $2,000,000 by the State of New Jersey, so there is a right to know. God help us all if there is a code of silence still surrounding a serial child molester.

Did he have an inkling or not? That is an eminently fair question to ask anyone-anyone- associated with Penn State and Sandusky. We know the janitors knew, we know the head coach knew, we know the president knew, we know the vice-president knew, we know a grad assistant knew. An awful lot of peoople knew. It is reasonable to demand an answer from Schiano if he knew.

 

[HuskyNan]

He did comment, that is the point. He could have said, "I had no idea" but didn't.

According to your post, he said, essentially "No comment".

I know what happened at PSU is horrible and the people responsible must pay for their crimes but let's not turn into a lynch mob. Not everyone that's ever been at PSU is culpable, far from it.

 

[BlueMAB]

It's a fair question to ask. However, it isn't fair to assume he is part of the cover up just because he refuses to answer. It doesn't improve his image by dodging it, and if the lawyers or Rutgers bosses are telling him to keep quiet, why not just say that? Nobody would fault him for that. The way he's refusing to answer certainly could be handled better, but it doesn't make him guilty of doing anything wrong.

 

[Section205]

No one with any connection to PSU,past or present,will ever coach there.

I agree.

 

[zls44]

I agree.

Urban Meyer will be the next PSU head coach.

 

[huskyrob1]

According to your post, he said, essentially "No comment".

I know what happened at PSU is horrible and the people responsible must pay for their crimes but let's not turn into a lynch mob. Not everyone that's ever been at PSU is culpable, far from it.

No ones trying to lynch Schiano, I wish we had him in Storrs, but come on at least say something about this. " No comment" just adds fuel to the fire. I suppose if he lived in Dallas in the early 60's and knew Lee Harvey Oswald and his attorneys told him not to speak publicly about the assassination, then he's doing the right thing?

 

[upstater]

A lot of the coaches who were around when Sandusky was there are still at PSU, and they have had excellent opportunities to leave for better positions. I struggle to imagine these people knew about this, and yet they still stayed on. Why would Larry Johnson stick around, for instance?

 

[Carl Spackler]

I think it's pretty foolish for anyone to say anyting except "no comment" regarding this mess at PSU, and the only thing Schiano did wrong, was not leave it at exactly those two words "no comment".

Coach P? My guess is that if/when he gets the question, the answer will be "no comment".

I fully understand the idea or opinion that if a guy knew nothing about something that is this messy and ugly, then he should be proclaiming that he was unaware.

The problem though, is that somebody, some idiot out there, like somebody fishing for something on an internet board.....perhaps.....grasping at straws....is just oging to say...."well if you were there, how did you NOT notice anything?"

No comment.

 

[Kingspoint]

As unfortunate or unfair as it might sound, anyone (other than the players themselves) associated with PSU fb, whether they knew anything or not, will likely be given their walking papers by the new HC. That goes for the trainers, the assistant coaches, the GAs or anyone else he thinks may or may not owe some debt of allegiance to JoePa. New broom sweeps clean.

PSU fb may struggle for a few years, but it has to be done. I'm just curious if they'll be able to find an AD who's talented and strong enough to manage it. And no, I'm not thinking about JH.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Fair question, fair response. Nothing to see here.

 

[LIUCHusky]

According to your post, he said, essentially "No comment".

I know what happened at PSU is horrible and the people responsible must pay for their crimes but let's not turn into a lynch mob. Not everyone that's ever been at PSU is culpable, far from it.

Couldn't agree more HuskyNan. People living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. If history had played out a little differently this could have been UConn's problem. Jerry Sandusky was a candidate for the head football coaching job at UConn in 1977. Thank God he wasn't selected.

 

[UConnCat]

Fair question, fair response. Nothing to see here.

I agree. It was a fair question and it's one that will be asked of many who were involved in the program as either a coach or player. The same question was put to former wide receiver OJ McDuffie on espn and he actually said that there were some rumors that he heard and they came from people not in the program. The BOT has established a committee to look into the scandal and I suspect it will contact former players and coaches to find out whether there were early signs that were missed. The goal won't be to lay blame or point fingers but to learn lessons that may help inform others going forward.

I also don't have a problem with Schiano's answer. He's being careful about what he says publicly and that is smart. His name has been mentioned (among others) as a possible replacement for Paterno. You can be sure he'll be asked the same question should he ever get to an interview with the new AD at PSU.

 

[Dougsts]

what a bunch of Nancy Grace wanna be's

 

[BHusky]

It's a no win situation for him. If he says he heard the rumors then he opens up a huge can of worms with the media. If he says he had no idea and did hear things, then he becomes a "liar". Accept that there is no positive for him to answer questions so therefore he won't. Works for me.

 

[CL82]

Not for nothing, but the response just doesn't quite sound right. Wouldn't you say "Of course not, but I'm not going to talk about it further." If someone asked me whether I knew about a child molester, I'd answer that question.

I have no idea what Schiano knew or didn't know but this is starting to seem like it was the worst kept secret of all time. Just a hunch but it seems like a lot of people's reactions seem ...odd. I'm not saying that it was openly known, but I do get the sense that they may have been "talk". Again,just a feeling.