The Regional Finals of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (current bracket HERE – background here). Here’s a printable version.
Bobby Petrino (Atlanta Falcons) vs. Greg Schiano (Rutgers)
Petrino knocked off Kansas State headman Ron Prince in the first round, then upset Iowa coach and rumored favorite Kirk Ferentz in the second. Schiano barely slipped by Florida coach Urban Meyer in the second round in the closest battle of Death March Madness to date.
Profiles:
Greg Schiano [bio, Rutgers official site] is another coach that took a program going nowhere into one that is in the national conversation. He swept the coach of the year awards in 2006 and was rumored for quite of few gigs last summer. He’s likely top of the list when JoePa retires/dies.
His pedigree goes from Rutgers (where he was a grad assistant), to a DB coach at Penn State, to the NFL with the Chicago Bears, over to the Miami Hurricanes and finally to the head job at Rutgers. He’s done well – you’d have to assume he’d leave Rutgers if Martin offered.
Bobby Petrino elevated the Louisville football program to new heights last season and took his craft to the NFL, where his short tenor has been stunted by the off field activities of Michael Vick. He’s a longshot for the candidacy but he’s got ties to the Midwest via Louisville, and they way that team collapsed this year you have to wonder if Petrino is worthy of the hype. Check out his Wikipedia entry and here’s more from the Falcons official site:
His four-year 41-9 record included a 12-1 mark last season and a No. 7 national ranking in the USA Today final Coaches’ Poll. The Cardinals ranked fourth in the nation in scoring (37.8 points per game) and second in total yards (484.6 yards per game). “My goal when I arrived at Louisville was to turn the program into a national power,” Petrino said. “We just rolled up our sleeves and went to work. We were blessed with some amazing athletes and some great coaches, and we were able to win a lot of games and have a lot of success. I am looking forward to having the same kind of success here with the Falcons. I believe we have the players, coaches, and organization in place to do some amazing things as a team, and I am looking forward to the challenge.”
Schiano advances fairly easily, here’s the current match-up:
