Former Strength Coach At Home With Rutgers

The somewhat surprising news that Greg Schiano will be staying at Rutgers instead of pursuing the Miami head coaching position means former Dartmouth strength coach Jay Butler will probably be honing his golf game indoors this winter, as he has ever since joining his former Bucknell teammate's staff in New Brunswick. If you watched Saturday night's game against West Virginia, you caught a few glimpses of the 6-foot-7 Butler on the Scarlet Knights' sideline. And if you watched the Louisville game earlier this fall, you saw film of the impressive new weight room that is both a reason why Butler would stick around his native New Jersey and a big factor in how RU has become a player on the national scene. For Butler's bio, click here. To read a story written when he left Dartmouth to join Schiano, click here. Butler, by the way, is now an associate athletic director at Rutgers.

There's a ton of stuff out there on Stanford firing Coach Walt Harris after just two years. For a slightly different spin, check out this column in the Monterey Herald. It says of Stanford Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby:

The guy who hired Ferentz, logically, had to know he could do better than Harris.

The players told him so, but that was only part of it. The influential members of the Stanford family told him so, but that too was just part of it.

The empty seats in the new stadium. The play-calling. The sour disposition. Why wait another season to fire him just to do it the normal 'Stanford way'?

Meant to mention this a while back, but the portable stands in each end zone of Memorial Field and both goal posts will remain up this winter. In the past, the goal posts had been taken town and the temporary bleachers (erected only in the south end zone in recent years) would be removed after the season. Coach Buddy Teevens has asked that they remain in place so that recruits can see the facility's new "stadium look" during their visits. To borrow a familiar saying, It's a good thing.

An update on Anthony Gargiulo '06 from this morning's paper: In addition to an upcoming workout with the Philadelphia Eagles, the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears (perhaps with a little encouragement from defensive assistant Lloyd Lee '98) have requested more film on the former All-Ivy League defensive end as he looks to find a place in pro football after a year out of the game.