How Greg Schiano built Rutgers football's infrastructure to adapt to changing landscape

As the wayward search for Rutgers’ new athletics director appears to finally be close to an end, Greg Schiano’s football program will begin training camp having been unaffected and undeterred by what transpired over the last year.

The chaos that’s engulfed the Rodkin Center hasn’t moved across Sutphen Road to infiltrate the Hale Center.

And that’s not a coincidence.

Schiano since he’s been back has run his program in his vision with the personnel and infrastructure that he sees fit.

As the landscape of college sports – especially college football – has evolved with Name, Image and Likeness, the transfer portal and now revenue sharing, that infrastructure has only become more important.

It’s also become bigger.

But the freedom Schiano has to lead his program without interference has helped insulate it from an AD search that became a punchline nationally – its previous leading candidate, Brian Lafemina, according to NJ Advance Media pulled his name from consideration in recent weeks.

The university has now zeroed in on Keli Zinn, the executive deputy director of athletics and chief operating officer at Louisiana State, according to reports.

When asked about the long search last week in Las Vegas at Big Ten Media Days, Schiano said he hadn’t spent much time worrying about the search.

Had it affected anything?

“Not our operation,” said Schiano, who’s beginning his sixth season since returning to Rutgers.

More: Rutgers is targeting LSU administrator as next athletics director, per reports

Rutgers football's infrastructure

While it undoubtedly would help Schiano to have an athletics director who could help him raise funds – something he’s never had during his second stint – it’s not something that’s stopping him.

Schiano’s program has increasingly started to look like an NFL organization. His two years as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012 and 2013 gave him an up-close, inside look at what it needs.

NFL organizations have college personnel and pro personnel to evaluate both groups of players. Schiano’s program has groups to evaluate high school players and college players so it’s ready to jump when anyone enters the portal.

Schiano’s been diligent about how he’s built the operation.

“Certainly we need more people to help with evaluations but we’ve kind of reorganized our entire population,” Schiano said. “My whole thing has always been measure twice and cut once. I don’t want to just react, I’d rather be a little bit later and get it right than have to be the first out of gate. I don’t want to be last but certainly don’t need to be first. I’ve observed a lot of other people, what they’ve done. Things I think are good, things that are not. Certainly from my own experience I had an idea of how I wanted to do it.”

'Comfortable with the team we have'

Schiano credited the team he’s assembled to help lead it: Chief of Staff Kevin MacConnell, assistant general manager for finance Jordan Wolkstein, assistant general manager for personnel Eric Josephs, and assistant athletic director for football Will Gilkison, who helps run the ins and outs of program operations.

Wolkstein’s role helping to oversee contracts and compensation for players shows just how much college football has changed, but it’s also a necessity.

When it comes to paying players and roster construction to stay within a budget, that’s another area Schiano’s time in the NFL helped prepare him for.

“I think it helps a lot,” Schiano said. “I think it just helps with the comfortability of dealing with finance as it ties to football. I think you have to some discipline. We’ve had some players that if we could’ve spent a little more, we could’ve probably gotten them. To me the most important thing is your own team. You’re around them every day, you know who they are. So where you can’t afford to make mistakes is on your own team. That’s the one you should know. Every time you step outside your organization there’s some unknown there.”

Every year Schiano’s program has evolved. Every year it’s looked more and more like a pro organization to adapt to the changes in college football.

He’s built it in his vision.

At some point Rutgers will hire an athletics director, but until it does operations inside the Hale Center continue to run smoothly.

“We really feel comfortable with the team that we have,” Schiano said. “We do have to continue to strategically add people to build the infrastructure but I want to make sure they’re the right people.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers football: Greg Schiano has built program to adapt to changes