"Greg Schiano's dream died when the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League released the former Bucknell linebacker after one preseason game.

He planned to go to law school. At night, he studied for the LSATs. During the day, he was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Rampano (N.J.) High.

Before long, Schiano hung a white sheet in a bedroom at his parents' house, where he was living, and began watching 16mm tapes of games. The law books were pushed aside for playbooks.

"And the minute I started coaching, I found I started studying less and less for the LSAT," Schiano said. "At the end of the year, I went in and saw my dad.

"My father looked at me and said, 'Wait a minute. I put all that money out and you're going to be a coach?' But he said, 'If that's what your passion is, go do it.' "

Schiano's passion was on full display Friday when the former Rutgers coach was introduced in the crowded auditorium at One Buc Place as the franchise's ninth coach.

After watching him turn a program that won 16 games in five seasons into a Big East contender, the Bucs are betting Schiano, 45, can have the same impact after they went 4-12 and fired Raheem Morris after three seasons. "