Greg Schiano is an excellent football coach, but I'm starting to have serious doubts about his talent evaluations.
In an interview with the Big Ten Network, the Ohio State defensive coordinator went out of his way to praise the talent on his defensive line. In fact, he may have gone a bit too far.
"It is, and that's not a joke," Schiano said when asked if the Buckeyes defensive line was the most talented unit he's ever coached at any level. That includes his two seasons as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL.
Now, most of you probably aren't incredibly familiar with the 2012 and 2013 Bucs. They only won 11 games during Schiano's two seasons, after all, but there was some talent on that defensive line.
Talent that included Gerald McCoy, the No. 3 pick in the 2010 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma. McCoy's had a rather successful NFL career, too, as he has been to five Pro Bowls in seven seasons. Two of which came during Schiano's tenure. Hell, McCoy was a first-team All-Pro during Schiano's second season in 2013.
Also on that Tampa line was Michael Bennett. Bennett only played one season under Schiano, but he had nine sacks in 2012 before leaving for the Seattle Seahawks. He's picked up 30.5 more sacks with the Seahawks and been to two Pro Bowls.
What I'm saying here is Tampa Bay's defensive line was pretty talented while Schiano was there.
Don't get me wrong, Ohio State has a talented defensive line. Ohio State always has a talented defensive line. But if Schiano isn't just blowing smoke when he says it's better than the line he had in Tampa, it's going to be amazing.
DC Greg Schiano talks about who will step up for the @OhioStateFB defense heading into the season. https://t.co/2al5CsbJbA
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) August 5, 2017