Already up against the wall and running late in the assistant coaching search, reports now say that Rutgers University may give some assistant coaches raises to keep them in New Jersey instead of following new Bucs head coach Greg Schiano to Tampa.

Source: Stephen Holder Tampa Bay Times
With Rutgers naming interim coach Kyle Flood as its permanent coach on Tuesday, the Scarlet Knights' goals now turn to retaining the core of their coaching staff. That will put them in direct competition with Schiano, and it's not out of the question to suggest there could be some bidding wars.

The Star-Ledger newspaper in New Jersey reported that new Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood intends to use some of the payroll money available in the wake of Schiano's departure for sweetening deals for assistants who might otherwise be lured to Tampa Bay.

The paper reported Flood will make a starting salary of about $750,000, about one-third what Schiano was making after 11 seasons on the job. That presumably gives Rutgers the flexibility to offer key assistants competitive deals that might convince them to stay.

One who appears headed to Tampa Bay, however, is Rutgers defensive coordinator Bob Fraser. He reportedly is interviewing for a job on the Bucs' staff today in Tampa. Fraser has a history in coaching linebackers, and it's possible he could take on a similar role for the Bucs, who will have a new linebackers coach for the third time in four years.

PR’s Take: Everyone knew the Buccaneers would have a hard time finding quality assistant coaches due to the fact that they made their head coach hire so late. In fact the Buccaneers were the last of the teams who made coaching changes to bring their coach on board. But now it appears not only will Tampa Bay have to battle the rest of the NFL for assistants, but even Schiano’s former school Rutgers.

It makes sense that Rutgers would do everything in their power to retain assistants as most certainly there was some hurt feelings on the staff and in the administration with the departure of Schiano, especially as close to the end of college recruiting. Keeping the staff intact will certainly make the transition from Schiano to Flood a more stable process.

But reportedly the Buccaneers are one of lowest assistant paying teams in the league, which may make it more difficult to attract assistants form the NFL ranks and now even college assistants.

Perhaps Schiano will, or already has been able to persuade management to open their wallets when it comes to hiring coaches. Like in free agency, when the pickings become slim you sometimes have to pay a little more to attract the right person.

As far as Fraser being brought aboard, his lack of NFL experience makes us a little nervous. Ray Perkins, when hired after Leeman Bennett was fired following the 1986 season, also brought a lot of his Alabama assistants to Tampa with little success. And just like a college player, the adjustment to the NFL takes times even for assistant coaches. However Jim Harbaugh had a few of his Stanford coaches follow him to San Francisco and that worked out pretty well.