Urban Meyer broke one of his golden rules for Greg Schiano.
"I try to stay away from hiring friends," the Ohio State head coach said Tuesday at Big Ten media day. "As a matter of fact, I haven't for most of my career, but he's an exception because we've been friends for 20-plus years."
Schiano, who spent 11 seasons (2001-11) as Rutgers head coach, was out of coaching for two years after getting fired by the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers after just two seasons.
Itching to get back on the sidelines, Schiano was linked to a number of head coach positions in the offseason but he ended up as Ohio State's defensive coordinator.