Struggling Rutgers fires offensive coordinator Gleeson

Sean Gleeson is out as the Rutgers football team’s offensive coordinator.

In need of a spark for his struggling team, head coach Greg Schiano dismissed the once rising star on Sunday, two days after an embarrassing home loss to Nebraska that dropped the Scarlet Knights to 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten.

“This was a difficult decision, but I believe it is in the best interest of our program to make a change at offensive coordinator,” Schiano said in a statement. “I want to thank Sean for his hard work and wish he and his family all the best in their future endeavors.”

Nunzio Campanile will take over as the interim offensive coordinator and quarterback coach.

Gleeson was let go six games into his third season as the offense continued to sputter, particularly in the second half against Nebraska, as a 13-0 halftime lead slipped away and the offense failed to score.

The Scarlet Knights are averaging 22.7 points per game, but that is largely inflated by a 66-7 romp over FCS Wagner. Against FBS competition, that number is a much lower 14.2 points.

Four different players have taken snaps at quarterback and none of them have been all that effective. Rutgers is averaging 171.2 pass yards per game, which ranks second to last in the Big Ten and 114th nationally.

Gleeson rose to stardom as the offensive coordinator at Princeton under Bob Surace where he was in charge of the undefeated 2017 team’s record-setting offense. He was hired away from Princeton by Oklahoma State and then lured back home by Schiano after he returned for his second stint as Rutgers’ head coach.