Back during his days with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, wide receiver Russell Shepard spent time with Greg Schiano, the current head coach at Rutgers. At that time, Schiano was the head coach of the Buccaneers (from 2012-13) and gave a lasting impression to Shepard.

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Again, Shepard didn’t have much time with Schiano. But, he made an impact on the pass-catcher:

“He’s a great coach and a great teacher,” Shepard told NJ Advance Media on Thursday, a day after Schiano’s introductory press conference to make his return official. “He’s an intelligent man. He’s the smartest football coach I’ve been around.

“He’s a man of detail. A man of iron … When I say that, iron sharpens iron, and he lives with that mindset and culture. He’s definitely tough. He’s the toughest coach I’ve ever been around. He’s going to get the most out of his players and coaches. He holds everyone across the board to the same standard he holds himself to.

“He’s shown a track record of success [at Rutgers], when the program was in even worse shape. I think his personality is what really serves him well. I see why he got hired again at Rutgers. He’s going to have success.”

Shepard also talked about how Schiano is better suited for the college game:

“His management skills does well with 17 and 18 year-old men and 20-year-old men,” Shepard said. “At times, when you have that type of personality, it can backfire on you in this league, because you have players making as much or more money than you, who are more accomplished than you and are as old as you now, as we’re seeing in today’s NFL. With his style of teaching, he’s made for college.”

Schiano was last at Rutgers from 2001-11 and in his final six seasons there, he led the Scarlet Knights to five winning years.