Greg Schiano has a well-known disregard for the unwritten rules of football. His rugged, never-say-die coaching style has pitted him against fellow coaches who say his teams have been too physical during routine victory formations. Schiano likes physical football, but during offseason OTA's, Schiano's style may have put him in the NFL's crosshairs. One of the biggest changes the NFLPA made to the most recent CBA was a limit on the number of full-contact padded practices that can be conducted.
Allegedly, Schiano may be skirting those rules.
Via NFL News:
"It's football practice, without pads," Roy Cummings of The Tampa Tribune told WHFS-FM on May 20, via ProFootballTalk.com. "I'll tell you what, Greg Schiano is right on the border of getting investigated and possibly — I don't know if they would fine him, I don't know what the penalty is — but these guys are out there, they're hitting. … There (are) no pads on, but I'm telling you, the linemen, these guys are hitting.
"People are going down on the ground. And it's interesting. I mean, most of this was second- and third-team guys; it wasn't the front-line guys. So there's a little bit of what Jon Gruden used to call 'practice etiquette' that I think has to be learned here, but they're going at it pretty good."
The NFL punished the Seattle Seahawks last June for violating the collective bargaining agreement's offseason workout rules for incorporating live contact during OTAs. The league stripped coach Pete Carroll of two practices and a planned workout.
