Greg Schiano’s inevitable return to Rutgers has been months in the making, and yet the ball still has not crossed the goal line.

Schiano has met with Rutgers brass in Columbus and he’s met with New Jersey’s governor, and yet deal is not done. Rutgers had hoped to announce Schiano in conjunction with a celebration of the 150th anniversary of football’s birth on the Rutgers campus and, when that didn’t happen, ahead of the Scarlet Knights’ home date with Schiano’s former team, Ohio State. Both events have now come and gone, and yet Greg Schiano is still not Rutgers’ head coach.

Sources told FootballScoop that Schiano, sensing the leverage he has over the school, continues to press his demands from the university. In addition to an increased salary pool for assistants, improvements to the facilities, and possibly a football-only facility with an indoor practice space, Schiano has asked for total control over the football program, largely free from the oversight of AD Pat Hobbs. Hobbs has been the source of multiple controversies on campus and has faced call from New Jersey lawmakers for his resignation.

As a result, Schiano is seeking total autonomy over the football program, and is pressing university decision makers to put pen to paper within days, sources tell FootballScoop.

While the bulk of Rutgers’ top leadership has worked to clear the way for Schiano’s return, the belief in the industry is that Hobbs is not in that group.

Hobbs, purportedly, continues to be a good soldier for the university that employs him. However, it’s enough to make one wonder if the Rutgers athletics director is simply running out the clock in order to wait out a different candidate.

As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.