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San Francisco 49ers tackle Anthony Davis clashed with former coach Greg Schiano during his three years at Rutgers.

(Chris Faytok/The Star-Ledger)

It's fair to describe the relationship between Anthony Davis and Greg Schiano as complicated.

Davis, the starting right tackle for the San Francisco 49ers, played for Schiano at Rutgers from 2007-09. Davis said his college coach didn't do (expletive) to prepare him for the NFL and he took a shot at Schiano on Twitter after signing a five-year, $37 million contract with the 49ers last April.

Schiano, who left Rutgers in 2012, was fired after two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday. Davis said "a lot went bad down there," but he thinks Schiano's problems in Tampa stemmed more from losing than personality conflicts.

"I respect him for keeping his ways no matter what happened," Davis said in a telephone interview with NJ.com. "He believes in what he believes in and he'll die by it. Even if I don't believe in what he believes in, I still think it's pretty impressive that he can stick to what he believes in so firmly."

The two shook hands after the 49ers played the Bucs on Dec. 15, and Davis' opinion of Schiano has softened somewhat. But Davis hasn't fully come around on the philosophies that led to clashes between the two at Rutgers.

"He coached me when I was a lot younger," Davis said. "He did what he did to motivate or whatever. He was an (expletive) but that's old now. It's a part of growing up. He was doing it for the right reasons, he thought."

Schiano said before the December meeting that he loves Davis and hopes his former player will look back differently on his time at Rutgers 20 years down the road. That's 16 years away, and Davis isn't close to reaching that point.

"It wasn't enjoyable. That's not the adjective I would use," Davis said of playing for Schiano. "I feel like if I can deal with that, I can deal with anything. It made me a tough son of a (expletive). It made me mentally tough. That process is not enjoyable."

Davis believes Schiano is more suited for college, and the coach has been linked to the opening at Penn State. It appears unlikely that Schiano will get the job, but Davis isn't surprised by Shiano's rumored interest in returning to the school where he was an assistant from 1990-95.

"That would be crazy," Davis said. "I know he was a big Joe Paterno fan so that makes a lot of sense."

Based on Davis' negative experience playing for Schiano would he recommend any changes for his former coach at his next stop?

"He doesn't give a (expletive) what I think he should change," Davis said. "He doesn't give a (expletive) what anybody thinks he should change. He could get fired from Penn State and that same year he would go to a different college and do the same thing."

Despite the issues with Schiano, Davis has no regrets about attending Rutgers. Landing the Piscataway native was a recruiting boon for Rutgers and things worked out for Davis, as he became the 11th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.

Davis is the highest draft pick Rutgers has ever produced. He takes a lot of pride in that fact, but he said, "It's frowned upon to say it. So spread the word for me."

One of the best parts of Davis' college experience was playing for current head coach Kyle Flood, who was the offensive line coach during Davis' time at Rutgers.

"Coach Flood is the man," Davis said. "He taught me a lot. I give him a lot of credit for me being where I am now. Just those talks, just him being the guy he is. Not necessarily coaching, but having that person that will shoot you straight with no bad intentions."

Davis said the difference between Flood and Schiano was simple.

"(Flood) wouldn't enable me," Davis said, "but at the same time, he wasn't an (expletive)."

Junior guard Kaleb Johnson is contemplating leaving Rutgers early to enter the NFL Draft. Davis encouraged Johnson to stay for his senior year.

"If I was playing for Coach Flood, I would tell him to stay and get his degree," Davis said. "But it's hard to tell a kid not to leave early because they don't always look at the whole picture."

That advice is at odds from the path Davis took, as he left Rutgers after three years. He said his situation was different.

"If I wasn't training to be a marine for the first three years, I probably would have stayed," Davis said.