Sources: Bucs, Greg Schiano near deal

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are near an agreement to hire Rutgers coach Greg Schiano as their new head coach, according to league sources.

The two sides are busy putting the finishing touches on an agreement that would give Tampa Bay a new direction and Schiano, 45, his first NFL head coaching job, according to sources.

Schiano

The two sides met Wednesday for the second time and then spent some of the night into the morning trying to work out a contract that is expected to be finalized, according to a source.

Mike Sherman, the other candidate to get a second interview with the Bucs, is in Miami this morning visiting with the Dolphins about their offensive coordinator job, according to a source.

Schiano is an under-the-radar coach, but Tampa Bay has been eyeing him throughout this process. Buccaneers college scout Bill Rees made contact with Schiano at the outset of Tampa Bay's coaching search, and the two men stayed in contact.

The Glazer family also conducted a massive amount of research, reaching out to various NFL people. One of the people they called was Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who spoke highly of Schiano.

Tampa did talk with Oregon head coach Chip Kelly before those talks collapsed early Monday.

This is not the first time Tampa Bay didn't land its first choice. In 1996, after the Buccaneers fired Sam Wyche, they tried to hire Bill Parcells and Steve Spurrier before hiring Tony Dungy.

In 2002, after firing Dungy, they tried to hire Bill Parcells and Steve Mariucci before trading for Jon Gruden.

Now, after talking with Kelly, they have honed in on Schiano, who has a 49-28 record at Rutgers since 2006. Schiano is said to have impressed the Bucs in the two interviews he had -- one in Dallas a couple of weeks ago, another as recently as Wednesday morning.

Adam Schefter is ESPN's NFL Insider.

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Adam Schefter

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• ESPN NFL Insider
• Joined ESPN in 2009
• Former president of the Pro Football Writers of America and the author of four books