TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are counting on Greg Schiano to lead them back to respectability and transform Tampa Bay into consistent winners — much in the same way he made Rutgers matter again.

Schiano, 45, was hired Thursday, more than three weeks after the Bucs fired Raheem Morris following a 4-12 finish.

The team scheduled a press conference for today to introduce Schiano, who inherits a team that allowed the most points in the NFL this season.

“Coach Schiano is a bright, meticulous teacher who knows how to get the most out of his players,” General Manager Mark Dominik said. “He built and ran a pro-style program at Rutgers, and he’s a defensive-minded coach whose teams have always been characterized by toughness and a physical style of play.”

Schiano was at Rutgers for 11 seasons, taking them from college football laughingstocks to a program that has had winning records in six of the last seven years.

He was an assistant coach in the NFL with Chicago from 1996-98.

The Scarlet Knights appointed offensive line coach Kyle Flood as interim head coach while the school searches for Schiano’s replacement.

The Bucs fired Morris on Jan. 2 after Tampa Bay lost 10 straight to end the season, most of them by double-digit margins. The collapse following a promising 4-2 start came only a year after the NFL’s youngest team went 10-6 and narrowly missed the playoffs.

The Glazer family that owns the team interviewed at least 10 candidates, including Oregon’s Chip Kelly, who was offered the position but turned it down.

COLTS: Two days after Peyton Manning publicly complained about the dour atmosphere at team headquarters following a 2-14 season and a rash of firings, team owner Jim Irsay introduced his new head coach and then stunned everyone by calling his franchise player a “politician” who had decided to air dirty laundry.

“I don’t think it’s in the best interest to paint the horseshoe in a negative light, I really don’t,” Irsay told reporters, referring to the team’s longtime logo. “The horseshoe always comes first, and I think one thing he’s always known, because he’s been around it so long, is that, you know, you keep it in the family. If you’ve got a problem you talk to each other, it’s not about campaigning or anything like that.”

The comments suggest there is a rift between Manning and Irsay, who is just six weeks from a deadline to pay the four-time league MVP a $28 million bonus or risk losing him as a free agent. And it all blew up in public on a day the team desperately wanted attention focused on Chuck Pagano, the Ravens’ defensive coordinator who takes over as head coach with a host of problems to address.

In the past three weeks, the Colts have fired vice chairman Bill Polian and General Manager Chris Polian, Coach Jim Caldwell and most of Caldwell’s assistants.

Within hours of Irsay’s comments, Manning told The Indianapolis Star he didn’t intend to start a public feud.

“At this point, Mr. Irsay and I owe it to each other and to the fans of the organization to handle this appropriately and professionally, and I think we will. I’ve already reached out to Mr. Irsay,” Manning said. “I wasn’t trying to paint the Colts in a bad light, but it’s tough when so many people you’ve known for so long are suddenly leaving. I feel very close to a lot of these guys and we’ve done great things together. It’s hard to watch an old friend clean out his office. That’s all I was trying to say.

“I just want to keep rehabbing and working hard, and when the time is right for Mr. Irsay and I to sit down, I look forward to a healthy conversation about my future. I’ve worked too hard and have such great respect and have so many great relationships inside the building and out, and it’s incredibly important that those remain.”

BEARS: Jason Licht, director of pro personnel for the New England Patriots, got a second interview for Chicago’s general manager’s job.

Licht is one of the two finalists. Kansas City Chiefs director of college scouting Phil Emery is the other and is expected to have his second interview today as the Bears look for a replacement for Jerry Angelo, who was fired after an 8-8 season.

RAIDERS: Oakland formally agreed on a four-year deal to make Denver defensive coordinator Dennis Allen its head coach.