NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- Greg Schiano is back as Rutgers football coach. The university's Board of Governors approved an agreement Tuesday to bring back the former Scarlet Knights coach to lead the program.

The 53-year-old Schiano gets an eight-year, $32 million deal.

"Today we open the next great chapter for Rutgers Football," Rutgers athletic director Pat Hobbs said. "Coach Schiano is absolutely the best person to lead our program. He brings a quality of leadership and integrity that will make all of us proud in the years ahead. I couldn't be more excited for our student-athletes and our fans.

"A lot of hard work lies ahead, but we will all keep chopping together with Coach to achieve success in the Big Ten. We all know what the goal is and we all must do our part. I can't express enough appreciation to Greg and Christy Schiano, the first family of Rutgers Football. Welcome back!"

The move comes a little more than week after both sides walked away from negotiations and declared the possibility of a reunion dead. They came back to the table and reached the agreement on Sunday, sources told ESPN.

"Rutgers University and this football program have meant the world to me and my family," Schiano said in a statement put out by the school. "I arrived here in 2000 with the goal to build a program that would be a source of pride for the state of New Jersey and develop great young men. I look forward to embracing that challenge once again. This is a great opportunity for all of Rutgers to pull together to get us back to where we all know we belong. It will take everyone on this campus and in the State of Rutgers to get this done."

The New Jersey native went 68-67 at Rutgers from 2001-11 and turned the Scarlet Knights into consistent winners after years of being one of the worst major college football programs in the country.

"I commend Rutgers Athletics Director Pat Hobbs and Coach Schiano for reaching an agreement following very complex negotiations to bring on this new, exciting chapter for Rutgers Athletics," Rutgers President Robert Barchi said. "We are all thrilled to welcome Coach Schiano. He is the right coach at the right time to build our Big Ten football program into a long-running source of pride for Rutgers."

Schiano left Rutgers in 2012 to become head coach for the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but his tenure lasted only two years. He resurfaced at Ohio State as defensive coordinator under Urban Meyer in 2016. He had reached an agreement to become Tennessee Volunteers' coach in 2017, but an uproar from fans on social media led the school to rescind its offer.

Schiano left Ohio State after last season when the Buckeyes struggled on his side of the ball, and he briefly took a job as an assistant with the New England Patriots earlier this year. He stepped down soon after, deciding instead to take the season off.

Rutgers finished off a 2-10 season (0-9 in the Big Ten) on Saturday with a loss at No. 10 Penn State. Nunzio Campanile has been the interim head coach since Chris Ash was fired five games into his fourth season. Ash went 8-32 in three-plus seasons, including 3-26 in the Big Ten.

ESPN's Adam Rittenberg and The Associated Press contributed to this report.