Rutgers Scarlet Knights Pluck Chris Ash From Ohio State As New Head Coach

Rutgers University appears to have found their new head coach to replace Kyle Flood, who was fired on Sunday. Rutgers had quite the list of coaching candidates reported this past week, which included former Temple and Miami head coach Al Golden as well as one of their own former coaches in Greg Schiano, who left the program for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012.

Chris Ash, Ohio State's defensive coordinator is the man that Rutgers has chosen according to reports. Sports Illustrated was the first to announce the two sides closing in on a deal.

Ash has spent the last two years with the Buckeyes after Urban Meyer hired him away from Arkansas where he spent the 2013 season as their defensive coordinator.

Rutgers will be Ash's third job in the Big Ten as he also coached at Wisconsin from 2010-12 as defensive backs coach (2010) and defensive coordinator (2011-12).

Before being hired by Rutgers, Ash was a candidate for the Syracuse coaching job but pulled his name out of the list of potential coaches a few days ago. This season at Ohio State, Ash has led the Ohio State defense to be the second best scoring defense in the country, allowing just 14.0 points per game while only allowing 305-yards per game.

The hiring of Ash is a slam dunk for Rutgers as they bring in one of the top assistants in all of college football as well as a tremendous recruiter. Being in a state that has some of the best recruits in the country, Ash has the chance to make Rutgers a power program in the Big Ten.

Ash will be taking over a 4-8 Rutgers squad that was shrouded by controversy throughout the season.