PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Chris Ash doubted whether he would ever make it big in coaching.Long before he became Rutgers coach, Ash played small-college football about 20 miles from the Iowa town where he grew up. Even as he climbed the ranks to become the defensive coordinator for a national championship team, Ash still wondered if his stay-out-of-the-spotlight style would hold him back. “The concern for me trying to get a head coaching job was I wasn’t highly regarded as a hot coach,” Ash said. “I’m not a guy that had been necessarily trying to self-promote himself to get his name out there and become popular with the media people or with fans. That’s not been me. I’ve been focused on trying to do a good job in the job that I have and see where that takes me.” That approach took the 42-year-old Ash to New Jersey, where he hopes to use what he has learned during his time at Ohio State and Wisconsin to turn Rutgers into program that can compete with those Big Ten powers. After a solid Big Ten debut in 2014 for the Scarlet Knights, last season was a mess. Rutgers went 4-8, and coach Kyle Flood was suspended for three games for breaking university rules regarding coaches contacting professors. Also, more than a half dozen players were arrested, several on serious charges, and either dismissed or suspended. Flood and athletic director Julie Hermann were fired a day after the season. …
Continue Reading: Taking note: Ash brings bits of Bielema and Meyer to Rutgers
