Chris Ash officially has the first head coaching position of his career.
It was first reported Saturday that Ohio State's co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach would become the next head coach at Big Ten East foe Rutgers, but the Scarlet Knights made news of the hire concrete Monday when its 15-member Board of Governors unanimously approved it.
Welcome Chris Ash! The 30th head coach in #RFootball history. pic.twitter.com/1IkGr2Vy4H
— Rutgers Football (@RFootball) December 7, 2015
"I've spent a considerable amount of time with Chris recently and I've come to the firm belief that he's the right person for this job," Rutgers University President Robert Barchi said at Monday's press conference announcing the Ash hire. "He blew me away with his track record, with 19 years of experience at the very top level of college football."
Added new Rutgers athletic director Patrick Hobbs: "This is a great day for Rutgers University ... What I will tell you is that Chris Ash is a man of commitment and integrity. Under Coach Ash, our student athletes will receive the best training, best strength and conditioning and he and his staff will prepare them for life after football."
Ash is set to sign a five-year contract worth $2 million per year, according to nj.com. In his final year at Ohio State, he made a base salary of $590,000.
"We need to create some positive energy around this program," Ash said Monday. "It's going to take an extreme amount of work. Everybody is going to have a role. I'm asking everybody to be the best they can be at whatever job they have to do in order to get there."
Ash will coach the Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said Sunday.
"I wouldn’t do it any other way," Ash said. "The reason I have this opportunity is because of the people at Ohio State. I would not feel right if I didn’t finish the job I started."
Ash is partly responsible for the major turnaround of the back end of Ohio State's defense in his two seasons on Meyer's staff. Along with Luke Fickell, Ash's aggressive press quarters scheme turned the Buckeye defense into championship caliber near the end of the team's run at the 2014 College Football Playoff National Championship. The unit kept three Heisman Trophy finalists — Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon, Alabama's Amari Cooper and Oregon's Marcus Mariota — largely in check down the stretch.
"I love Chris Ash, he was an impact hire when we brought him in here. He's done a marvelous job of being a co-coordinator of the defense," Meyer said. "One of the best coaches I've ever been around."
The Ohio State defense finished the 2015 regular season second in the country in scoring defense, allowing 14.0 points per game. Passing defense was an obvious issue prior to Ash's arrival in Columbus, as the Buckeyes allowed an astounding 268 yards per game (112th in the country) through the air in 2013. That area of the defense has improved immensely, allowing 201.1 yards per game last year (29th-best nationally) and just 176.2 yards per game this season (12th overall).
Ash was an assistant coach at Arkansas, Wisconsin, Iowa State, San Diego State and Drake University prior to Ohio State. He replaces embattled coach Kyle Flood in Piscataway, New Jersey, who along with athletic director Julie Hermann were fired the day after Thanksgiving. The Scarlet Knights were 4-8 this season and 1-7 in the Big Ten, a year in which Flood was suspended for three games for attempting to change the grade of one of his star players in order to keep them eligible.
Ash's departure means Meyer will have to replace a top assistant for the second time in as many seasons. Former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tom Herman left after the 2014 season to become the head coach at the University of Houston.
Ash is also the second defensive coordinator from the Big Ten East to take a head coaching position in the same division this offseason. Michigan's D.J. Durkin became Maryland's next head coach last week.
Ash's replacement at Ohio State is unknown.
