If you want to feel even worse, read it. It is a good read.
https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/...s-ashs-4th-season-here-are-7-reasons-why.html
@NickRU714 -- interesting quote by McNulty. You are not a fan of his, but he has a good point:
“Art got hit 10 times, which is ridiculous,’’ the Rutgers offensive coordinator after the Indiana loss. “The pass protection was horrible. I don't know how long that can continue. It better not. … I don't think it's a very complex scheme. In the end, you have to block the guy. There's no magic potion. I told them the other day, 'I'll keep trying to find the plays where we don't have to block anyone.’ But I don't know what (those plays) are."
This is a “chicken or the egg” situation. It’s both coaching and talent. However, talent still is the responsibility of the coaches so it is 100% on the coaches. This isn’t year 1 where they can blame the prior coach.
As for these coaches being successful elsewhere - most of that success was because they had better talent. So, having less talent ultimately points to limits on their coaching ability. A great coach can work with whatever they get dealt and make it better. Maybe not make an overnight transformation into a powerhouse but some noticeable progress leads to improvement both on the field and off with better recruits eventually narrowing the talent deficits.
Schiano had a bigger problem when he started with no recent history of success. But he understood what he was dealing with and took immediate steps from day 1 to address (eg, hire an old time well-connected NJ high school coach; keep the billboards and recruiting up in Florida; change the image (Block R/Keep on Chopping, etc.). Even borrowed from the USC marketing boom and brought in the celebrity element.
It was a process to get to where he got us from both a perception and a reality perspective. He was probably a better marketer and business person than an X&O coach (but a very good defensive coach), but being a good head coach goes beyond just X&Os. He ultimately created an image of Rutgers where kids wanted to come to Rutgers to play and fans wanted to come to games.
The problem with Ash is that he may be just a good defensive coach and that’s it. He isn’t a great front person or marketer of the program (in some ways, has set us back by abandoning what Schiano put in place) and does not appear to know the business side well. And he also seems to be learning on the job, clearly not initially understanding that Rutgers is not Ohio State.
He and his coaches ultimately own the recruiting/talent end and can’t continue to blame the players for the lack of success on the field year over year. McNulty may be correct that the OL can’t compete with B1G DL talent, but if you know that (and he should by now) what do you do as a coach to adapt and address that issue. Using the same playbook that was successful at another school and hoping it will work here where there may be a greater talent deficit is on him. Been going on too long and for too many games for him not to realize it isn’t working. So, he should start to look in the mirror and point the finger at himself for a start as to where are the offensive problems.
There are a lot of teams with greater deficits in talent (at least on paper) that fare better than us against these same teams and that tells you were the real problems are.
With McNulty it seems the buck stops over there....
-CG
