In the hurried aftermath of Greg Schiano‘s decision to leave Rutgers for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, CFT was told that Kyle Flood would be both named interim head coach and given serious consideration for the permanent job.
The former came to fruition as RU announced Schiano’s departure, and the latter is apparently in play as well.
Flood, the long-time RU assistant, confirmed to the Newark Star-Ledger that he interviewed for the Scarlet Knights’ vacancy Saturday. The confirmed candidate expressed gratitude for being considered, and confidence that it will lead to the interim tag being stripped away in a good way.
“I thought it went very well. I was excited to go into it,” Flood told the paper about his interview. “It’s an honor that they chose me to be in this role and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure I stay in it.”
Flood has never been a head coach at this level, and RU athletic director Tim Pernetti intimated during the Schiano exit press conference that prior head coaching experience would be preferred. One local high school coach, however, espoused the worth of Flood getting handed the keys to the Scarlet Knights program.
“Kyle helped build the (Rutgers) program. If he’s their guy there would be continuity – and that’s the key to any successful program,” Jersey City’s St. Peter’s prep head coach Rich Hansen said. “He also knows the high school coaches in the state. He helped recruit the class they have now. He makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons.”
If FIU’s Mario Cristobal or Temple’s Steve Addazio prove to be a fruitless pursuit for Pernetti, Flood could be one helluva fallback option. Or, the best option regardless of the “name” options and the one that would “make a lot of sense for a lot of reasons.”