It appears Rutgers has found a replacement for Greg Schiano. And, as a result, FIU will now be forced to commence their own search for a new head coach as well.
The New Jersey Press Media is reporting that RU athletic director Tim Pernetti has offered the job to Mario Cristobal and the (former?) Golden Panthers head coach has accepted. The website goes on to state that “only the details of the contract need to be settled.”
Following up on the report from NJPM, Steve Politi of the Newark Star-Ledger tweeted that “Cristobal will be your new Rutgers coach.” Cristobal interviewed for the position over the weekend, although reports out of South Florida indicated that the coach hadn’t even spoken with the school.
A Rutgers official would not confirm the reports to CFT that anyone had accepted the job, but did acknowledge that an announcement “regarding the status of the search” could take place at some point later today. Any contract over $300,000 -- the contract for a new coach will likely push into the high six figures if not stretch into seven figures -- must be approved by the school’s board, which could delay, but not derail, an announcement.
It had previously been reported that Cristobal and RU interim head coach Kyle Flood had emerged as the two finalists for the job. The report of Cristobal accepting the position comes exactly four days after Schiano officially accepted the head coaching job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.