APUPDATED 5:34 p.m. ET: Brett McMurphy of CBSSports.com tweeted a short time ago that Kyle Flood has accepted the Rutgers job.
Flood was named the Scarlet Knights’ interim head coach after Greg Schiano left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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Earlier today, at least two New Jersey media outlets reported that Mario Cristobal was leaving FIU to become Rutgers’ new head coach. One went so far as to report that RU had offered Cristobal the job and he’d accepted, with mere contract details to work out.
As we have come to learn of late, the devil is indeed most times in the contract details.
According to Pete Thamel of the New York Times, Cristobal is staying at FIU and will not be the next head coach at Rutgers. No further details were given as to whether Cristobal had actually accepted the job then had second thoughts, or if the initial reports were simply erroneous.
It’s believed that the contractual hangup was, of course, financial as well as the “structure” of the deal.
With Cristobal now out of the picture — we think — Thamel notes that RU interim head coach Kyle Flood and former RU assistant and current Arizona Cardinals coach John McNulty are the two candidates athletic director Tim Pernetti will now consider.
At this point in time, Flood is believed to be the front-runner, barring a surprise candidate emerging. Or Cristobal changing course.
That would be funny if McNulty got and took this job. Fat lot of good it did the Cardinals blocking him from interviewing with the Bucs.
OK, Kyle Flood would do just as well if not better.
At this point might as well just go with someone liked on the staff like Flood?
“At this point might as well just go with someone liked on the staff like Flood?”
Yeah, that worked out real well for West Virginia (Bill Stewart) and Larry Coker (Miami).
I can not speak for everyone but I am not unhappy that they gave Bill Steward a chance. He is a fine man and I know he loves the mountaineers. I am sorry however, that he is not still with the team in some copacity.
We do have a great football coach now and if we had not had Coach Stewart we may never have gotten Coach Holgerson. I do not think we could have done better. Maybe Clemson thinks so!!!
Paternitti made a great selection and he should be commended for the job he is doing. He hired a terrific BBall Coach in Mike Rice and had a fine list of football coaches from which to select. He was pro-active in strategy even making himself part of the coaching staff to preserve the fine recruiting class assembled by Coach Schiano. It’s time to stand behind Kyle Flood and wish him well. “Never say die Rutgers will continue “bowling” under Coach Flood. Nice job AD Paternitti! You can always count on a Rutgers grad to come through! Go Knights!!!
Big picture we could not lure a coach from the fashion institute of Fla to come to the banks of the Raritan. Scary that the best we could do is Kyle Flood the fan base deserves a bigger name. I fear that the powers that be wanted to cut the salary significantly and this weighed in the decision. Idon’t want to appear harsh but we are headed back into the abyss of college football. Who else did we talk to to, Skip Holtz? Temple Coach? I wouldve even grabbed George Oleary as a stabilizing coach for 2-3 years. This is unacceptable and if Bob Mulcahy was here none of this would be happening, send Pernetti back to the broadcast booth.
Bob Mulcahy was a magnificent AD and certainly did not deserve to be removed from that roll. He too was the vision behind the stadium expansion, improved academic support and overall facilities. He enabled Coach Schiano to succeed in his efforts which a good manager does. He carried alot of clout and the Rutgers community lost a good man.
Having said this, I think AD Paternitti has also performed admirably and under much pressure. Only time will tell if Coach Flood can sustain prosperity for RU and hopefully take it to another level. Reading comments from Coaches Brian Toal from Don Bosco Prep and Rich Hansen from St. Peter’s Prep, two of the elite programs in NJ, Kyle Flood’s selection was a solid choice. If they believe, then I believe in the selection as well. You may have preferred a higher-profile coach, but let’s give Coach Flood our support and see what he can achieve.