When Rutgers Director of Athletic Pat Hobbs relieved former head football coach Chris Ash and offensive coordinator John McNulty of their duties on September 29, Hobbs sent the official press release to Rutgers' internal athletic department group, along with a message.
"Change is rarely easy, especially when it involves individuals who have invested so much in a shared vision," Hobbs wrote, according to a copy of the email obtained via public records request, later continuing, "Despite progress in other areas, progress on the field was not realized, and it is time for a change."
I requested copies of emails sent to or from Hobbs or Rutgers University President Robert Barchi that included three specific search terms – "hire," "search" and "Schiano" – related to the school's coaching search that were sent between Saturday, September 28 (the day of the last game that Ash coached) and the following Monday.
My original public records request also included emails sent to/from one other senior member of Rutgers' athletic department as well as those that included two other keywords over the same three-day period and the request resulted in 416 pages of emails with a significant financial cost to acquire the records, according to the school, so I submitted a new request.
The new request resulted in 111 pages of emails, some of which have been included verbatim – including any spelling and grammatical errors – in this story. Many of the pages were part of athletics newsletters, like the popular D1.ticker, which featured the Rutgers situation in its Monday morning edition on September 30.
However, many of the emails were much more personalized to Rutgers leadership.
One long-standing Rutgers University faculty member was in Ann Arbor for Michigan's 52-0 win over Rutgers, the second of four conference games this season in which the Scarlet Knights were shut out by a Big Ten foe. It was Ash's last game as head coach.
"I surveyed the crowd with binoculars and found only one small group (15-20) of Scarlet Knight fans," wrote Gary Merrill, a professor in Rutgers' Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience who noted that he has spent more than 43 years on the Banks, to Hobbs with President Barchi copied on the email. "From opening kickoff to the closing seconds I was embarrassed for the football program, Rutgers University, the State of NJ and for me."
"If I could influence your decisions I would rehire Greg Schiano (two years ago)," Merrill wrote. "Short of that, and to save the university and football program some money, I would hire the most-respected high school football coach in the state. To make him happy I would double/triple his current salary and give him a 5-year contract.
"If a gambler I would bet that he would do no worse than Chris Ash, Doug Graber, Terry Shea, and the likes of the past. In my time on the Banks the only winning football coaches were Frank Burns and Greg Schiano. Despite our 150 years of history, there has been little or no pride in football at RU."
It was clear that many fans wanted the school to bring back Schiano, who coached the Scarlet Knights from 2001 to 2011 and who was officially hired by the university on December 1.
Another fan, Dexter Earle, suggested Hobbs reach out to Schiano because of his track record of success at the school and immediate availability.
"If I were in your shoes, I would seriously explore reaching out to Greg Schiano who is both available and has a proven history during his coaching years," Earle wrote. "He took this program from the ash heap to becoming an annual bowl contender. He was a great recruiter and used those skill (sic) while at Ohio State to successfully recruit NJ talent."
"The challenge and danger in a national search is that you are unlikely to find a good NJ fit," Earle warned Hobbs. "Terry Shea was unable to recruit at all. Chris Ash was just ok in this regard. There is nothing wrong with a quick fix if the right coach is available and knows the lay of the land - Greg built RU football...I realize that you have many constituents to serve and that you must be getting plenty of solicited advice. I apologize for adding my thoughts but as a loyal, concerned supporter I felt compelled to reach out to you.
"It is bad enough to see the 2019 season going nowhere but to ask the fans to be patient as 2020 will also be another year in transition is not a great option."
To no surprise, Hobbs was also contacted by members of search firms.
"Most relevant is the work we did at Army and Boston College, challenging jobs at schools that share your geographical characteristics," wrote the president and founder of one search firm.
Hobbs also received a presentation from the managing partner of another firm, who wrote, "I believe that the way we manage searches gives you a competitive advantage over your competition."
What's also interesting is that the managing partner also called Greg Brown, the Chairman and CEO of Motorola Solutions and previously the chair of the Board of Governors at Rutgers, on Sunday, September 29, and Brown forwarded Sugiyama's presentation to Hobbs.
Brown, a Rutgers alumnus, and his wife committed $4 million to the university for locker room improvements in 2018.
One fan, Vince Pastore, emailed Hobbs, proposing that the two find time to grab coffee, writing, "You absolutely made the right call and one that was overdue. Many of the season ticketholders, whom have stayed the course and are barely holding on, have said this is their last year."
Pastore said his group of Rutgers supporters spend between $5,000 and $20,000 annually per family on tickets and donations to the university.
"You will be hard pressed to find many folks willing to pay $10k or, for that matter, any level of investment for tickets to a program that viewed at the bottom of the Power 5 teams," Pastore wrote. "Hopefully, we can find some time to grab coffee. You could even stop by one of my tailgate and have a libation. Yes, we still go even when the product on the field has been struggling for the past 4 plus years."
"It would be nice to have a game that does not start at noon so we don't have to start tailgating at 8am, but that comes with being competitive."
"Change is rarely easy, especially when it involves individuals who have invested so much in a shared vision," Hobbs wrote, according to a copy of the email obtained via public records request, later continuing, "Despite progress in other areas, progress on the field was not realized, and it is time for a change."
I requested copies of emails sent to or from Hobbs or Rutgers University President Robert Barchi that included three specific search terms – "hire," "search" and "Schiano" – related to the school's coaching search that were sent between Saturday, September 28 (the day of the last game that Ash coached) and the following Monday.
My original public records request also included emails sent to/from one other senior member of Rutgers' athletic department as well as those that included two other keywords over the same three-day period and the request resulted in 416 pages of emails with a significant financial cost to acquire the records, according to the school, so I submitted a new request.
The new request resulted in 111 pages of emails, some of which have been included verbatim – including any spelling and grammatical errors – in this story. Many of the pages were part of athletics newsletters, like the popular D1.ticker, which featured the Rutgers situation in its Monday morning edition on September 30.
However, many of the emails were much more personalized to Rutgers leadership.
One long-standing Rutgers University faculty member was in Ann Arbor for Michigan's 52-0 win over Rutgers, the second of four conference games this season in which the Scarlet Knights were shut out by a Big Ten foe. It was Ash's last game as head coach.
"I surveyed the crowd with binoculars and found only one small group (15-20) of Scarlet Knight fans," wrote Gary Merrill, a professor in Rutgers' Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience who noted that he has spent more than 43 years on the Banks, to Hobbs with President Barchi copied on the email. "From opening kickoff to the closing seconds I was embarrassed for the football program, Rutgers University, the State of NJ and for me."
"If I could influence your decisions I would rehire Greg Schiano (two years ago)," Merrill wrote. "Short of that, and to save the university and football program some money, I would hire the most-respected high school football coach in the state. To make him happy I would double/triple his current salary and give him a 5-year contract.
"If a gambler I would bet that he would do no worse than Chris Ash, Doug Graber, Terry Shea, and the likes of the past. In my time on the Banks the only winning football coaches were Frank Burns and Greg Schiano. Despite our 150 years of history, there has been little or no pride in football at RU."
It was clear that many fans wanted the school to bring back Schiano, who coached the Scarlet Knights from 2001 to 2011 and who was officially hired by the university on December 1.
Another fan, Dexter Earle, suggested Hobbs reach out to Schiano because of his track record of success at the school and immediate availability.
"If I were in your shoes, I would seriously explore reaching out to Greg Schiano who is both available and has a proven history during his coaching years," Earle wrote. "He took this program from the ash heap to becoming an annual bowl contender. He was a great recruiter and used those skill (sic) while at Ohio State to successfully recruit NJ talent."
"The challenge and danger in a national search is that you are unlikely to find a good NJ fit," Earle warned Hobbs. "Terry Shea was unable to recruit at all. Chris Ash was just ok in this regard. There is nothing wrong with a quick fix if the right coach is available and knows the lay of the land - Greg built RU football...I realize that you have many constituents to serve and that you must be getting plenty of solicited advice. I apologize for adding my thoughts but as a loyal, concerned supporter I felt compelled to reach out to you.
"It is bad enough to see the 2019 season going nowhere but to ask the fans to be patient as 2020 will also be another year in transition is not a great option."
To no surprise, Hobbs was also contacted by members of search firms.
"Most relevant is the work we did at Army and Boston College, challenging jobs at schools that share your geographical characteristics," wrote the president and founder of one search firm.
Hobbs also received a presentation from the managing partner of another firm, who wrote, "I believe that the way we manage searches gives you a competitive advantage over your competition."
What's also interesting is that the managing partner also called Greg Brown, the Chairman and CEO of Motorola Solutions and previously the chair of the Board of Governors at Rutgers, on Sunday, September 29, and Brown forwarded Sugiyama's presentation to Hobbs.
Brown, a Rutgers alumnus, and his wife committed $4 million to the university for locker room improvements in 2018.
One fan, Vince Pastore, emailed Hobbs, proposing that the two find time to grab coffee, writing, "You absolutely made the right call and one that was overdue. Many of the season ticketholders, whom have stayed the course and are barely holding on, have said this is their last year."
Pastore said his group of Rutgers supporters spend between $5,000 and $20,000 annually per family on tickets and donations to the university.
"You will be hard pressed to find many folks willing to pay $10k or, for that matter, any level of investment for tickets to a program that viewed at the bottom of the Power 5 teams," Pastore wrote. "Hopefully, we can find some time to grab coffee. You could even stop by one of my tailgate and have a libation. Yes, we still go even when the product on the field has been struggling for the past 4 plus years."
"It would be nice to have a game that does not start at noon so we don't have to start tailgating at 8am, but that comes with being competitive."