What has Ash done this season to give you faith he has us on the right track?

[Vince2310]

I recognize we are stuck with Ash for a while, but I keep hearing that we need to give him 3 years to be better. In all seriousness, what has he done to make you feel good that he will turn it around in 3 years?

He def got off to a strong start recruiting, and I hope that the kids stay (2 decomitts already). However, I saw us regress as a team, not improve.

For those that are bullish on Ash, what is it that gives you confidence in him. I want to believe, but right now it's very hard to do so for me.

 

[theRU]

recruit...which is something flood apparently forgot to do

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

Recruiting

 

[Knight Shift]

Smoothies.

 

[withoutregard]

easy to say recruit but how do you measure it? for me it's results, only W's matter. some want to see 4 and 5 stars but frankly successful recruiting will be getting the right players for your system and finding those 3 star kids that flew under the radar. look at florida yesterday, devastated by injuries they were forced to plug in a bunch of young 3 star kids (recruited by current staff) who played like 4 and 5 star kids to get the W, now that is recruiting

 

[Rokodesh]

Free snacks

 

[theRU]

easy to say recruit but how do you measure it? for me it's results, only W's matter. some want to see 4 and 5 stars but frankly successful recruiting will be getting the right players for your system and finding those 3 star kids that flew under the radar. look at florida yesterday, devastated by injuries they were forced to plug in a bunch of young 3 star kids (recruited by current staff) who played like 4 and 5 star kids to get the W, now that is recruiting

well you are going to have to wait to see how ash performs with his guys and his system in place.

If you inherited my house, and i spray painted graffiti, shit all over the floors, smashed the walls and set the kitchen on fire. Would your expectations on the renovations be the same in day 1, day 30, day 365? No they would not be.

And you would probably start cleaning up the shit, before you patch the walls and before you demo and renovate the kitchen and then finally repaint the interior to make everything right.

 

[Knight Shift]

recruit...which is something flood apparently forgot to do

Recruiting

Too soon to say.

 

[theRU]

Too soon to say.

Thats fair, but you can also say we are in a better position at this point in time of the season than flood was at any point in several cycles. He needs time to generate momentum.

 

[ScarletCrimson]

Painful. . .

 

[RUKiid]

Not much. Thought he would have been much more aggressive on 4th down once he realized that his offense needed every chance to move the ball.

 

[RUforlife]

Recruiting

Not so fast, that is a work in progress. Let's see how the kids in his first class develop and whether he can hold this current class together, and god forbid, actually pickup some big flips along the way.

 

[rutgers4life11]

The concerning thing about Ash is the lack of improvement. My God even Flood showed some hairline advancements over a season. Even awful teams with no talent usually show a few signs throughout a season.

I still think Ash has a good mission and knows how to coach a defense, but he needs to 100% reevaluate his hires and the way he does things, or he may be one of the few coaches in history to lose his job after a 2nd year on a 5 year deal.

We are #128 (last) in nearly every statistical category. We couldn't even get a decent crowd out to our rivalry matchup in primetime against a top 10 team on senior night...

Ash can't survive another year of this.

 

[letitrip2]

Can't remember a time when so much was riding on a single recruiting class. Retaining what he has along with a strong finish will mean hope and then next year he needs to show some measure of improvement. If this years recruiting class falls apart he is done.

 

[Extra Point]

The biggest positive to me is, he set the bar so low that we can no longer be embarrassed. Everyone outside of Rutgers now expects us to lose 50-0 or 30-0. We can only improve from today forward.

 

[RUGuy1972]

* upgrade of facilities (Hale Center)
* improved conditioning, nutrition & strength programs
* improved NJ HS Coaches relationships - see Rick Mantz -Director HS Relations
* improved academic support ( RU ranked 3rd in B1G for graduation rate)
* he inherited present team and deserves at the minimum 3 years to turn this program around
* be PATIENT and provide SUPPORT ($$$) and you will see the progress!
#GoKnights

 

[RU#1fan]

well you are going to have to wait to see how ash performs with his guys and his system in place.

If you inherited my house, and i spray painted graffiti, shit all over the floors, smashed the walls and set the kitchen on fire. Would your expectations on the renovations be the same in day 1, day 30, day 365? No they would not be.

And you would probably start cleaning up the shit, before you patch the walls and before you demo and renovate the kitchen and then finally repaint the interior to make everything right.

No, but I would not expect to now have the entire house burned down and no resemebalnce of a structure ( i.e Team).

 

[RU31trap]

Right now at this moment coach Ash has a better recruiting class than Flood. But Flood had a better command of how to prepare a team and he was a much better game day coach. Coach Ash is lost, please focus on his body language and the expressions on his face. I know I'm a lone wolf with the following but if coach Flood did not have the off the field issues and suspended players last year he would have definitely gone 7-5 and with a little luck 8-4. His teams never quit on him and they were always competitive even in defeat.

 

[Veiox]

Hydration is the key...

 

[vkj91]

He's looked similar to other successful coaches in their first year of a rebuild.

 

[Block R]

His teams never quit on him and they were always competitive even in defeat.

Your memory is failing you. With the sole exception of Michigan St last year, we were blown out by every upper echelon B1G team in Flood's last 2 seasons. I'll save you trouble of saying it has been worse this year--yes, it has. But your statement is simply not true.

 

[BoogieKnight]

We are somewhat improved on defense in my opinion. The stats don't show it because the D can't get off the field and has no depth whatsoever, but we are aligned better and have made more plays than the D has over the past few seasons. I'm still not sold on Ash being the long term solution as HC but I think he will rebuild the defensive side of the ball which after 2013-2015 was sorely needed. Still think we should hire an offensive HC eventually.

 

[TMCB]

Nick saban could not win with this team. Ash needs a few yrs

 

[RU31trap]

Your memory is failing you. With the sole exception of Michigan St last year, we were blown out by every upper echelon B1G team in Flood's last 2 seasons. I'll save you trouble of saying it has been worse this year--yes, it has. But your statement is simply not true.

Last year Flood was playing with a fractured lineup. I said if we were at full strength last year minus the suspensions he would have finished the year 7-5 maybe 8-4 with a little luck. Unfortunately because of the off the field issues we lost some of our most experienced athletes.

 

[Block R]

Last year Flood was playing with a fractured lineup. I said if we were at full strength last year minus the suspensions he would have finished the year 7-5 maybe 8-4 with a little luck. Unfortunately because of the off the field issues we lost some of our most experienced athletes.

You actually said Flood's teams "were always competitive even in defeat". Unfortunately, they weren't and I only brought up his last two seasons. Now you're conceding we weren't always competitive last year but it was because we were playing with a "fractured lineup". Would you also concede we're playing with a 'fractured lineup' this year?

 

[BoogieKnight]

I said if we were at full strength last year minus the suspensions he would have finished the year 7-5 maybe 8-4 with a little luck.

You are out of your mind. The only reason 2014 worked out the way it did was because we had the most accomplished coach in RU football history on the staff in Ralph Friedgen. Even then, we had a 4th year starter at QB, needed a miracle comeback to beat Maryland and got some bounces to beat Michigan and Wash State. In 2015, we were exactly what our record said we were. 4-8.

 

[RUScrew85]

* upgrade of facilities (Hale Center)
* improved conditioning, nutrition & strength programs
* improved NJ HS Coaches relationships - see Rick Mantz -Director HS Relations
* improved academic support ( RU ranked 3rd in B1G for graduation rate)
* he inherited present team and deserves at the minimum 3 years to turn this program around
* be PATIENT and provide SUPPORT ($$$) and you will see the progress!
#GoKnights

This. And these are substantial but you can't blame some fans for a teeny bit of doubt creeping in.

They were way worse than expected and didn't seem to improve as the season went by. While that doesn't necessarily confirm the doubt it may confirm the coach either has some growing to do or is very stubborn and unwilling to change the plan to fit the athletes.

Things can only get better form here.

 

[Knight Shift]

Last year Flood was playing with a fractured lineup. I said if we were at full strength last year minus the suspensions he would have finished the year 7-5 maybe 8-4 with a little luck. Unfortunately because of the off the field issues we lost some of our most experienced athletes.

Sorry, but this is the worst case of "could have, should have, would have" I may have ever seen. The suspensions were a direct result of his laissez faire management style, the same style he used in recruiting, which led to his downfall and firing. He coasted off of the 2009-2012 recruiting classes, and it all started to unravel last year. To try to give him a break for the suspended/dismissed players is ludicrous. And I was accused of being a Floodie by many here last year.

 

[Caliknight]

Recruiting, and implementing little things that other programs are have. Details at this level matter.

Now can he reel in talent. We will see. It's a monumental task. We play in the hardest division in college football.

 

[Caliknight]

* upgrade of facilities (Hale Center)
* improved conditioning, nutrition & strength programs
* improved NJ HS Coaches relationships - see Rick Mantz -Director HS Relations
* improved academic support ( RU ranked 3rd in B1G for graduation rate)
* he inherited present team and deserves at the minimum 3 years to turn this program around
* be PATIENT and provide SUPPORT ($$$) and you will see the progress!
#GoKnights

Great post.

 

[Nihilist Rodgers]

far tougher will be next year, after 2/3 wins and way more doubt setting in.. that is when he'll hang himself. Recruiting will become impossible as other coaches stoke job security fears.-sg

 

[PaKnight]

Last year Flood was playing with a fractured lineup. I said if we were at full strength last year minus the suspensions he would have finished the year 7-5 maybe 8-4 with a little luck. Unfortunately because of the off the field issues we lost some of our most experienced athletes.

Those guys are still missing this year.

 

[madchuck]

Changed the uniforms. At least we look like a B1G team.

 

[money3189]

Ash should have got a more experienced OC while building the foundation. He should have slowly transitioned into power spread. Should have started this year with some under center, power and bootleg plays mixed in with some shot gun stuff. Just IMO.

 

[Debtbubble]

Nothing. Not even a glimmer of hope. The wild knight looks like pure genius compared to this offense.

 

[RUsojo]

I recognize we are stuck with Ash for a while, but I keep hearing that we need to give him 3 years to be better. In all seriousness, what has he done to make you feel good that he will turn it around in 3 years?

He def got off to a strong start recruiting, and I hope that the kids stay (2 decomitts already). However, I saw us regress as a team, not improve.

For those that are bullish on Ash, what is it that gives you confidence in him. I want to believe, but right now it's very hard to do so for me.

If you were working within the frame work that this was a 2-4 wins season AT BEST, then, it's not very hard to be bullish on Ash. Consider the changes in program infrastructure and the recruiting success up to date. The fact that our class looks the way it does proves he is recruiting with a strong message that kids believe in.

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

Terry Shea would be a step up on Ash

 

[ATIOH]

He's looked similar to other successful coaches in their first year of a rebuild.

Well at least no one is mentioning Saban again.

Nick saban could not win with this team. Ash needs a few yrs

 

[vkj91]

Well at least no one is mentioning Saban again.

Don't need to. Plenty of of examples just you guys either are too lazy, too dumb, not really fans, or don't watch enough football. Here's another great example since everyone loves Colorado right now.
Year 1: 4-8 with scores of 44-17, 57-16, 54-13, 44-20, 45-23, 59-7, 47-29
Year 2: 2-10(0-9 in PAC play)

 

[RUskoolie]

I swear, every thread it's the same 4-5 troglodytes

@RU31trap @waretown @RU#1fan @Veiox