Why money matters

[BigLou]

Rutgers and Penn State both hired offensive coordinators after last season. We hired a 28 year old who never had this type of job at this level before. Penn State hired an FCS head coach who took over a team that was 1-11 in 2011 and proceeded to go 38-13 over the next 4 seasons. My guess is that it took a pretty good amount of money to pry Joe Moorehead from his alma mater.
Moorehead has probably saved Franklin's job. The PSU offense is much improved. I expect him to get BCS head coach offers within another year.

 

[BlockR]

RU needs to jet Merrhinger after signing day,or let him coach WRS,or QBs,special teams...like he did at his last stops. Hire an O cord with Power 5 resume..!!!
http://jmusports.com/coaches.aspx?path=football&rc=29
also Acosta needs to be hired for his Jersey ties in recruiting NJ high school football .Would be a great team with Mantz.I think the NCAA is going to approve the additional coach for each staff next season.Acosta would love to be at RU.
http://cuse.com/staff.aspx?staff=437

 

[DHajekRC84]

Rutgers and Penn State both hired offensive coordinators after last season. We hired a 28 year old who never had this type of job at this level before. Penn State hired an FCS head coach who took over a team that was 1-11 in 2011 and proceeded to go 38-13 over the next 4 seasons. My guess is that it took a pretty good amount of money to pry Joe Moorehead from his alma mater.
Moorehead has probably saved Franklin's job. The PSU offense is much improved. I expect him to get BCS head coach offers within another year.

Was $ the reason Ash hired DM? Or was it simply his wish to find a guy that (he thinks) can run his style of offense?

I certainly agree on one thing... was just looking back at all the hires...everyone from Anderson, Graber, Schiano , Flood and now Ash were all assist. Only Shea had any HC experience..2 years at San Jose but he was hired in as an assist. (Graber had 1 year).

The only real HC was the Fridge and he came in and made a difference.

I think less about the $ vs. the experience. (but I do think you have to pay for it or get lucky like the fridge)

 

[G- RUnit]

Thought when we joined the B1G that we should have hired someone with head coaching experience and if not going to go that route, better make sure assistants have experience. Was crucified by this board for weeks. Biting my tongue.

 

[RU-ROCS]

Was $ the reason Ash hired DM? Or was it simply his wish to find a guy that (he thinks) can run his style of offense?

It was definitely money. Merringer makes $450K - a huge pay raise for him, but only about half of what the top-dogs in the Big10 pay to their OCs, especially when considering NJ's high income tax and cost of living.

 

[DHajekRC84]

It was definitely money. Merringer makes $450K - a huge pay raise for him, but only about half of what the top-dogs in the Big10 pay to their OCs, especially when considering NJ's high income tax and cost of living.

yes, but that assumes we wouldn't pay more. (I don't know the fact here). Perhaps that is all Ash needed to pay to get his guy given the increase he was getting?

But don't get me wrong. Right now I am feeling we over paid for sure and wish we had a real experienced OC (and maybe even HC).

 

[rutgersguy1]

The salary for Mehringer is fine. I'd guess the coordinator salaries for the Purdues, IUs, Minnesotas of the B10 is likely in the 400-600K range. I know Dave Aranda was making 500K at Wisconsin before he left for 1.3M at LSU. I believe their new coordinator Justin Wilcox is making the same and IIRC he's been DC at UT, USC and Washington. I just took a look at MSU's coordinators and they make less than 400K as of last year.

Really only the top jewel programs (and maybe SEC schools) or the top jewel coordinators get near that 1M range or slightly above. Most are usually in that 400-600K range.

I don't think the Mehringer hire was on the cheap as much as it was just a recommendation from his buddy Tom Herman and Ash compensated him with the going rate for a coordinator at most schools. You can have issues with the choice, I don't think you should have as much issue about the salary.

EDIT: You know IIRC Tom Herman was only making in that 400-550K range at OSU when he was there too. So even the top name schools don't always pay that much. I think Brady Hoke's coordinators did get a little more, I think they made in the 700K range Point is 450K isn't so cheap. It's about normal.

 

[RUfinal4]

We need to give this team another year. The players are not B10 level thanks to Flood recruiting. They also are not the personnel for the Ash system. Let's see how it is a year from now if there is improvement.

 

[Nihilist Rodgers]

Fridge is/was a far better coach than Schiano.. he was a the end of his career but made a diff at RU. Schiano is all energy, but limited on gameday.

 

[patk89]

Fridge is/was a far better coach than Schiano.. he was a the end of his career but made a diff at RU. Schiano is all energy, but limited on gameday.

What? He got us to #12 in 2006. Then consistently bowl teams that would kill this year's squad. Have another drink.

 

[needmorecowbell]

RU needs to jet Merrhinger after signing day,or let him coach WRS,or QBs,special teams...like he did at his last stops. Hire an O cord with Power 5 resume..!!!
http://jmusports.com/coaches.aspx?path=football&rc=29
also Acosta needs to be hired for his Jersey ties in recruiting NJ high school football .Would be a great team with Mantz.I think the NCAA is going to approve the additional coach for each staff next season.Acosta would love to be at RU.
http://cuse.com/staff.aspx?staff=437

The OC is going no where. Ash is committed to this offense and didn't hire a 28 year old to give up year one. I expect tweaks in the offseason and a new starter at QB but he here to stay.

 

[BlockR]

The OC is going no where. Ash is committed to this offense and didn't hire a 28 year old to give up year one. I expect tweaks in the offseason and a new starter at QB but he here to stay.

he has not proved his a power 5 OC..AT ALL.

 

[FanuSanu52]

Thought when we joined the B1G that we should have hired someone with head coaching experience and if not going to go that route, better make sure assistants have experience. Was crucified by this board for weeks. Biting my tongue.

And as usual, you're not really right. Guys with HC experience don't always work out, either, at least the class of guy we'd be looking at. Even teams with all the resources in the world (USC, TX) know this.

Too bad Mullen fell apart years ago, would a been as solid a get as likely for RU.

 

[Nihilist Rodgers]

What? He got us to #12 in 2006. Then consistently bowl teams that would kill this year's squad. Have another drink.

Friedgen spawned guys like Bill O'Brien, George O'Leary, James Franklin.. who in the hell did Schiano develop??.. he actually set football back a few years channeling his inner JoePa. #12... there are teams that get to #12 every single year..

wow this is depressing..you've only finished ranked 1x in 41 years?? Please tell me I'm wrong.?!?!. Frank Burns Eats Worms musta been a Beast!! 10 years in Schiano want 4-8.!?!?.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/rutgers/

 

[MADHAT1]

Fridge is/was a far better coach than Schiano.. he was a the end of his career but made a diff at RU. Schiano is all energy, but limited on gameday.

Wonder what Greg would have accomplished with Fridge as his OC.
Fridge done wonders for Flood's offense as Flood's OC.

I believe Fridge made a $500,000 salary as RU's OC.

 

[Rutgers8086]

Friedgen spawned guys like Bill O'Brien, George O'Leary, James Franklin.. who in the hell did Schiano develop??.. he actually set football back a few years channeling his inner JoePa. #12... there are teams that get to #12 every single year..

wow this is depressing..you've only finished ranked 1x in 41 years?? Please tell me I'm wrong.?!?!. Frank Burns Eats Worms musta been a Beast!! 10 years in Schiano want 4-8.!?!?.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/rutgers/

Now on ignore. Congrats!

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Plenty of solid-to-great OC's were NOT OC's prior to their initial successes (regardless of level). Rome wasn't built in a day and, bottom line, most of want Schiano built was destroyed by his "protege."

 

[Nihilist Rodgers]

Wonder what Greg would have accomplished with Fridge as his OC.
Fridge done wonders for Flood's offense as Flood's OC.

I believe Fridge made a $500,000 salary as RU's OC.

Greg was a control freak.. prob not much. Fridge was good.

 

[MADHAT1]

Actually George O’Leary was the one with the real tree not Fridge but he did have Franklin. Guess some are uninformed and try to look informed when talking about coaching trees or just plain liars.
George O’Leary's tree
Branches: Ralph Friedgen ( Maryland), Bill O’Brien (Penn State), Doug Marrone ( Syracuse), Ted Roof ( Duke)
O’Leary’s had a decent track record of hiring assistants who become head coaches. Ralph Friedgen is Maryland’s all-time wins leader. Bill O’Brien worked for both O’Leary and Friedgen .

Schaino only had Flood ( RU faliure.) and P.J Fleck ( doing great at WMU) most know about
But there was Mario Cristobal (FIU) along with Darrell Hazell (Kent St & Purdue ),
Darren Rizzi (Rhode Island) and Brian Jenkins (Bethune-Cookman & Alabama State University)
All might not have had the success that makes a great coaching tree, but I'm not putting some coaches that aren't in Schiano's tree and making them part of it like someone tried to do with Fridge's tree. They even made Fridge the tree where one HC is concerned when he was just one of the branches.
Trolls lie or are just plain stupid.[roll]

 

[knightfan7]

Rutgers and Penn State both hired offensive coordinators after last season. We hired a 28 year old who never had this type of job at this level before. Penn State hired an FCS head coach who took over a team that was 1-11 in 2011 and proceeded to go 38-13 over the next 4 seasons. My guess is that it took a pretty good amount of money to pry Joe Moorehead from his alma mater.
Moorehead has probably saved Franklin's job. The PSU offense is much improved. I expect him to get BCS head coach offers within another year.

The thing is you're only guessing about Moorehead's salary as PSU doesn't release coaching salaries. It may be more. It may be very similar. I doubt it's less. Do you know what he made at Fordham? Best as I can tell the Top HC's in the FCS make $125-150k. Do you think Fordham was one? If so $450k would likely triple his income.

You're making a lot of assumptions to try to bolster your theory.
As to "prying" him from Fordham, there is the thought out there he may be moving on in the not so distant future as he has his eyes set on being the head guy at a FBS school. PSU OC was the next step in that plan.

 

[Nihilist Rodgers]

Actually George O’Leary was the one with the real tree not Fridge but he did have Franklin. Guess some are uninformed and try to look informed when talking about coaching trees or just plain liars.
George O’Leary's tree
Branches: Ralph Friedgen ( Maryland), Bill O’Brien (Penn State), Doug Marrone ( Syracuse), Ted Roof ( Duke)
O’Leary’s had a decent track record of hiring assistants who become head coaches. Ralph Friedgen is Maryland’s all-time wins leader. Bill O’Brien worked for both O’Leary and Friedgen .

Schaino only had Flood ( RU faliure.) and P.J Fleck ( doing great at WMU) most know about
But there was Mario Cristobal (FIU) along with Darrell Hazell (Kent St & Purdue ),
Darren Rizzi (Rhode Island) and Brian Jenkins (Bethune-Cookman & Alabama State University)
All might not have had the success that makes a great coaching tree, but I'm not putting some coaches that aren't in Schiano's tree and making them part of it like someone tried to do with Fridge's tree. They even made Fridge the tree where one HC is concerned when he was just one of the branches.
Trolls lie or are just plain stupid.[roll]

My point is that Fridge is the best coach you've ever had on campus. If you want Greg back maybe PSU fans could chip in. I'll throw in $20.

 

[vkj91]

OP makes it like Moorehead was in high demand. Prior to Fordham his best job was a one year stint at OC at UCONN. Following year he was still there but no longer OC. Not sure if he got demoted. He also wasn't their first choice. Remember Franklin's staff took lateral moved last year to get away. He's looked good this year no doubt but he also has second best RB in the country.

 

[BlockR]

Ill agree that when Fridge was here,he was by far the best Coach RU had since Schiano.

 

[knightfan7]

OP makes it like Moorehead was in high demand. Prior to Fordham his best job was a one year stint at OC at UCONN. Following year he was still there but no longer OC. Not sure if he got demoted. He also wasn't their first choice. Remember Franklin's staff took lateral moved last year to get away. He's looked good this year no doubt but he also has second best RB in the country.

He had been an early name at UConn before Diaco was hired but who knows whether he was ever a candidate.

 

[tico brown]

What? He got us to #12 in 2006. Then consistently bowl teams that would kill this year's squad. Have another drink.

Fridge got Maryland into a BCS bowl game. Meanwhile Schiano never turned that corner, settling for Toronto, Birmingham, and St. Petersburg .

 

[lyndj]

OP makes it like Moorehead was in high demand. Prior to Fordham his best job was a one year stint at OC at UCONN. Following year he was still there but no longer OC. Not sure if he got demoted. He also wasn't their first choice. Remember Franklin's staff took lateral moved last year to get away. He's looked good this year no doubt but he also has second best RB in the country.

Franklin's staff took lateral move to get away?? Did you make that up? Franklin gave Shoop a raise after the first year to keep him. Shoop wanted even more after the second year. It was well known that Shoop's family preferred the south as they did not relocate, and Shoop wants a P5 HC gig and thought losing 3 starters to NFL would delay his ascent and TN was expected to challenge for championship. Add all those things up and he made a decision. Mind you Shoop's son is still on PSU's football team so I doubt there is bad blood there at all. Hand and malzahn are long time friends and Hands family never uprooted from TN and had no desire to. Situation worked out for him and with the Oline situation the last 2 years I don't think Franklin was sweating that one. You guys like to always talk negative about Franklin but he treats his staff very well. Sometimes coaches have other things going on particularly family that affects their decisions. Now you have the facts and not speculation. Your welcome!

 

[MADHAT1]

Franklin's staff took lateral move to get away?? Did you make that up? Franklin gave Shoop a raise after the first year to keep him. Shoop wanted even more after the second year. It was well known that Shoop's family preferred the south as they did not relocate, and Shoop wants a P5 HC gig and thought losing 3 starters to NFL would delay his ascent and TN was expected to challenge for championship. Add all those things up and he made a decision. Mind you Shoop's son is still on PSU's football team so I doubt there is bad blood there at all. Hand and malzahn are long time friends and Hands family never uprooted from TN and had no desire to. Situation worked out for him and with the Oline situation the last 2 years I don't think Franklin was sweating that one. You guys like to always talk negative about Franklin but he treats his staff very well. Sometimes coaches have other things going on particularly family that affects their decisions. Now you have the facts and not speculation. Your welcome!

I had heard Moorhead was looking for a position that would help him move into a good College HC spot and he felt being the Nit OC would do that better than staying Fordham's HC
Also there were some feelers from other college programs that he supposedly had no interest in and would have stayed the HC at Fordham
As for Franklin, can't knock the way the Nits are playing and will credit Moorhead for helping, but the credit for a program's success or blame for it's failure should always fall on the HC and Franklin is getting the credit for the way the Nits look this season.

 

[lyndj]

I had heard Moorhead was looking for a position that would help him move into a good College HC spot and he felt being the Nit OC would do that better than staying Fordham's HC
Also there were some feelers from other college programs that he supposedly had no interest in and would have stayed the HC at Fordham
As for Franklin, can't knock the way the Nits are playing and will credit Moorhead for helping, but the credit for a program's success or blame for it's failure should always fall on the HC and Franklin is getting the credit for the way the Nits look this season.

You are absolutely correct. Moorhead has stated he wants to be a P5 HC some day. That is known and PSU gives him that springboard. I'm pretty sure Franklin discussed that with him already. Franklin has put on record that he has no issues with his coaches leaving for better gigs. It's why he keeps his book full of potential replacements. I don't expect Moorhead to leave after one year, but I do expect him to explore if not next year, definitely year 3.

 

[RUfinal4]

If Schiano did not leave for the NFL Rutgers was primed to be a perennial top 25 team. he was starting to win recruiting wars with PSU and some of the name schools. Flood set us back.

Schiano was a CEO type of personality while Flood was more of a COO. Flood is good behind the scenes but is not inspirational or motivational. Ash may have some of that personality that Greg has. Time will tell if he displays it and becomes successful at Rutgers.

If Ash does become successful we have to find a way to keep him. If a school like Iowa or Iowa St shows him the money in 3-4 years when he proves successful it will be a tough choice sine that is where he is from.

 

[ponyfoot19]

Its ironic that guys regarded as good coaches/coordinators have talented players to work with. Those that don't have good players are not so highly regarded.

 

[RU31trap]

If Schiano did not leave for the NFL Rutgers was primed to be a perennial top 25 team. he was starting to win recruiting wars with PSU and some of the name schools. Flood set us back.

Schiano was a CEO type of personality while Flood was more of a COO. Flood is good behind the scenes but is not inspirational or motivational. Ash may have some of that personality that Greg has. Time will tell if he displays it and becomes successful at Rutgers.

If Ash does become successful we have to find a way to keep him. If a school like Iowa or Iowa St shows him the money in 3-4 years when he proves successful it will be a tough choice sine that is where he is from.

Flood did not set you back, your Governor and University set you back. The football program was not a priority, plain & simple. Honestly, it's not a priority today and probably will not be for a long time. Would Penn State have hired HOBBS as an Athletic Director and Ash as a Head Coach? If you sit back just for a moment and think about this University's mission after Schiano departure, big time football was at the bottom of that list.

That is not the case at PENN STATE. Just look at how their State residents, University, Alumni and Students promote and support the team both financially and spiritually. After the Sandusky arrest, PSU worked feverishly to meet and satisfy the NCAA's list of requirements. End result is that with a little luck Penn State could conceivably get a playoff spot if they win out.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

If RU fans do sell their tickets for the Pen St game, they should donate the proceeds to RU Football.

 

[MADHAT1]

Flood did not set you back, your Governor's and University's agenda set you back. The football program was not a priority, plain & simple. Honestly, it's not a priority today. If it were you would have HOBBS as an AD and Ash as a head coach. If you sit back just for a moment and think about the University's mission big time football is at the bottom of that list, next comes basketball.

That is not the case at PENN STATE. With a little luck Penn State could conceivably get a playoff spot if they win out with authority.

Flood's recruiting set RU FB back the Gov and RU's leadership didn't help but are not the ones that made RU FB less again.

 

[RU31trap]

Flood's recruiting set RU FB back the Gov and RU's leadership didn't help but are not the ones that made RU FB less again.

Madhat I respectfully disagree. The Governor, University President and Board of Governor's indirectly hired Kyle Flood knowing full well that it was a major step down from Schiano. They knew that Flood was very cheap and that's all they. Are about in my honest opinion. A move like that at PSU would have cost the University's President his job. Allow me to bestow some knowledge on to you Madhat. Always point the finger from the Top Down, especially here at Rutgers. I see a young man (ASH) who looks like a deer in headlights. Some will say Ash put himself in this situation because he accepted the job, I say Rutgers should have known to not hire a Co-DC who frankly was less qualified than K. Flood. Remember, Flood happened because Trenton and Barchi wanted it to happen; he was cheap and that was the deciding factor. The same applies to Ash and his assistants. There's money in NJ to build a formidable football D1A program but it will never happen.