Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti said that any athletic director worth his salt has a list ready to go should his head coach leave for another position. Reports beginning to surface indicate that Pernetti's list of successors to Greg Schiano will focus on four candidates. Temple head coach Steve Addazio, Florida Internation head coach Mario Cristobal, current offensive line coach Kyle Flood, and New York Giants offensive line coach Pat Flaherty are all believed to be candidates for the position.
According to a report in the New Jersey Star-Ledger, offensive line coach Kyle Flood has already interviewed for the position and is eager to land the position. Flood has been on the Rutgers staff since 2005 and would likely give it the best chance to hold together as much of the current recruiting class as possible. Addazio is popular in the region and had success in his first year as a head coach at Temple, leading the Owls to nine wins. He was previously on the staff as offensive line coach and offensive coordinator at Florida under Urban Meyer and viewed as an effective recruiter. While the report lists Addazio as a candidate, conflicting reports indicate that Addazio is not interested in the job at this time.
There are no indications that any of the other possible candidates have interviewed at this point. It doesn't look like Pernetti will have a coach in place by Wednesday's National Signing Day when recruits for the class of 2012 can officially sign with a school. Commitments Ryan Brodie and Quanzell Lambert have both indicated that they might not signing letter of intent on Wednesday, possibly in an effort to give Rutgers more time to hire a coach. Today, athlete Devin Fuller, thought to be a Rutgers lean prior to Schiano's departure, committed to play for UCLA. If no coach is in place, Rutgers could be in danger of seeing a promising recruiting class crumble at the last minute.