After reports surfaced this morning that Florida International head coach Mario Cristobal was in negotiations that would make him the next head coach at Rutgers, things have suddenly changed. According to Pete Thamel of the New York Times, Cristobal has had a change of heart and has informed Rutgers that he will not be taking the Rutgers job and will remain at FIU. Evidently, negotiations with Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti hit a snag and the deal is now off with multiple outlets now reporting Cristobal has informed his team at FIU that he will be staying. Cristobal was viewed as a natural fit to replace Schiano, being a south Florida native that had also worked under Schiano at Rutgers early in his tenure there.
There are no indications what the snag in negotiations with Rutgers was, but if I had to guess, I would say that Cristobal was unwilling to commit to keeping too much of the current staff, something Pernetti might have insisted on in order to (hopefully) salvage the 2012 recruiting class. CBS Brett McMurphy reports that the two sides simply couldn't agree on terms for a new contract, both salary and years. According to Thamel, Rutgers search will now focus on current offensive line coach Kyle Flood and Arizona Cardinals wide receivers coach John McNulty.