UPDATE: Rutgers Hires Indiana's Noah Joseph As Co-DC/Safeties coach

UPDATE: Rutgers officially announced the hiring of Noah Joseph on February 22nd. He was named co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach, which was the same positions held by Bill Busch, who departed for LSU. Head coach Chris Ash had this to say about adding Joseph to his staff:

“I’d like to welcome Noah and his family to our football program,” said Ash. “His extensive experience coaching defensive backs in the Big Ten will be a tremendous asset for our players. He is a great teacher and outstanding recruiter.”

ORIGINAL STORY from February 16th:

The revolving door of coaches continues this offseason for Rutgers football. On Thursday night, there was a shakeup in the secondary, as a new coach was reported to be joining Chris Ash's staff, while another assistant was on his way out.

Just one week after Bill Busch left the program for a job with LSU, Ash has reportedly tapped Noah Joseph, who was the safeties coach at Indiana the past five seasons. The hire was first reported by Keith Sargeant of NJ Advance Media late Thursday night.

The two coaches have a history two decades long, as Joseph played and was a captain for Ash when he was the defensive coordinator at Drake in the late nineties. Joseph later worked under Ash as a graduate assistant at both Drake and Iowa State. Prior to his job at Indiana, Joseph had stints at Eastern Illinois, Montana State, and North Texas.

Joseph has been a recruiting coordinator at multiple stops, including Indiana, as well as holding various roles coaching the secondary. He is known as a strong recruiter and was ranked #181st among all FBS assistants for the 2018 recruiting cycle, per 247 Sports. Joseph was the second highest ranked assistant on the Hoosiers staff for the 2018 class and the only Rutgers assistant ranked higher was former wide receivers coach Jafar Williams, who has since moved to Maryland. For perspective, Bill Busch, whom Joseph is replacing, was ranked 233rd.

Under Joseph last season, Indiana saw both starting safeties, Jonathan Crawford and Chase Dutra, named as All-Big Ten honorable mention honorees.

Joseph made $242,000 last season per USA Today. There is no word yet as to what his salary will be at Rutgers.

On the face of it, this appears to be a strong hire. In addition to Joseph’s experience as a coach and a recruiter, Ash now has another trusted confidant on his staff. There are now seven of the nine assistants on Ash's staff that have Big Ten experience as either a player or coach.

That wasn't the only news of the night, as two hours earlier ESPN's Adam Rittenberg reported that cornerbacks coach Henry Baker was leaving Rutgers to become the defensive backs coach at North Carolina.

Baker is now the fifth assistant to leave the program this offseason. He was the lowest paid assistant on the staff at $175,000. The other coaches to leave includes former offensive coordinator Jerry Kill (retired), Shane Burnham (Central Florida), Jafar Williams (Maryland), Bill Busch (LSU). Ash just has three assistants remaining on staff from when he arrived: associate head coach/offensive line coach A.J. Blazek, defensive coordinator Jay Niemann, and special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Vince Okruch.

It is unknown how Ash will replace Baker. Every assistant on the defensive side of the ball is new to the Rutgers staff, except for coordinator Jay Niemann.

For now, here is the current makeup of the coaching staff under Ash ahead of spring practice, which begins in early March.

Offensive Coordinator - John McNulty

Associate HC/offensive line - A.J. Blazek

Running backs - Nunzio Campanile

Wide receivers - Lester Erb

Special teams coordinator/Tight ends - Vince Okruch

Defensive coordinator/linebackers - Jay Neiman

Defensive line - Corey Brown

Outside linebackers/specialists - Toby Neinas

Defensive backs - Noah Joseph