Rutgers fires Chris Ash & John McNulty, name Nunzio Campanile as interim head coach

Keith Sargeant of NJ Advance Media reporter that Rutgers athletic director Pat Hobbs fired head coach Chris Ash and offensive coordinator John McNulty on Sunday afternoon. Per Sarge’s report, assistant Nunzio Campanile will take over as interim head coach the remainder of this season.

The Chris Ash era comes to an end with a 8-32 record and a 16 game losing streak against power five teams. Rutgers lost 15 games under Ash by four touchdowns or more and has lost 14 consecutive Big Ten games. The Scarlet Knights have been outscored 112-16 in their three losses to Iowa, Boston College and Michigan. The news of the firing comes the day after a 52-0 embarrassment in Ann Arbor.

We called for Ash’s immediate firing over one week ago here.

We will have plenty more on the end of the Ash era and the national search to replace him in the coming days. For now, we can appreciate that Hobbs and the Rutgers administration took action at an appropriate time. It’s the first step in bringing respectability back to Rutgers football.

For our immediate reaction to the news, here is our emergency Sunday afternoon podcast.