Rutgers fans woke up Monday with an interim head coach, supposedly hired up-and-coming star Mario Cristobal midday and then ended up back with the same interim coach in the end.
You aren’t the only one who is confused.
In the end, the Scarlet Knights have hired Kyle Flood as their permanent head coach, elevating him from interim coach. Several players confirmed the news on their Facebook profiles. But it looked for a time like the Knights would have FIU head coach Cristobal as their future leader.
Multiple outlets, including the Newark Star-Ledger, reported that Cristobal had been offered the head coaching position and accepted it. All that was left were negotiations on a contract. He apparently had second thoughts, however, and decided to stay in south Florida at the program he built from among the worst in the country. Cristobal, who has taken Florida International to bowl games in each of the last two seasons, is considered a rising star in the coaching world. He has strong recruiting ties in the talent-rich Miami area and spent three seasons at Rutgers as an offensive line and tight ends coach.
Flood, 41, was the assistant head coach and offensive line coach under Greg Schiano and was promoted to interim head coach once Schiano accepted the head coaching position with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Flood has been with the team since 2005.
Flood has spent the last week trying to hold onto a touted recruiting class ranked No. 1 in the Big East by Rivals.com.
