By Mario Williams
On Jan. 19 at 5:45 a.m. at High Point Solutions Stadium, Rutgers players met new head coach Chris Ash and the coaching staff.
Their first impression of him was nothing they expected and nothing they felt prior to his arrival.
“The workout was hell, I’ll give it to you nice and raw,” wide receiver Andre Patton said. “We really didn’t know what to expect going into that workout. We knew it was going to be hard, but we didn’t know it was going to be that extent, that hard. It was an eye-opener to all of us.”
From that frozen day in January to where the team is now, much has changed. Patton noted he could sense that Ash wanted to bring a different type of structure to the program while still being intense.
Ash isn’t a stranger to the Big Ten one bit. Prior to joining the Scarlet Knights, Ash served as the co-defensive coordinator and safety coach at Ohio State during the 2014-15 season. Before that, he spent the 2011 and 2012 seasons as the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin.
Ash’s mission for the program this upcoming season is to transform what it once was. In fact, the head coach said he didn’t watch any film from the past seasons.
“I’m confident enough in our plan and the way we’re going to do business,” he said. “I think we can create the type of culture that we want. I wasn’t worried about looking back. I knew we had to buy in from the players, and I knew how we were going to do it, and I think we’ve been able to do it in a short amount of time.”
His prior experience in the conference is what his players relish thus far. From the first day they all met at practice, they knew he meant business. Pinnix-Odrick said Ash had a clear plan right away, and that he didn’t stray away from his true identify as a coach and his intentions for the program.
“He stayed true to his values,” defensive lineman Julian Pinnix-Odrick said. “We need that. We need direction. He just said, ‘This is what I like, this is what I believe in, and this is what we’re going to do.’ ”
Aside from the new culture he has instilled in his players, Patton noted that the intense workout from day one until now has formed a bigger bond and brotherhood among the team.
“When Coach Ash came in, he harped on our brotherhood more,” Patton said. “We’re going to be the only ones playing on that field, so to have the better brotherhood is only going to make things so much smoother and easier to play.”
Ash’s confidence in his plans for the upcoming season is what the players enjoy seeing. While Rutgers may not be a team of conversation as of now, the head coach is looking forward to turning that around.
With the help of already coaching in the Big Ten he knows what is at stake, and knows it won’t be an easy route to take.
“I think we have all the key ingredients needed to build upon a great foundation to build upon this season and future seasons,” Ash said.