Butch Jones has removed his name from consideration for the vacant Rutgers head coaching position, multiple media outlets reported.
NJ.com’s Rutgers Sports Insider was the first to report that Jones is no longer in the running for the position previously held by Chris Ash, who was fired in late September.
The move could be construed as an indication that former Scarlet Knights football coach Greg Schiano is close to returning to the job. The 53-year-old Schiano, who also interviewed for the position, is a New Jersey native who coached at Rutgers from 2001-11.
Jones, who currently serves as an offensive analyst at Alabama, previously was the head coach at Central Michigan, Cincinnati and Tennessee. He interviewed for the job with the Scarlet Knights on Nov. 1.
The 51-year-old Jones, who was a graduate assistant at Rutgers from 1990-92, has an 84-54 record in 11 seasons as a head coach. He guided Tennessee to three straight bowl wins from 2014-16 but was fired with two games remaining the following season after a 4-6 start.
Schiano left Rutgers to become head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was fired after two seasons. He later became the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Ohio State, and earlier this year joined Bill Belichick’s staff with the New England Patriots. He resigned after less than two months to “spend more time on my faith and family.”
Under Ash, Rutgers (2-7) opened the season 1-3 and was shut out twice.
Tight ends coach Nunzio Campanile has served as interim head coach since Ash’s dismissal.
Ash went 8-32 in three-plus seasons, with his best season being 4-8 in 2017.
— Field Level Media
