In July, CBS Sports college football reporter Dennis Dodd rated the job security of all 129 FBS head coaches entering the season by assigning a rating to each coach. Dodd gave Rutgers head coach Chris Ash a "4," which meant, "Start improving now." Scarlet Knights' athletic director Pat Hobbs didn't agree.
"Hey CBS Sports! You can take my guy off your list," Hobbs tweeted. "Program building takes time and Chris Ash is doing a great job!"
That was before Rutgers was annihilated by Kansas, a program who won 15 games from 2010, hadn't beat consecutive FBS teams since 2011 and hadn't scored more than 35 points vs. a Power Five team since 2010. The loss — Ash's 20th in 27 games since arriving in 2016 — was embarrassing, as was yet another blowout loss to Ohio State a week earlier, but it's highly unlikely Hobbs' opinion has gone from new contract and "great job!" to job security musings.
That's one reason why Chris Ash is not on the hot seat, but there's another more expensive reason: Ash has a gigantic buyout.
When Ash arrived from his defensive coordinator post at Ohio State in December 2015, he signed a five-year, $11-million deal. In November, he signed a new deal that included an extension through 2022 and raised his buyout to $10.35 million if Rutgers fires him after the 2018 season.
Rutgers' fans are pissed (search "fired Chris Ash" or another similarly anti-Ash sentiment on Twitter) and rightfully so. You lost to Kansas. You lost to Kansas by 41 points! That loss, however, did not put Chris Ash on the hot seat, largely thanks to a nearly eight-figure buyout.
