Following the regular season finale against South Florida, Kyle Flood announced that three of his assistants would not return next season. Defensive coordinator/linebacker coach Dave Cohen, quarterback coach Rob Spence and offensive line coach Damian Wroblewski were all let go in the purge that is a common practice for teams who have a head coach on hot seat. The Cohen and Spence firings were expected, but Wroblewski's dismissal was a bit of a surprise.
Cohen did a solid job coaching linebackers in both of his two seasons at Rutgers, but he made it pretty clear he could not cut it as a coordinator. The Scarlet Knight defense, which has had success by bringing heavy pressure and playing man coverage over the last decade, too often sat back in soft zone coverages and were thus torn apart. He had to overcome a lot of attrition in the defensive back field and that was a big reason why they had to play so much zone, but it seemed like they had the same game plan every week and it was just not working. The decision to stay in base personnel against spread offenses and the inexplicable under use of Darius Hamilton as a pass rusher also contributed to his down fall.
Spence came to Rutgers with a spotty track record coaching at BCS programs, and he did a pretty poor job developing quarterbacks on the banks. Gary Nova was never able to really take the next step as a quarterback, and Spence was probably a reason why. Nova showed flashes of talent over the past two seasons, but he never really put it all together, as his turnover prone ways have continued to be problematic. None of the younger quarterbacks in the roster were ready to play either, and that contributed to Nova staying in the line up perhaps longer than he should have.
It's not completely outrageous, but I think firing Wroblewski was a mistake. The Scarlet Knights had a very good offensive line in 2012, and I think a lot of that units problems this season were due to some questionable line up decisions, which is on the head coach (though Wroblo might have had some input). And it's not like they were horrendous this year, just very up and down. You are pretty much doomed to fail when your best guard is on the bench and your best tackle is playing guard. Unless he was responsible for the line up construction, I think he is being scapegoated.
Special teams coordinator Joe Rossi will take over Cohen's responsibilities for the bowl game, and offensive coordinator Ron Prince and graduate assistant Darnell Stapelton will do likewise for Spence and Wroblewski respectivly.
Turn over on the coaching staff goes on at every program every year, but it certainly seems like Rutgers has had more than its' fair share over the last three or four years. That has no doubt led to some of the team's struggles this season, but this year's batch firings will probably be for the better, since two of the three coaches let go were doing a very poor job.
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