Go ahead, laugh all you want, just keep in mind the entire country is currently laughing at the laughing stock that Rutgers Football has become under Chris Ash. I don't even need to explain my reasoning any further on why Chris Ash was a disastrous hire for Rutgers, the results can be seen on the field, on the recruiting trail and by the demeanor of our players on the sideline.
Chris Partridge is everything that Chris Ash is not. He's a program builder, he's a master motivator, he's an ace recruiter, he's an aggressive in-game decision maker, and most importantly he will embrace the challenge that is Rutgers Football. For those of you who don't know Chris Partridge or for those of you (like Pat Hobbs) who are saying to yourself, "no more risks, we need a head coach with proven head coaching experience", hear me out.
In 2010, Chris Partridge took over a putrid Paramus Catholic program that was a perpetual bye week for the big 4 parochials in North Jersey (Bergen Catholic, Don Bosco, St. Joe's, and St. Peter's). By 2012, Paramus Catholic was the #1 team in NJ. He did this through building a culture that top recruits choosing high schools wanted to be apart of. Suddenly kids were choosing Paramus Catholic over schools like Bosco, Bergen Catholic, St. Joe's, St. Peter's, the list goes on. Now, the people who dislike Partridge always like to say, "well he cheated". No he didn't, stop bitching and whining. (They went from being door mats to this within 3 years) Paramus Catholic Football Entrance He built a program that kids wanted to come to and he played a style of football that kids loved and he didn't kiss the feet of the big 4 which every other Paramus Catholic coach had done since Campanile left over a decade prior (similar to how Ash bows down to Ohio St, Michigan, PSU and Michigan St). In the 2012 state championship, up 29-28 with Bergen Catholic inside the Paramus Catholic 5 yard-line with just 1:39 to play, Chris Partridge told his defense, "let them score and then we're going to march down the field and beat them". Bergen Catholic scored on the next play to take a 34-29 lead. Paramus Catholic got the ball back and guess what they did? They marched down the field and scored and won 37-34 in a legendary game. Do you think those kids bought into what their coach was selling them?
The similarities between the job Partridge undertook at Paramus Catholic and the task at hand for the next head football coach at Rutgers are nearly identical. Rutgers is in their own division with a big 4 that they've served as a perpetual bye week for under Ash in Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State. Rutgers has not only not shown a pulse vs these teams under the soon to be prior regime but they've also gotten their asses handed to them on the recruiting trail by them as well. Something Paramus Catholic was accustomed to prior to the arrival of Chris Partridge. Now at this point, half the people reading this are saying to themselves, "LOL this guy is trying to compare the Big North to the Big Ten". Yes I am, yes I am. Guys like Chris Partridge don't fail.
Chris Partridge ironically for the past four years has been on staff in the very same Big Ten at Michigan where he currently serves as the safeties coach and special teams coordinator. In 2016 he was named national recruiter of the year by rivals.com and again in 2017 he was named national recruiter of the year by 247 sports for his accomplishments on the recruiting trail. Oh yeah, and this past off-season he turned down a coaching offer from Nick Saban at Alabama but don't worry, let's just keep listening to those in NJ football who think Partridge isn't ready for the spotlight. It's not like the guys Saban puts on his staff's ever go off and have success anyway. (For those not catching on I'm being sarcastic as Saban beat his former assistant Kirby Smart in the national title game last season). He is a guy who not only knows the NJ landscape and the unique job that is Rutgers, he has also now studied our conference foes for the past 4 years while at Michigan.
For those concerned with his lack of head coaching experience or even coordinator experience I simply would just ask you who are consistently the top 3 football program in America? The answer for most is Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State. What if I told you that Dabo Swinney not only had zero head coaching experience but was never even a coordinator prior to taking over at Clemson? What if I told you that Urban Meyer had never been more than a position coach prior to taking his first head coaching job? The fact of the matter is, in 2018 being the head football coach of a college program is about more than just X's and O's. It's about building a culture the recruits want to join, it's about managing people, it's about motivating players AND COACHES to be great, and last but not least, it's more about the Jimmy's and Joe's than the X's and O's. Pat, you'll be able to find plenty of coaches who will accept the Rutgers job for a quick pay day, but do they REALLY want the job or just the money? I believe Chris Partridge would want the job and more so the challenge.
It's time for us to stop looking for the safe hire who Barry Alvarez or Urban Meyer recommends to us. It's time to stop asking high school football coaches in NJ who they would like best. Let's start asking OURSELVES what's best for Rutgers? It's time for us to look ourselves in the mirror and, Pat, if we truly are looking to write one of the greatest stories in college athletics, it's time to start looking at Chris Partridge.
I know that Partridge had zero respect for Rutgers when he was at Paramus Catholic.
ReplyDeleteOk you make some valid points but would you take Coach P over Les Miles?
ReplyDeleteYes. Les Miles is 65 years old and flush with cash. He lacks the energy, enthusiasm and hunger that our next coach MUST have.
Delete"What if I told you that Urban Meyer had never been more than a position coach prior to taking his first head coaching job?" Duh...wouldn't that be the case for most head coaches?
ReplyDeleteNo. A lot of them are coordinators first.
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