Report: Former Rutgers HC Chris Ash advising Texas ahead of Oklahoma game

For the second straight game against the Oklahoma Sooners, Texas Longhorns head coach Tom Herman is bringing in a terminated former colleague to help advise him. After Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley objected to Herman’s consultations with former Kansas head coach David Beaty before the Big 12 Championship game last December, Herman is now receiving the assistance of former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash as an unpaid advisor, according to a report from Anwar Richardson of Orangebloods on Thursday.

Ash was fired by the Scarlet Knights after a 1-3 start that included a 52-0 loss to the Wolverines that ended a tenure marked by only eight total wins over 40 games, with four of those victories coming during the 2017 season, his second in New Jersey.

However, although Ash’s head coaching career was nothing less than an abject disaster, he did win a national championship with Herman as the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach for Ohio State in 2014, his first year in Columbus.

During that season, Ash worked under current Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell and helped coordinate a defense that ranked No. 14 in the FEI rankings and was particularly good at limiting available yards and holding opposing offenses to drives with zero or negative yards.

The Buckeyes also ranked No. 13 nationally opposing third-down conversions at 33.95 percent and No. 3 in opposing red-zone touchdown percentage at 26.67. In addition, Ohio State was No. 13 in opposing passer rating and intercepted 25 passes that season.

Herman also spent a year with Ash at Iowa State, where the latter was the defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator.