Rutgers Football: Al Golden should be the next Scarlet Knights head coach

Former Miami Hurricanes coach Al Golden is a candidate to take the Rutgers head coaching job.

Al Golden is a top candidate to replace Kyle Flood as the head coach of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, according to Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman, ESPN’s Brett McMurphy and NJ Advance Media.

Golden was fired as the head coach of Miami midseason after four-plus years and a 32-25 record. The 46-year-old is a Colts Neck, New Jersey native and has extensive ties to the greater northeast area.

After his playing career ended at Penn State, Golden coached at Red Blank Catholic high school before college jobs at Virginia, Boston College, Penn State and his first head coaching job at Temple.

Golden coached the Owls from 2006-2010 and built the program from the ground up after they only won three games the previous three years before his arrival and were reeling after getting booted from the Big East.

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Golden took the program to new heights with a 17-8 record in his last two years at Temple before taking the job at Miami.

With Rutgers bringing in new athletic director Patrick Hobbs, it’s a chance for Rutgers to rid themselves of the embarrassing Julie Hermann and Flood era and begin a new era of Rutgers football.

Hiring Golden would be a step toward getting back to bowl eligibility and would be a good opportunity for Golden to get back into coaching and at a program with different expectations and pressures than the one at Miami.

If Golden can replicate the rebuild job he did at Temple and lead Rutgers to eight wins after a year or two on the job, he’d be a rousing success with the full support of the administration, alumni and fans.

I think it can be a win-win for both parties. Anything short of beating Florida State and winning the ACC and competing for the national championship at Miami is grounds for termination and having airplanes fly around with banners calling for your head.

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Ohio State defensive coordinator Chris Ash is also in the running for the Rutgers job after pulling his name from the Syracuse opening, but he doesn’t have the same coaching experience of Golden. According to NJ Advance Media, neither Golden nor Ash or any other candidate have had any in-person or formal interviews for the job as of Wednesday.

Miami wasn’t the right job for Golden but maybe Rutgers is.