Watch CBS News

Rutgers May Target FIU's Cristobal

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Rutgers University lost their head coach to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Thursday, but their top target to replace him may come from right here in South Florida.

Florida International University head coach Mario Cristobal is expected to be the top choice for the state university of New Jersey. If he chose to leave FIU, Cristobal would walk into a familiar situation at Rutgers.

Before turning around the FIU program, Cristobal was the tight ends and offensive line coach under Schiano. Still, Cristobal was also rumored to be the top choice at Pitt, but chose to stick with FIU.

Cristobal could keep the flow of Florida recruits open to Rutgers, especially South Florida recruits, given Cristobal's home is South Florida.

Whoever takes over at Rutgers will have to quickly try to hold onto a recruiting class that currently has four four-star players, according to Rivals.com. National Signing Day is set for next Wednesday.

But, according to CBSSports.com, Rutgers may have a hard time spending a lot of money on a head coach.

The school used $27 million in university and student-fee money to balance the athletic budget, which was the highest subsidy of any schools in the country, according to USAToday.com.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.