Rutgers head football coach Kyle Flood has been dismissed Sunday, ESPN’s Brett McMurphy is reporting. The dismissal comes just one day after a loss to 2-9 Maryland dropped the Scarlet Knights to 4-8.
Kyle Flood reportedly fired by Rutgers
After three straight bowl appearances to start his tenure, the Scarlet Knights fell to 4-8 this season, with a 1-7 Big Ten record.
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Rutgers had made a bowl game in each of Flood’s first three years with the school (winning one), and compiled a 27-24 record with him at the helm (12-19 in conference).
A New York native, Flood first joined Greg Schiano’s Rutgers staff in 2005 as an offensive line coach after three years with Delaware. Flood earned an assistant head coach title in 2008 and was hired as Schiano’s replacement in 2012 after the head coach left for the NFL.
Flood’s first three seasons with the Scarlet Knights saw the program play in three different conferences -- first the Big East, then the American and finally the Big Ten. After a 9-4 inaugural season that led to a tie for first place in the Big East, the Scarlet Knights went 6-7 in 2013 and 8-5 in 2014.
This season marked Rutgers’ first missed bowl under Flood, but it also included plenty of off-field headlines. An investigation into contact made by Flood with a professor about the academic status of one of his players led to a three-game suspension for the head coach.
The coach sent an e-mail from his personal account to the professor about junior cornerback Nadir Barnwell, reportedly in danger of being ruled academically ineligible, including the passage “I am sending it from my personal email to your personal email to ensure there will be no public vetting of the correspondence.”
Flood sent the e-mail after specifically being told not to by academic support staff. Barnwell and four other players were dismissed in September after being arrested following an alleged altercation.
For more on the Scarlet Knights, head over to On The Banks.
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