You could probably fill a few books with the things that Chris Ash learned from Urban Meyer during his time as the Buckeyes defensive coordinator before leaving for the opportunity to lead his own program at Rutgers.
But, as Urban told NJ.com, when Ash had a contract offer from Rutgers on the table, his top piece of advice for the latest branch off of his prestigious coaching tree revolved around recruiting above all else.
"He had some other opportunities and my advice was recruiting is the name of the game."
"If you can't recruit then don't do it. You can be the greatest coach in the world, but if you can't get players to your school, don't do it."
That's an important nugget for coaches looking for an opportunity to lead a program at the college level, and it's likely the same message that Urban has shared with coaches like Dan Mullen, Charlie Strong, Steve Addazio, and the host of others that have moved on to lead their own program after time under him as a coordinator or assistant.
Clearly Ash liked what he saw from Rutgers from a recruiting perspective. The state of New Jersey consistently has some of top high school programs, and the most sought after high school players in the country.
"That's why I think Rutgers was so appealing to him. When Rutgers put the contract on the table for him, my advice was that's as good a high school football as there is in the country."
Ash left Arkansas for Ohio State with the idea of further preparing himself for a head coaching opportunity under one of the most accomplished head coaches in the game, and as Meyer noted in the piece, some guys only get one chance at a head coaching job so finding the right opportunity is critical.
"My advice is don't be jumpy. You get one shot and if you fail you are probably done. Chris wanted to be a head coach. Chris came to Ohio State for that reason. He wanted to compete for a championship and be a head coach."