Rutgers brags itself up as "The Birthplace of College Football", which means when the school decided to part ways with head coach Kyle Flood, the athletic department vetted a number of qualified candidates before deciding on Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Chris Ash. While Ash has been the focus the past week or so, it's actually someone that applied for the job and didn't get it that grabbed my attention today.
It seems like every few years a story pops up of an aspiring head coach somewhere with little to no head coaching experience (other than video games and in fantasy land) lobbying for a job at a Power Five program.
This year, that man was Benjamin Kautz, a sophomore at Rutgers. Kautz threw his name into the ring with an email containing his resume to an assistant AD in the athletic department (named Geoff Brown), and a viral Twitter campaign using #Kautz4Coach to drum up some support, as the following tweets show.
His resume is every bit as comical as you'd expect coming from a 19-year old with no football coaching experience that wears a headset around like a hat, and includes:
- "Extensive video game experience" with Madden, NCAA, and FIFA listed
- Going to every Rutgers game, including making it on the field after the win over Michigan last year
- The fact that he'll take minimum wage for the job
- My personal favorite is a note that "mom once called me a good coach"
Take a look at his full resume below.
In Ash, Rutgers got a really good coach with a proven pedigree and track record, but in the meantime, Kautz definitely provided some entertainment. Here's an interview he recently did with Hero Sports.