Rutgers and Maryland joined the Big Ten at the same time, and for that reason, will always and forever be linked, compared and analyzed against each other. This year, both schools also hired new football coaching staffs, with very different philosophies and personnel decisions. And both programs have struggled this year, especially against the blue bloods of the conference. What have we learned after year 1?
The new men at the top have similar pedigrees, and in some respects, seem like different sides of the same coin. Chris Ash most recently served as D-Coordinator at Ohio State under Urban Meyer; DJ Durkin served in the same role at arch-rival Michigan, under Jim Harbaugh.