This Postseason's Fascinating Dynamic Between Ohio State and Rutgers

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Chris Ash walked across the end zone of the Ohio State practice field clutching a cell phone to his ear, moving at the only pace he knows these days: frantic.

Who was on the other end of Ash's call on Thursday afternoon remains unclear. It could have been someone related to his current job as the Buckeyes' defensive coordinator. It might have been a target—player or assistant—for his next job as the head coach at Rutgers.

Most likely, given the time of day, it was somebody involved with facilitating his transition between the two Big Ten East programs.

"I gotta take one hat off and put another one on," Ash said, wearing a nondescript, red Nike polo with neither team's logo visible. "That's really what you have to do."

Ash's life is admittedly complicated at the moment, preparing for his first job as a head coach while finishing what's left to be done at Ohio State as the Buckeyes prepare to face Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. He wakes up early to accomplish tasks for his new role in Piscataway before a lunch break serves as his only Rutgers-related time during the day. He then returns to making Rutgers recruiting pitches at night.

Only adding to the uniqueness of Ash's balancing act is that his replacement in Columbus has already been hired.

And he just happens to be the most successful head coach in the history of the program he's about to take over.

When Urban Meyer announced the hiring of Greg Schiano as Ash's replacement, it was viewed as a home run hire in the college football world. It's not often that the loss of a valued coordinator leaves an opening for a new assistant who was most recently a head coach in the NFL.

But while Schiano's ties to professional football might be what sells on the recruiting trail, the bulk of his resume was built in New Jersey, where he took over a program 23 years removed from its last bowl appearance and compiled a 68-67 record from 2001-2011—including a 5-1 record in bowl games.

David K Purdy/Getty Images

When his successor and former offensive coordinator Kyle Flood was fired following the Scarlet Knights' 4-8 season, it was Ash who was hired and tasked with turning Rutgers around.

But before he can focus full-time on doing just that, he'll first find himself working under the same roof as Schiano.

"I guess it's odd," Schiano said with a smile. "But nothing in this business really surprises you. It's about relationships."

The relationship between Ash and Schiano has been ongoing for the better part of the past two years, with the latter serving as an unofficial advisor for Meyer and his staff after being fired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following the 2013 season.

"He's been around here several times," Ash said. "I've picked up the phone and called him on a lot of things."

And for the most part, Ash and Schiano have remained allies in their brief overlap in Columbus.

After all, who knows better about being the head coach at Rutgers than Schiano? And who knows more about this Ohio State defense and its personnel than Ash? In a unique way, the two coaches' best resource for their respective upcoming jobs happens to be each another.

At the same time, the reality remains that the two are also soon-to-be rivals.

Mel Evans/Associated Press

Not so much on the football field, where Meyer has his program rolling, while there's a reason that Rutgers finds itself hiring a new head coach. The Buckeyes and Scarlet Knights play each other each season, but it'd be naive to think the two programs will start 2016 with similar goals in mind.

On the recruiting trail, however, is where this frenemies-type relationship will be interesting to watch. Meyer and his staff have long targeted New Jersey as one of Ohio State's top territories and will presumably be putting Schiano's expertise and resources in the Garden State to good use.

Ash, meanwhile, spoke at his introductory press conference with the Scarlet Knights about the importance of keeping local talent in-state.

"We don't need New Jersey kids and players going to other programs," Ash said. "We need to keep them here at home at Rutgers and be the best that we can be here."

Although Ash said he won't go after kids currently committed to play for the Buckeyes while still employed by Ohio State, the nation's top-ranked recruit in 2016 remains uncommitted. And he just so happens to hail from Paramus, New Jersey.

According to NJ.com's Todderick Hunt, both Ohio State and Rutgers remain in the running for 5-star defensive tackle Rashan Gary, with Schiano already leading the charge with the Buckeyes' pitch.

That's created a unique existence in which Ash and Schiano work together during the day but recruit against each other by night—something Meyer downplayed when asked about the unlikely circumstances.

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

"A lot of the recruiting we're doing now is for 2017," Meyer said. "The one thing I always ask, just be extremely professional about your job, do what you've got to do." 

To their credit, both Ash and Schiano appear to be doing just that, and with one game-planning and the other recruiting for Ohio State, their paths haven't crossed as often as it's fun to imagine they have.

But that doesn't make it any less interesting that for the next two weeks, both the past and future of Rutgers football find themselves as co-workers in Columbus.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.