Big Ten notebook: Urban renewal underway at Rutgers

CHICAGO - Rutgers football players are getting a taste of what it must be like to play for Urban Meyer.

Their new head coach is Chris Ash, who learned at the feet of the master the last two seasons as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach for Ohio State. The fingerprints he's put all over his new program will look and sound awfully familiar to Buckeye fans.

"We have full meetings on intangible things like leadership and culture - hour-long meetings," defensive lineman Julian Pinnix said Monday at Big Ten Media Days. "He's really trying to build a culture from an intangible standpoint. From there the Xs and Os will come.

"Coach Ash definitely rewards guys for doing the right thing as much as he'll punish them for doing the wrong thing. Growing up in sports and being around sports a lot, I don't know how much that is done. Everybody wants to talk about guys doing the wrong thing, but he does a great job of congratulating guys for doing community service and for being great in the class room and weight room and doing all three together.

"He's got a Champions Club and makes those things really valuable to strive for as a player."

Hell Week arrived for the Scarlet Knights on Jan. 19.

"That was our first workout back (in the new year)," receiver Andre Patton said. "We were outdoors and I want to say it was roughly 12 degrees. That week was to see who we are and to see if we could push without cracking."'

Ohio State players have been there, simultaneously shivering and sweating like Patton.

"I knew with (Ash) being with Urban, it was going to be hard," Patton said. "With him being with a big program like Ohio State, expectations are going to be high and his standards are going to be even higher. I was expecting the worst and hoping for the best. The hardest part has definitely been the weight training. It was probably the hardest summer we've been through, but we know it will help us."

After working side-by-side with Meyer, Ash now finds himself an adversary not only in the same league, but the same division.They kick off the Big Ten season together at noon on Oct. 1 in Columbus.

"We've got accountability, structure and discipline, but we've having a tremendous amount of fun with these players, too," Ash said. "If we're not having fun, we're screwing this up."

ANOTHER OSU ALUM: Although Meyer and Ohio State player representative J.T. Barrett, Raekwon McMillan and Pat Elflein don't meet with reporters until Tuesday, Ash and Purdue head coach Darrell Hazel gave Monday's proceedings a bit of Buckeye flavor.

Hazell, a former OSU offensive assistant under Jim Tressel, begins his fourth year at Purdue, and to say his seat is hot might be an understatement. The Boilermakers are 6-30 under his watch and have only won two conference games.

"I used to drive up I-65 and there was a billboard (created by Purdue's marketing department) on the side of the road," Hazell said. "The first year I saw it, it's OK, the second and third year, it started to bother me a little bit.

"The sign said 'The train is coming.' In the back of my mind I said at some point in time the train has to arrive. That sign is no longer there. I think you're going to like what steps off the train."

Like most Big Ten teams, Purdue is deciding on a starting quarterback, but Hazell does have a Big Ten-high 20 returning starters.He hyped the players with him in Chicago — linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley, defensive tackle Jake Replogle and wide receiver DeAngleo Yancy - as not only three of the best in the Big Ten, but in the country.

"I don't look at it as a three-year funk," Hazell said, referring to a reporter's description of his tenure. "I look at it as a growing process. A lot of times on the outside you can't see where the progress is being made. You're getting guys in position to be successful. Obviously, our goal is to win, but I know we're in position now to go out and win games."

LIONS READY TO ROAR? This is James Franklin's third-year at the Penn State helm, but he's referring to it as "Year 1" because the Lions are back to giving full 85 scholarships after digging out from sanctions attached to the scandal involving former assistant Jerry Sandusky.

The Lions, who are replacing quarterback Christian Hackenberg, were 7-6 in each of Franklin's first two years. He knows that's not good enough.

"There are very high expectations at Penn State; there should be," he said. "I'd also say there are very few programs that would have been able to come through with the type of seasons we've had: two bowl games in a row, never had a losing season through the challenge, so there's positives to build on."

State College has always been one of the toughest places to play in America. The Buckeyes visit there Oct. 22 and also have challenging road games at Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Michigan State.

"This is going to be a very important year, no doubt, for us to make progress and show the direction we're going," Franklin said. "I think everybody's aligned and understands that ... and it's exciting."

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