Hours after a pair of prominent Rutgers football supporters called for Pat Hobbs to be fired as a result of the negotiations with Greg Schiano concluding without a deal, university President Robert Barchi offered a statement of support for his embattled athletics director.

"Pat Hobbs made it clear at the outset that he would lead a thorough search to find a football coach that would be the best fit for our university community, our fans, and our student-athletes,'' Barchi said. "AD Hobbs, along with the entire leadership of Rutgers, is committed to competing in the Big Ten and I am confident Pat will find the right coach for this transformative job.''

The statement Monday — first reported on Rutgers Sports Insider — came in response to an NJ Advance Media request to Rutgers officials for a response to calls from prominent boosters that Hobbs should be fired.

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Doug Dolan, who served as a chief Rutgers athletics fundraiser earlier this decade, pointed the blame squarely at Hobbs, who rejected a counteroffer from Schiano last week, according to an NJ Advance Media report on Schiano’s contract demands Sunday.

“I’m terribly disappointed in Pat Hobbs,’’ Dolan said. “This has been a train wreck hurdling towards a cliff for a while now. I don’t know everything that’s gone on behind the scenes. But my opinion is, the way things have fallen apart, Hobbs needs to pay for this with his job. I don’t believe he knows what’s necessary to run a major college football program.’’

Pete Hendricks, a New Brunswick-based attorney who has been a major booster to the football program for four decades, echoed that sentiment.

“Pat has to be brought to the table,’’ Hendricks said. “He’s done some great things by hiring some other coaches but this is your flagship sport and now we’re going to be the laughingstock continuously. I think he has to be held accountable.’’

Hobbs has not publicly commented on the coaching search since the day after he announced the firing of Chris Ash in late September.

In July, Barchi announced he will be stepping down after this school year. His eight-year tenure has been marred with a series of athletic scandals that resulted in the firings of the two previous athletics directors, Tim Pernetti and Julie Hermann.

While he has long been a public backer of Hobbs for the department’s fundraising exploits, Barchi criticized Hobbs earlier this month for his profanity-laced tirade directed at NJ Advance Media reporters in response to questions about allegations of widespread abuse and misconduct in the university’s softball program.

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Last week, a university spokeswoman said Rutgers officials, including Hobbs, "will not comment ... during the search process'' but expressed a commitment "to hiring the best football coach for our student-athletes.''

On Sunday night, hours after Schiano pulled his name out of contention for the job, a Rutgers athletics spokesman said Hobbs and top Rutgers officials have "a clear focus on building a successful Big Ten Conference football program.''

"It is anticipated that a new coach will be named shortly after the conclusion of the season,'' the Rutgers athletics statement read.

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Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.