Ohio State coach Urban Meyer was happy to see Chris Ash leave his side for Rutgers despite their annual meeting in the Big Ten.

CHICAGO -- As the root of one of the most extensive coaching trees in college football, Ohio State's Urban Meyer knows he is going to have assistant coaches ask for his opinion on job offers.

In December, it was defensive coordinator Chris Ash's turn after he interviewed for openings at Syracuse and Rutgers.

"He had some other opportunities and my advice was recruiting is the name of the game," Meyer said. "If you can't recruit then don't do it. You can be the greatest coach in the world, but if you can't get players to your school, don't do it.

"That's why I think Rutgers was so appealing to him. When Rutgers put the contract on the table for him, my advice was that's as good a high school football as there is in the country."

Texas' Charlie Strong, Houston's Tom Herman, Boston College's Steve Addazio, Utah's Kyle Whittingham, Oregon State's Gary Andersen and Marshall's Doc Holliday all stem from Meyer's network.

All of them have won a conference title somewhere along the line -- and Mississippi State's Dan Mullen has enjoyed high-level success without the title. First-year Maryland coach D.J. Durkin is another Meyer disciple.

"My advice is don't be jumpy," Meyer said. "You get one shot and if you fail you are probably done. Chris wanted to be a head coach. Chris came to Ohio State for that reason. He wanted to compete for a championship and be a head coach."

As if trying to turn Meyer into a prophet, Ash spent his first eight months mining New Jersey for talent. Of the 20 recruits committed to the class of 2017 -- ranked No. 15 nationally by Rivals.com and No. 20 by Scout.com -- 14 are in-staters.

When he wasn't selling the new-look program to high school stars, Ash hired more than 10 of Meyer's one-time employees for his coaching, recruiting, strength and conditioning, and operations staffs.

Adopting Ohio State ideas for the Life Beyond The Game program, the St. Valentine's Massacre workout, the symbolic black stripe on practice helmets and slogans such as "The Hunt" and "10 Strong" only has furthered the perception that Ash is building an Ohio State East.

Meyer considers all of it to be a form of flattery and doesn't stand in the way when it means a promotion. For example, Ohio State's assistant strength and conditioning coach Kenny Parker now leads the department at Rutgers.

"We had that with Dan Mullen at Mississippi State and Charlie Strong at Louisville," Meyer said, referring to two of his coordinators during his time at Florida.

"I think that's a part of it. The older I get, it's kind of neat to see. I love it. I think it's great for them, and I kind of take a little pride in that."

Rutgers hosted a high school football camp at Farleigh Dickinson University's Florham Park campus in June that both Meyer and Ash's successor -- former Rutgers coach Greg Schiano -- attended. Rutgers was invited to an Ohio State-run camp, too.

Where Ash's move is different than some of the others is that Rutgers faces Ohio State annually in the Big Ten East Division.

Though the gap between the schools is big now -- the combined score of their first two meetings is 105-24 -- there might be a time someday where Ash's knowledge of how Ohio State becomes a factor.

Yet the three-time national champion Meyer isn't about to start guarding his secrets more closely.

"Nowadays, everything is out there," Meyer said. "I just want to see it continue that our guys do it right. When you go down on the list, they do it the right way.

"I'm not saying they are always going to win, but they follow the rules and place a premium on education. Just do the right thing."

Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.