Aaron Henry

Aaron Henry served as Rutgers' assistant defensive backs coach in 2016.

(Photo by John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Rutgers coach Chris Ash is on the market for another assistant coach.

Aaron Henry, who served as assistant defensive backs coach for the Scarlet Knights last season, is leaving to become a position coach at North Carolina State, a source familiar with the decision told NJ Advance Media on Sunday.

For Henry, the move is not unlike the decision made by former Rutgers offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer last month. Like Mehringer -- who abruptly left Rutgers to join a former mentor, Tom Herman, at Texas -- Henry, 27, will be reunited with N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren, who he played for at Wisconsin from 2007-11 when Doeren was the Badgers' defensive coordinator.

Ash was also an assistant at Wisconsin during Henry's final two seasons, serving as the defensive backs coach in 2010 and the defensive backs coach/defensive coordinator in 2011. Henry called Ash a "father'' figure not long after landing his first full-time assistant position at Rutgers last year.

The fact that Doeren was Ash's college teammate at Drake adds an ironic twist to the situation.

But Ash has been widely praised for bolstering his coaching staff this offseason in the wake of the departures of Mehringer (who was replaced by former Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill) and running backs coach Zak Kuhr (who was replaced by ex-Iowa and Nevada assistant Lester Erb).

The lowest paid member of Rutgers' nine-man assistant coaching staff, Henry earned a $140,000 salary while working with the Scarlet Knights' safeties last season.

An Immokalee, Fla., native, Henry developed a strong bond with Ash at Arkansas, where Ash was the defensive coordinator and Henry was an academic advisor earlier this decade. He even lived with Ash and his family for a short time.

"It wasn't really a roommate," Henry said last April. "It was his house and my room. He's awesome. His family is incredible."

During the same interview, Henry called Ash arguably "the best defensive backs coach in the country.''

"I'm on a job interview every day with Coach Ash,'' Henry said at the time. "I told one of my buddies, if I can take half of what Coach Ash is trying to teach -- just half -- and the sky is limit. That dude, I don't know how he packages some of that stuff into his mind. He's been doing it for a long time. Obviously playing for him. I lived with him for a short stint. The guy is special -- beyond special. He is another kind of father figure to me. He put me in this position. And I'm trying to learn from him and be a sponge. I can take what he's trying to tell me and just try to grow from it.''

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