PISCATAWAY -- One year after Rutgers had 10 new coaches on its football staff, Chris Ash's plan is to have 10 second-year coaches including himself.

Ash said Wednesday morning on a season wrap-up media teleconference that he "absolutely" intends to retain the entire coaching staff that he hand-selected last December and January in the weeks after he was hired.

"Obviously in this profession people come and go for different reasons, but I like our staff," Ash said. "We've got a bunch of really good people that work extremely hard, coach extremely hard, build connections and relationships with the players."

Even before the complete overhaul last season, Rutgers has had difficulty retaining assistant coaches -- most notably offensive and defensive coordinators -- over the years. It has been a detriment in recruiting and player development.

The NCAA is expected to examine the possibility of allowing a 10th assistant coach to be added to football on-field staffs.

"To be able to have sustained success or build sustained success in any organization," Ash said, "it does take consistency and continuity. My wish is to be able to have that here at Rutgers."

Ash reaffirmed his faith in offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer after the season finale. Despite calling plays with a limited number of weapons after Janarion Grant's season-ending injury, Mehringer came under fire from the vocal part of the fan base as Rutgers stumbled to the last-ranked offense in the nation.

Another area where Rutgers struggled mightily is on special teams, a unit coordinated by Vince Okruch, who previously worked with Ash at Ohio State.

"I don't know about any criticism toward Vince," Ash said. "If there is, I don't know what that would be. Our special teams have not been very good. I think it's a number of things: We invest an insane amount of time into special teams.

"I've been doing this for a long time. We spend as much meeting time, walk-through time and practice time doing special teams as I have anywhere in my career."

Rutgers allowed two blocked punts, two punt returns for touchdowns and two kickoff returns for touchdowns. The Scarlet Knights ranked last in the Big Ten with a net of 34 yards on kickoffs and a net of 32.3 yards on punts.

For a team plagued by depth issues, special teams suffered most.

Kicker David Bonagura was 10-of-14 on field goals and 20-of-22 on PATs, while punter Michael Cintron set the program and Big Ten record with 95 punts. Starting field position was a constant hurdle.

"There are a number of things that lead to good special teams," Ash said. "You have to consistently be able to snap and kick and punt. You have to make sure that you can cover kicks and have the right personnel to cover kicks.

"After Year One, we have to go back and look and say, 'Here's what we are going to have from a personnel standpoint. Are there adjustments that we have to make based on who is going to be on this roster next year?'"

While Okruch coordinates special teams, Ash and other assistant coaches are involved in coaching specific units.

For example, running backs coach Zak Kuhr works with the kickoff return unit and was credited after a crucial onside kick recovery against New Mexico.

"We've got to look at everything and not just special teams but offensively and defensively like we always do in coaching," Ash said.

"You go back through and evaluate your schemes, you evaluate your drills, you evaluate your meetings, your job responsibilities of what you ask people to do -- and reassess what next year's roster is going to look like and find ways to do it better or changes that need to be made. Special teams will be no different."

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