Greg Schiano has hit the ground running as Ohio State's assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. One of the first orders of business: Get the country's top player to Columbus.

RELATED: Rashan Gary becomes the first unanimous top player in the country

Schiano's new role was announced on Saturday, and he and head coach Urban Meyer immediately made a call to Jennifer Coney, mother of Paramus (N.J.) Catholic five-star defensive end Rashan Gary.

Schiano plans to visit Gary when the current recruiting dead period -- which runs from Dec. 14 to Jan. 13 -- ends.

A dead period is when it is not permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts or evaluations on or off the institution's campus or to permit official or unofficial visits by prospective student-athletes to the institution's campus.

And the battle is on: New Rutgers head coach Chris Ash also reached out to Coney, to ask why Coney and Gary were no longer considering Rutgers, and how the Scarlet Knights could get back in contention.

Coney asked about Ash's plan for the program. Ash told them he would call back with information they requested.

Before Schiano was hired, Ohio State -- like Rutgers -- appeared to be out of the competition for Gary, while teams like Michigan, Auburn, LSU and Ole Miss appearing to have the advantage as the Feb. 3 National Signing Day approaches.

Schiano is planning a visit to try to close the deal.

"He called me yesterday (Sunday), and he said as soon as the dead period is over, him and Larry Johnson are going to come to the house and he himself is going to do the academic presentation," said Coney.

Gary's decision is likely to occur between the Under Armour All-American game on Jan. 2, 2016, and National Signing Day on Feb. 3.

Todderick Hunt may be reached at thunt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TodderickHunt. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.