Rutgers Narrows Football Coaching Search to Three Candidates Rutgers has narrowed its search for a new football coach to three candidates, with a decision expected to be made in the next 24 hours, according to a person with direct knowledge of the search. Tim Pernetti, the Rutgers athletic director, will choose from among Florida International Coach Mario Cristobal, the interim coach Kyle Flood and the former Rutgers assistant John McNulty, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no decision has been made. The job became available last week when Greg Schiano left to become the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The favorite is Cristobal, a former Rutgers assistant and the only proven college head coach among the three candidates. He has extensive connections to South Florida, an important recruiting region for Rutgers. Flood is the leading internal candidate and has strong recruiting ties in New Jersey, which is one of the strong points of his candidacy. Hiring Flood, who has been at Rutgers since 2007, would maintain continuity and perhaps help Rutgers keep its highly regarded recruiting class intact. McNulty, the wide receivers coach for the Arizona Cardinals, has emerged of late as a contender for the job. He has considerable college experience, including five seasons at Rutgers. He played at Penn State, served as a graduate assistant at Michigan and was an assistant at Connecticut. He held a few positions at Rutgers, including as the offensive coordinator and play caller during the era of Ray Rice, Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood. Schiano is strongly considering McNulty for his offensive coordinator position with Tampa Bay. Replacing Schiano, who became the face of Rutgers football while leading the program from the depths of college football, will be a formidable task. Schiano went 68-67 in 11 seasons at Rutgers, turning the Scarlet Knights into a perennial Big East contender and leaving the nucleus of a team that will be among the favorites to win the league next year. Rutgers went 9-4 last season, capping the year with a victory in the Pinstripe Bowl. The most important task, with signing day Wednesday, will be reaffirming the commitments of recruits. Rutgers was poised to haul in what is widely regarded as an elite class, but Schiano's sudden departure cast doubt on that possibility. Rutgers has already lost one key potential recruit, as quarterback Devin Fuller, who is from New Jersey, committed to U.C.L.A. over the weekend.