by A.J. Perez , USA TODAY

In many ways, it fits. Rutenberg is a Cornell University graduate, like his parents. His workdays start early and end late. His desk is lined with Post-it Notes, many tracking numbers and trends.

Rutenberg's paycheck from the Aggies, however, is where the similarities end. He makes $30,000 a year, a salary equal to Louisiana-Monroe wide receivers coach Marty Humphrey's as the lowest among about 900 assistants in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, according to USA TODAY research.

"Yeah, I have college friends on Wall Street," Rutenberg says, "but my whole life, this is all I wanted to do. All I did was football growing up. I worked hard academically, but I used to draw up plays in my notebooks. I drew up plays, even in class. I wanted to know, 'Would this work? Or would that work?' "

Since those days doodling at his high school in Bethesda, Md., Rutenberg has aspired to be a head coach. Like other young coaches, his first gig as an assistant comes at a school that's not in one of the six major FBS conferences that treats coaches to six-figure salaries, multiyear contracts, luxury cars and extensive support staffs. First-year head coach DeWayne Walker gave Rutenberg a no-frills one-year deal in January as a defensive backs coach tasked with helping turn around a foundering program that hasn't been to a bowl game since 1960.

Rutenberg puts in about 112 hours a week during the season, which works out to $5.58 an hour -- nearly two dollars less than New Mexico's minimum wage. His annual salary is $7,402 less than the median household income in Las Cruces as estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau. None of New Mexico State's assistants make more than the average tenured professor at the school ($78,300, according to the most recent American Association of University Professors salary survey).

The Aggies have had some success this season, highlighted by their first victory against rival New Mexico since 2002. At 3-6, they already have won as many games as they did last season.

"You can't imagine how (far the players have come) in terms of work ethic, maturity, professionalism and football IQ," Rutenberg says. "We have work to do still. This is going to be a good football team."

Rutenberg, 28, played sprint football -- where players are required to be under a certain weight -- at Cornell, hardly the athletic resume of some young assistant coaches who have parlayed their collegiate feats into jobs at Bowl Championship Series schools such as:

*Oklahoma quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel ($210,000). A runner-up for the Heisman Trophy with the Sooners in 2000, Heupel, 31, received a raise last offseason ($40,000) that's more than Rutenberg's total salary.

*Texas running backs coach Major Applewhite ($260,000). The 31-year-old had been an offensive coordinator at Rice during his young career before he was hired by the school for whom he was the starting quarterback a decade ago.

*Virginia defensive backs coach Anthony Poindexter ($156,000). The former standout has had two stints at his alma mater, including his current job.

Poindexter, 33, was the only one of the three to play in a regular-season NFL game, although his professional career lasted only three injury-filled seasons. All three are in at least their fifth season as an assistant.

"I think that's good for them," Rutenberg says. "I've heard guys say that was easy for them (to get a job). But if they weren't good at what they do, there's no way they'd be on staff. I have a ton of respect for the guys making it as quick as they did. "

There are two FBS assistants who make less than $30,000, although both come with asterisks. Western Kentucky quarterbacks coach Bob Cole ($25,008) also receives $8,206 a month from Wyoming, which dismissed Cole as offensive coordinator last November. Louisiana-Monroe quarterbacks coach Jonas Weatherbie, son of head coach Charlie Weatherbie, can't accept a salary because of Louisiana's nepotism laws.

Simple surroundings

Rutenberg's apartment is adjacent to a golf course on the north end of town, not bad digs for somebody who went nearly three years without a paycheck or any financial support from his family. His home has the feel of a hotel room, showing little sign that he spends much time there.

Aside from some game balls he earned as a graduate assistant at UCLA and an entry-level assistant with the Washington Redskins, there are few personal touches; his refrigerator has more condiments than food and pales compared with the amount of rations he keeps in his school office.

Still, it's a palace compared to some places he slept earlier in his career, beginning as an intern with the Redskins. Rutenberg was hired as a scouting assistant in 2003 and later became assistant to coach Joe Gibbs in his second go-around in Washington, dealing with day-to-day football operations and coaching administrative assignments.

Beyond a paycheck, Rutenberg also received a high-end blow-up mattress for his efforts, a gift from Redskins owner Dan Snyder who heard about Rutenberg's penchant for working through the night. Rutenberg also came away with something more valuable: a relationship with Walker.

"When I interviewed for the (Redskins defensive backs) job, he picked me up at the airport," Walker says. "After the interview, he dropped me off. That was kind of my introduction to him."

The Redskins hired Walker, who stayed for two seasons before becoming UCLA's defensive coordinator in 2006.

"When I got the job at UCLA, he was trying to become my (graduate assistant)," Walker says. "He was bugging the crap out of me. I didn't have a spot for him, so I asked if I could bring him in as an intern."

Then-UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell agreed. Rutenberg left the Redskins, where he says he made a pretty good wage. In Los Angeles, his living quarters ranged from a guest room at his cousin's to a windowless basement, places he stayed for free or very cheaply. The most expensive places he stayed came when Rutenberg followed UCLA on the road that first year as an intern.

"On our road games, he had to pay his own way," Walker says. "He slept in my hotel room on the road. We really couldn't do anything for him financially."

A year later, Rutenberg, who has a hospitality degree from Cornell, was hired as one of UCLA's graduate assistants and enrolled in the school's masters of education program.

For now, eight is enough

Walker has assembled a mix of assistants. Opposite Rutenberg, there are veterans who have lived the nomadic life that typically comes with the profession, including Dale Lindsey, an ex-NFL player who has been coaching for more than 30 years. However, New Mexico State has eight assistants, one fewer than the maximum allowed under NCAA rules.

Athletics director McKinley Boston says because the school had to pay the final year of former head coach Hal Mumme's contract, the athletic budget didn't have room for a ninth assistant this season. "Walker calls the plays and fills the role as the defensive coordinator, so I don't think we're missing anything," Boston says.

Minus that assistant, New Mexico State ranks 97th in average salary per coach ($52,072) among the 98 schools for which USA TODAY was able to obtain complete compensation information for all assistants. (Louisiana-Monroe, which also is paying eight assistants, finished with the lowest average, $46,777.)

The average total compensation of a Western Athletic Conference assistant is $95,949; defensive backs coach R. Todd Littlejohn and offensive coordinator Timm Rosenbach are the Aggies' highest paid at $70,000.

"I don't need a whole lot," Rutenberg says. "I'm pretty simple. I always told myself, 'Wherever you move, you're going to be happy because this is your passion.' If you want to be a coach, you better find a way to survive. If you have to coach on the moon, you better find a way to survive on the moon."

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