The Confidential

Rutgers AD Search

With the latest ignorant ramblings from the president of one the Big Ten’s flagship programs, the media has fortunately turned their attention away from the clusterf*ck that is Rutgers Athletic Department the past few months. Which is a blessing for the University since it takes the spotlight off of their ineptitude and gives them a chance to move forward.

However I can’t help but wonder, How the hell Rutgers managed to botch this so badly?

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After nearly being left for dead after telling ESPN to take their $14M/yr offer and shove it, Rutgers managed to successfully leverage their proximity to NYC and mediocre out-of-conference scheduling in football the past 10 years into an invite to the Big Ten instead of spending an eternity in the “American Athletic Conference” purgatory that UConn, Cinci, and USF are facing.

Consider this: it is estimated that each team in the Big Ten will eventual earn upwards of $40M/year. That means that each team in the B10 will get as much money as the entire American Athletic Conference combined. Every year.

The hard work was already done. Hiring an AD should have been the easy part. Following Mike Rice’s firing and Tim Pernetti’s ouster, there really wasn’t anything left for Rutgers to do except some minor PR work, and then sit back and wait to collect those B1G checks. This should have been easy slam-dunk for the Administration.

To further assist, the Confidential has some suggestions for potential Athletic Directors that would be much better than Julie Hermann:

Donald Trump: The Big Ten wants the New York City market, and the Donald is one of the biggest real estate personalities in the City. Plus, he’s a shameless self promoter who will put his name on virtually anything that he thinks will be even remotely successful. And it would be great to see Donald Trump get to the podium after every win and tell the other team, “Y’er fired!”.

Gloria Allred: Much like Trump, Gloria Allred is a promotion machine and is always ready to get her name/face into whatever photo opportunity she can. Who better to help take any potential scandal against Rutgers and find a way to make them a victim? “Mike Rice wasn’t abusive; it was the harsh rules of the NCAA that limited him from reaching his true potential.” Also, just like Rutgers fans, she seems to have it out for Syracuse…or at the very least, Jim Boeheim.

William F. Rasmussen: Who? Don’t worry, I had to Google it, too…but William F. Rasmussen is not only a notable Rutgers alumni (Rutgers Business School Class of 1960) but he’s also the Founder of ESPN. Who better to help manage the public image of the University as it is displayed on the World Wide Leader than the very guy who founded the World Wide Leader? That still won’t make the BTN popular in NYC, but at least ESPN won’t trip all over themselves to publish anything negative about Rutgers when it happens again.

Kate Upton: It is commendable that Rutgers was so intent on hiring a female. But who says that woman has to have any experience running an Athletic Department? Again, Rutgers was already invited to the Big Ten, the hard work was over. All they needed was someone who could help promote the positives of the various teams and get people excited about sports. Who is better to qualified to get people excited than Kate Upton? Besides, she’s probably been on more covers of Sports Illustrated than any Rutgers players have.

What do you think, would any of these have been better hires than Julie Hermann? Any others that we missed? Leave your suggestions in the comments section below.