New AD Julie Hermann Says Rutgers Needs To Operate As 'Open Book'
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Rutgers named Julie Hermann its new athletic director Wednesday, and the former No. 2 athletic administrator at Louisville promised a restart for the scandal-scarred program following the ouster of its men's basketball coach and the resignation of other officials.
Hermann replaces Tim Pernetti, who quit last month after the firing of basketball coach Mike Rice. Practice videos surfaced of Rice shoving and throwing basketballs at players and yelling gay slurs at them.
"No one on the coaching staff doesn't believe that we need to be an open book, that we will no longer have any practice, anywhere at any time, that anybody couldn't walk into and be pleased about what's going on in that environment. It is a new day. It is already fixed," Hermann said at a news conference Wednesday.
Hermann will be paid $450,000 annually as a base salary with $50,000 in incentives and $35,000 contributed to a deferred compensation plan, according to a university release.
Pernetti received $1.2 million in salary, plus an iPad, car allowance and more than two years of health insurance coverage under a settlement agreement, according to documents released under open public records laws.
Hermann had been senior associate athletic director at Louisville. She becomes the first woman to head Rutgers' athletic program and one of three female ADs at the schools which make up the 124 playing at college football's top tier.
"I'm very excited for her to have this opportunity," Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich told ESPN. "Rutgers has a real gem. Julie is someone I've relied on in the past 15 years and she's never let me down. I truly believe Rutgers has a bright future with Julie at the helm."
Rutgers will join the Big Ten in 2014, and Hermann said the Scarlet Knights won't try to match schools like Michigan dollar for dollar. The athletics program already has come under criticism from some corners of the university for spending millions on expanding its football stadium while cutting some non-revenue sports.
"We do not need to spend what Michigan spends; I don't know how they spend all that money," Hermann said. "We will do more with less. That's what we did at Louisville. We need to be really smart stewards of the money that we have."
At Louisville, Hermann supervised marketing and brand management. Prior to Louisville she coached Tennessee women's volleyball for six seasons and was an assistant coach for USA Volleyball in 1997.
Rutgers President Robert Barchi called Hermann "a remarkable leader" and praised her involvement in Louisville's moving from Conference USA to the Big East and from the Big East to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Rutgers' problems started in December when Rice was suspended three games and fined $75,000 by the school after a video of his conduct at practices was given to Pernetti by Eric Murdock, a former assistant coach.
The video showed numerous clips of Rice firing basketballs at players, hitting them in the back, legs, feet and shoulders. It also showed him grabbing players by their jerseys and yanking them around the court. Rice can also be heard yelling obscenities and using anti-gay slurs.
The controversy went public in April when ESPN aired the videos and Barchi admitted he didn't view the video in the fall. Rice was fired and Pernetti, assistant coach Jimmy Martelli and interim senior vice president and university counsel John Wolf resigned.
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