Rutgers named one of its former football players on Thursday to head an athletic department that has been the subject of recent investigations into its financial oversight, particularly in the football program.
The university’s board of governors unanimously approved the hiring of Tim Pernetti, who played tight end for the Scarlet Knights in the early 1990s and recently worked as executive vice president for content at CBS College Sports Network.
Pernetti, 38, replaces longtime athletic director Robert E. Mulcahy, who was fired at the end of last year, and will become the youngest athletic director in the Big East Conference. He has never served as an AD or college administrator.
“I was not interested in doing this kind of job anywhere but here,” Pernetti said Thursday.
Pernetti immediately faced questions about his ability to make decisions in light of his relationship with football coach Greg Schiano. Pernetti did not play under Schiano at Rutgers, but played a year under him at northern New Jersey’s Ramapo High School and has served as a radio game analyst for Rutgers football for the past eight years.
“Because so much has been built around football because it’s the big revenue-producing sport, my relationship with Greg is a positive,” Pernetti said. “There will be tough decisions, but knowing him the way I know him and he knows me, that will be very productive over time for the university.”
Schiano called Pernetti “a very seasoned businessman, and in this day and age that will be a real asset for the university.”
Schiano’s contract, which pays him about $1.6 million annually, was the focus of attention last year after a newspaper report revealed that a sports marketing firm had a separate deal that paid Schiano an additional $250,000 per year, with the payment guaranteed by Rutgers if sponsorships didn’t cover it.
As Schiano has transformed Rutgers’ football team from lightly regarded to one with four bowl appearances in the past four years, scrutiny of the program has increased, spurred by reports of off-the-books spending and other financial irregularities.
Within the past eight months, Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick announced the creation of a committee to review the athletic department’s internal controls, and the state comptroller’s office ordered an audit of the university’s contracting processes and an inquiry into an ongoing $102 million expansion of Rutgers Stadium.
Last fall, McCormick hired former Delaware State athletic director Richard J. Costello to fill the newly created position of deputy director of athletics-finance and administration.
Pernetti pledged to make the athletic department’s financial dealings more transparent.
“Nothing is more important to me,” he said. “Rutgers is a public institution, and a public institution needs to deliver on the front of transparency and communication of information. There will be financial accountability; we’ll be able to explain the why and the where.”
Pernetti beat out finalists Kelly Mehrtens, athletic director at UNC-Wilmington; and Akron athletic director Mack Rhoades.
“We were impressed by Tim’s commitment to academics, by his philosophy about the department’s relationship with the greater Rutgers community, his plans for expanding the revenues of the department and managing its finances, as well as his focus on strategic planning,” McCormick said.