The Rutgers athletic director candidates: A breakdown

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on February 23, 2009 at 12:21 PM, updated February 24, 2009 at 1:19 PM
Tim Pernetti

Rutgers will do more than name a new athletic director this week -- probably by Thursday. The school will also send a clear message about its commitment to football specifically and the direction of the athletic department in general.

Will the next AD be a staunch football and Greg Schiano ally (Tim Pernetti)? Will it be someone whose background features a heavy dose of fund-raising and women's sports (Kelly Mehrtens)? Or will it be a combination of the two (Mack Rhoades)?

Here's a breakdown of the three candidates:

Tim Pernetti

Strengths: He's energetic, personable, driven and knows Rutgers and the state -- the latter two being huge advantages. The 38-year-old former Rutgers tight end would understand exactly what he is getting into in terms of the culture and politics of the school and the state. That's no small thing. He also recognizes that when you spend $102 million to upgrade a football stadium it means you need to follow through on that commitment.

Pernetti's current job as executive vice president for content at CBS College Sports also gives him a unique insight into the TV side of things. That's another major strength.

As a rising star in the sports administration ranks, Pernetti is going to land a big job soon. But will it be AD at his alma mater?

Weaknesses: Fair or not, there's a perception that he is closely aligned with Schiano. Too closely for some of the football moderates in decision-making positions at Rutgers. There's a faction that clearly feels Schiano wields enough power already without having one of his "guys" in place as the AD as well. But the bigger holes in Pernetti's resume are the absence of any administrative experience at the college level and the lack of track record as a fund-raiser. Can he effectively deal with both? Probably. But he has never done so and that may raise some red flags for the people doing the hiring.

Bottom line: Pernetti can ease some concerns that he's too much of a football guy by reminding people that his wife, an elite gymnast growing up, played women's lacrosse at Rutgers. So it's not as if he will have football tunnel vision. He gets it. If Rutgers is looking to shake things up and invigorate the athletic program, Pernetti's the guy. He has plenty of ideas and opinions. But since when has Rutgers ever had an AD who is more of a go-getter than a political animal? Pernetti isn't the latter.

Kelly Mehrtens

Strengths: Her credentials are impressive, both as an administrator and a college athlete at the University of Alabama, where she was an All-American in the discus. She has worked at three BCS-conference schools -- Miami, Illinois and Kansas -- so she understands the role and significance of big-time football.

Mehrtens also brings a strong background as a fund-raiser, particularly at Kansas. She was a major player in the school raising $19 million for facilities upgrades during a three-year stretch just before she left to become the athletic director at UNC-Wilmington. She was also instrumental in helping the annual giving to Kansas athletics go from $5 million in 2003 to $12 million in 2004.

Mehrtens, 45, has the experience of being an athletic director as well -- though she has been on the job at UNC-Wilmington, a school that doesn't field a football team, for less than two years.

Except for not having overseen an athletic program that offers football, it's hard to find any holes in her resume.

Weaknesses: Maybe these are minor issues, but they're issues nonetheless. Mehrtens' background shows no New Jersey ties. That's a problem at a state university in a politically-charged state. Can she play the game in Trenton? Her experience as an athletic director running an entire department -- not just fund-raising and women's sports -- is limited to less than two years. And that experience has been at a school without football.

Will she be able to wield influence in the Big East? That's going to become critical in the next few years. And what's her vision for Rutgers athletics? Does the school want to hand the keys to its future to a complete stranger?

Bottom line: She might fool all of us because of her background at Miami, Illinois and Kansas and really be a football person (how can anyone attend Alabama and not be?). On paper, she is plenty qualified for the job -- except for her limited experience as the honcho. Having a strong fund-raising background has to be appealing as well to the decision makers. The unknown, of course, is how she fits with Schiano. But she would certainly be an interesting -- and bold -- choice.

Mack Rhoades

Strengths: His background includes a little bit of everything, with a heavy dose of fund-raising. Rhoades, 43, is generally viewed as an aggressive, no-excuses guy who demands excellence. That's why he is considered a rising star in the AD ranks.

He cleaned house in the coaching ranks where he needed to as the athletic director at Akron, and it's under his watch that the school built a $55 million on-campus football stadium that is scheduled to open this fall.

Rhoades' bio at Akron also features a strong emphasis on academics. He implemented an academic review process and a code of conduct for athletes. At the same time, he upgraded the facilities for the basketball arena and for the baseball, softball and track complex.

The seven years that Rhoades spent at Texas-El Paso prior to Akron appear to give him exactly the type of background Rutgers is looking for. As senior associate AD at UTEP he oversaw fund raising, marketing, media relations, major gift giving and facilities improvements.

Weaknesses: Does it matter that Rhoades has never worked at a BCS-conference school? It might to some. Like Mehrtens, Rhoades also doesn't appear to have any New Jersey ties, which makes him an outsider in a strange place that operates in a funny ways. Will he be able to adapt to the political animal at Rutgers? How will he deal with a school in a major media market -- something he has never done? That will be critically important now, with the operations of Rutgers athletics likely to be more transparent than ever before.

Will his aggressive approach and eagerness to make his mark -- something he has done at Akron with a couple of coaching firings -- rub people the wrong way at Rutgers?

Bottom line: Rhoades isn't so much of a compromise candidate as he is the one who offers the strengths of both Pernetti and Mehrtens in one package. The absence of any BCS-conference experience is a concern, but he has been a major college AD (something Pernetti hasn't been) and he has overseen big-time football (something Mehrtens has not yet done). He appears to be less of a gamble than the other two. And it would be a rare catch for Rutgers to actually snare someone whose career is still on the rise.