Rutgers can't get out of its own way

How difficult is it to find someone in athletic leadership who doesn't have a history or been accused of mistreating players? It's seemingly very difficult if you're Rutgers University. Incoming athletic director Julie Hermann is supposed to bring a fresh face and a new direction to the Scarlet Knights. However, it seems the ghosts of the Mike Rice and Tim Pernetti era have returned to Piscataway.

Former Rutgers men's basketball coach Mike Rice was fired in April after video of him using homophobic slurs, profanity and even kicking a player went viral. Former athletic director Tim Pernetti resigned after negative pressure mounted in response to his handling of Rice's alleged mistreatment of players. New Jersey governor Chris Christie even expressed his displeasure with the situation publicly.

Determined to move forward, Rutgers hired Julie Hermann earlier this month. Hermann has over 25 years of combined experience in coaching and athletic administration on the college level. Her hire seemed to be a good one for Rutgers. Hermann comes in directly from Louisville -  which had one of the great athletic years in school history in 2012-13.

The Louisville football team upset the Florida Gators in the Sugar Bowl. Louisville's men's and women's basketball teams advanced to their respective title games with the men winning a championship. Conversely, Rutgers men finished 11th in the Big East in basketball. The nearly automatic women's basketball team missed its first tournament in a decade and the football team lost the lightly-regarded Russell Athletic Bowl to Virginia Tech.

If Hermann could bring some of Louisville's winning Mojo, that would make her hire worth the trouble. Yeah, but then comes that word...trouble. The Newark Star-Ledger reported over the weekend that while Hermann was head women's volleyball coach at Tennessee, players accused her of ruling "through humiliation, fear, and emotional abuse."

Hermann's credibility has also been called into question as reports have surfaced about a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit filed by one of her former assistants. The assistant coach, Ginger Hineline won a $150,000 settlement from the University of Tennessee in 1995. When asked about the lawsuit and Hineline's wedding video used as evidence in the lawsuit, Hermann said she didn't remember attending the wedding.

Nevertheless, Hermann is shown in pictures of the wedding party. She extended well wishes to Hineline and her new husband in the video and she caught the bouquet. Yes, Hermann caught the bouquet but doesn't remember being at the wedding. She also doesn't remember the letter submitted by her players and denies calling them names I won't write in this space.

The first responsibility of any school or athletic program - from pre-K to college - is to provide a safe environment for students. This means kids should be safe from physical as well as mental harm. This means that those in charge must do their homework when checking backgrounds on potential coaches and administrators. Coaches must be trained in technique and temperament. The CNN video below sheds more light on the situation (email subscribers click here).



Something tells me Rutgers president Robert Barchi will be getting another phone call from Gov. Christie.