In hockey there is the “Hat Trick,” which is when one player scores three goals himself in a game. So if a Hat Trick is a reference of a good thing happening in threes what do you call it when bad things happen in threes? My new name for it will be a “Rutgers,” because they have made three horrible decisions in their firing and hiring of athletic coaches and administrators.
Bad Thing #1:
Not firing Mike Rice, ex-head men’s basketball coach, as soon as the AD saw the video of him verbally and physically abusing his players during practice was without question the first bad thing that happened to Rutgers, which led to the resignation of the Tim Pernetti from his athletic director position.
Bad Thing #2:
After firing Rice and his assistant coach for their abusive actions, Rutgers quickly went on a hunt to replace Rice with someone that would bring some credibility back to the men’s basketball program and help blow over the scandal as much as possible. Unfortunately, their hasty decision lacked due diligence when they selected Eddie Jordan as the new coach. It appears they were more focused on a big name coach to overshadow the Rice scandal than to look over Jordan’s educational credentials and see that he doesn’t have a college degree. How can you not know that a former student-athlete of your university didn’t obtain his degree?
Is Eddie Jordan a great hire for their program? Yes, without a doubt. His credentials speak for themselves:
• Led Rutgers to its only Final Four appearance
• Won an NBA championship as a Laker
• Won more than 250 NBA games when he served as head coach of three of its teams
But the job description states the applicant must have a bachelor degree at minimum, but even after finding out Jordan lack the minimum educational requirements the Rutgers’s administration still kept him on as the coach.
Bad Thing #3:
To make matters worse, Rutgers’s hired Julie Hermann as their athletic director only to find out she had allegations of verbal abuse to players when she was the head women’s volleyball coach at Tennessee in the late 1990s. And now players are coming forward to speak out about Hermann’s behavior when she was their coach, adding more insults to injury I would say.
Here’s my take on Rutgers president, Robert L. Barchi, thinking at the time when he approved these hires. He was trying to get the focus off of him and the university, because his neck was still on the line for not overseeing the Rice situation appropriately. He figured if I can get someone like Eddie Jordan with his professional coaching background and legendary attachment to the university the alumni would love it and this will help speed up the healing process of the Rice scandal as well as keep the alumni dollars coming in. And as for hiring Julie Hermann, it was a Ty Willingham hire. Unfortunately, it appears that when scandals occur at universities or colleges within athletics that are predominantly led by White males, it is becoming a common practice to hire the first African American or women in the position to give the appearance of progressiveness, but in fact hoping the attention will be on the new hire and not the scandal that preceded.
Overall, Barchi and the Board of Trustees keep making novice mistakes that make me question their competence as well as support the fact that Barchi should have been thrown out with Rice and Pernetti.
Bad Thing #1:
Not firing Mike Rice, ex-head men’s basketball coach, as soon as the AD saw the video of him verbally and physically abusing his players during practice was without question the first bad thing that happened to Rutgers, which led to the resignation of the Tim Pernetti from his athletic director position.
Bad Thing #2:
After firing Rice and his assistant coach for their abusive actions, Rutgers quickly went on a hunt to replace Rice with someone that would bring some credibility back to the men’s basketball program and help blow over the scandal as much as possible. Unfortunately, their hasty decision lacked due diligence when they selected Eddie Jordan as the new coach. It appears they were more focused on a big name coach to overshadow the Rice scandal than to look over Jordan’s educational credentials and see that he doesn’t have a college degree. How can you not know that a former student-athlete of your university didn’t obtain his degree?
Is Eddie Jordan a great hire for their program? Yes, without a doubt. His credentials speak for themselves:
• Led Rutgers to its only Final Four appearance
• Won an NBA championship as a Laker
• Won more than 250 NBA games when he served as head coach of three of its teams
But the job description states the applicant must have a bachelor degree at minimum, but even after finding out Jordan lack the minimum educational requirements the Rutgers’s administration still kept him on as the coach.
Bad Thing #3:
To make matters worse, Rutgers’s hired Julie Hermann as their athletic director only to find out she had allegations of verbal abuse to players when she was the head women’s volleyball coach at Tennessee in the late 1990s. And now players are coming forward to speak out about Hermann’s behavior when she was their coach, adding more insults to injury I would say.
Here’s my take on Rutgers president, Robert L. Barchi, thinking at the time when he approved these hires. He was trying to get the focus off of him and the university, because his neck was still on the line for not overseeing the Rice situation appropriately. He figured if I can get someone like Eddie Jordan with his professional coaching background and legendary attachment to the university the alumni would love it and this will help speed up the healing process of the Rice scandal as well as keep the alumni dollars coming in. And as for hiring Julie Hermann, it was a Ty Willingham hire. Unfortunately, it appears that when scandals occur at universities or colleges within athletics that are predominantly led by White males, it is becoming a common practice to hire the first African American or women in the position to give the appearance of progressiveness, but in fact hoping the attention will be on the new hire and not the scandal that preceded.
Overall, Barchi and the Board of Trustees keep making novice mistakes that make me question their competence as well as support the fact that Barchi should have been thrown out with Rice and Pernetti.
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