OT - Rutgers Athletic Director Tim Pernetti resigns
Pernetti has been fired or has resigned according to ESPN (watching on TV, no link). It is not yet clear which. [EDIT: Resigns]
According to Brett McMurphy, who is reporting the story, is saying a major factor was the political pressure on to do something.
EDIT: Rutgers press conference live on ESPN at 1pm EST.
EDIT2: Here's a link to the ESPN story.
http://espn.go.com/new-york/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/9137089/…
EDIT 3:
From the press conference, President Barchi says that "Rice was not fired for cause, I just fired him." He mentioned that the independent investigation concluded that they could not fire Rice with cause, contractually. Barchi says that he did not see the tapes until this week and at that point immediately made the decision the fire Rice, despite not having contractual, legal cause. This means that Rice will be given whatever by-outs that exist in his contract.
Honestly I just came tho this thread to scroll through and see if anyone else was thinkin what I was thinkin lol. One of the arguments for keeping him was his work with the B1G, soooo I think B1G faculty members should sign a petition to keep em out!
Well-deserved, and not surprising. Hopefully Rutgers sticks around in the B1G.
Here's the NJ Star-LEdger piece - (LINK)
It talks some about how one of the considerations that went into the external investigation which Pernetti opted for was what sort of financial liability would exist if they fired Rice when he still had two years on his contract. It also mentions that the Rutgers general counsel resigned on Wednesday as he made the recommnedation to not fire Rice, according to the story.
I would have to say that if it is the case that possible financial liability from firing Rice right then and there was in any way an overriding concern, that would have had to come from Pernetti's office as well as Rutgers legal staff as they laid out the parameters for this firm, I would assume. If it is the case, then Pernetti was a party to putting the Rutgers brand in serious jeopardy, and that destroys any goodwill that might have otherwise risen from the Big Ten deal or other initiatives in the end. There would be no realistic way that Pernetti could remain employed at Rutgers then.
my bad
The General Counsel's resignation is pretty shocking, IMO. The President and Trustees clearly didn't do their jobs with an investigation that reportedly involved an outside lawyer (per http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/06/sports/ncaabasketball/athletic-director-tim-pernetti-is-out-in-rutgers-abuse-scandal.html), the General Counsel, and all the other parties mentioned. Incidentally, I wonder if Rutgers or the State of NJ could sue the outside lawyer for malpractice, given the outrageously incorrect content of his report.
Don't lose much sleep over it. Rutgers isn't getting kicked out.
But when will they fire the players and parents who allowed this to happen?
/Parker'd
Folks who get hired to positions of Head Coach and up (including AD, CEO, President of something, etc.) get hired as much for their knowledge of a particular industry as much as for their ability to perform damage control. Mike Gundy said himself that he was surprised that when he gained the Head Coaching job at Okie State that he had very little time to actually be involved in the coaching process. He stated that most of his time revolved around "putting out little fires" around the program, and then, with 120+ kids, another would arise and he would tend to that one.
These men are not only experts at protecting a program, but also at using those tools to protect themselves. Sometimes these tools are so blantantly flaunted that they think they won't be caught in a trap when they say one thing and change their mind in reaction to public outcry the next day. This is why in situations like these I tend to believe the first thing out of people's mouths, though it is by no means a fool proof rule.
I consider it highly likely that Pernetti show the President of Rutgers the video back in December, though it is also possible that he only said that in order to legitimize his response to the issue. I also consider it likely that with the current growing pressure, the President saw a way to save his job and that included denouncing Pernetti's claim that he had shown the President the video. Now, every entity with billions of dollars to its name (including a University) understands that it is better to reach private settlements under the table than to risk potentially damaging, both financially and publicly, lawsuits. Therefore, I am of the opinion that the President knew what had been going on, allowed Pernetti to lead, but worked to cover his own ass as soon as the video came to light. I believe the terminology of Pernetti's firing/resignation was negotiated like Jim Tressel's and I believe that Pernetti was promised certain benefits under the table as a negotiation tactic to prevent him from publicly souring on Rutgers and airing out any dirty laundry, to prevent him from indicting the President, and in order to take care of this matter as quickly as possible, including limiting the damage that Rutgers must control.
What lawyers say is always trash. We have to go by their word in order to catch a conflict of statements because that may be all we have in a paper trail. However, human intuition often lies in conflict with such statements. Sandusky's lawyers said what they could to get him off despite common sense and ohio's lawyers and now Miami's lawyers are saying whatever was/is necessary to limit damage control and cast a better image over their schools. It has nothing to do with a search for the truth. The profession of damage control is as old as Kings and tyrants. One seeks legitimization of their claims to power and another entity (usually spurned) seeks to undue their rule. Statues, art , money, and the sword are some of the oldest methods to contain damage and increase legitimacy. Lawyers are just the newest and best.
I don't believe a thing released by Rutgers or their representatives.
There's no way the President hadn't seen the video earlier. Just days ago he was declining comment and referring press inquiries to the AD, which you don't do unless you've got an organized plan. The President realized he'd lose his job if he didn't change the story, so that's what he did.
This bullshit about not firing Pernetti for cause is a big red flag. He absolutely had cause to fire him, and he's put Rutgers on the hook for Pernetti's buy out by publicly stating that the firing is not for cause. Any situation not involving a backroom deal would either be silent on the issue or note that Pernetti's being fired for cause, and it'd be Pernetti's problem to pursue compensation through the courts. The only reason not to go that route is that the President is covering his own ass.
This makes me sad. The biggest reason that my incredulity about Rutgers joining the conference turned into a hesitant optimism were the wonderful things that Pernetti said about the Big Ten. Their press conference was night and day different from Maryland's, and it was apparent that they weren't just joining so that they could straighten out their finances, but that they wanted to be a peer member of the overall best conference-considering academics and football and basketball-and that they had been hoping for the invite for quite some time.
I don't think he handled this as tactfully or transparently as he could have, but I do believe that a bright future just evaporated in front of us and that Rutgers' transition to the B1G won't go as smoothly as it could have.
Yeah, no wonder they were excited. Rutgers was the flat-as-a-board girl with a lisp and braces who just got asked to sit at the cheerleaders' (Big Ten) table at lunch just because she might be able to get the cheerleaders' access to her rich older brother (NYC) who really doesn't even talk to her (Rutgers).
YAY! Herm is being misogynist now!
Hey! Congratulations! You've just proven that you don't know what the term misogynist even means!
Hey dave: Walllllllllll-Marrrrrtttttttt. Waalllllllllll-Marrrrrrrrrttttttt.
I'm pretty sure the guy making his points via unnecessary reference to young girls' bodies does not get to reject charges of misogyny while claiming a superior university education. But hey, what do I know about universities. I only work at one.
Read this comment again in a few years. Tell me what ya think.
I was defending the AD yesterday but then I watched more of the video and saw the assistant coach on tape doing the same kind of thing. When I picked my jaw up off the floor I thought, that guy has no excuse.
Why people are still talking about a crappy athletic pogram's inability to handle a bully for a head coach is beyond me. It happened, people are getting fired and hopefully they'll move on. But it's Rutgers for gawd's sake; this feels like a line-item on a daily email, not this massive story. I am sure that there are other coaches like Rice out there, and ADs that look the other way if the buyout is too great or the guy wins. I definitely think Rice and the AD should be fired and people should have stopped it earlier, but at some point can people just move on.
Interesting that the independent investigation concluded that they could not fire Rice for cause. That makes it seem that Pernetti's actions were appropriate, other than the fact that he did not share the tape with the President.
Unfortunate situation for Pernetti, though I think the lesson learned is: CYA. CYA not by holding back information but by sharing ALL information.
holy hell that presser was painful.
Maybe the lesson they should learn is that every coach should have a conduct clause in their contract? How the hell can you have a contract that doesn't allow you to fire a coach "with cause" when you have them on video treating the students like that? You don't think any teacher would be fired "with cause" if they were on video whipping books at students' heads?
Who the hell is writing up the Rutgers' Athletic Deptartment employment contracts??
"guys who shouldn't lose their jobs" front-
repeats my comment of the other day that the RU president is learning from the E Gordon Gee school of public speaking. Since he doesn't know how to walk home, he also better watch out where he parks his car. He needs to go, but I'd be shocked if it happens.