Tim Pernetti Officially Introduced As Rutgers Univ. AD

Pernetti Agrees To Five- Year Deal

Newly-hired Rutgers Univ. (RU) AD Tim Pernetti Thursday was formally introduced on the Newark campus of Rutgers after being approved unanimously by the school's BOG earlier in the day and promised "transparency and accountability from an athletic department that has been under siege the past year," according to Tom Liucci of the Newark STAR-LEDGER. Pernetti, Rutgers' third AD since '72, "agreed to terms of a five-year deal worth $410,000 annually, with an annual performance bonus of $50,000 and a $12,000 annual car stipend." And while "no formal contract has been drafted yet," RU President Richard McCormick said that it "will be done in the coming weeks." Pernetti, who had served as RU's football radio analyst, "tackled head-on the concerns that he is too closely aligned with football coach Greg Schiano -- an alliance that might prompt jealousy from the school's other 23 sports." Pernetti: "So much has been built around football because it's the big revenue-producing sport and my relationship with Greg is a positive. Greg and I have the kind of respectful relationship between men where we understand that there's a betterment that needs to be served. There's a university that needs to be served." Liucci writes Pernetti's commitment to RU "is sincere, since he took a pay cut of approximately 20[%] to return to his alma mater" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 2/27). RU in '06 cut six sports due to budgetary issues, and when asked if he "would work toward trying to restore those sports," Pernetti said, "My focus in on the 24 sports we have." In N.Y., Dave Caldwell notes Pernetti also "intends to use his background in broadcasting to help widen the appeal of what he called 'Olympic sports,' or the nonrevenue-producing sports." Pernetti added that RU "could start an online network in which those events could be shown live" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/27).

SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED: In Atlanta, Darryl Maxie reports newly-hired Georgia State Univ. (GSU) AD Cheryl Levick, who was introduced by the school Wednesday, signed a five-year contract that "could pay her up to $1.41[M]." The contract "calls for a base salary of $220,000 annually, but also provides up to $50,000 a year for attaining yet-to-be-negotiated performance goals, and a $6,000-a-year car allowance." The contract also "pays Levick $30,000 for relocating from Maryland, where she was second in command in the athletics department" at the Univ. of Maryland. If Levick is "terminated without clause, she will be paid half of her 'guaranteed base salary,'" and if Levick "leaves GSU in the first three years of her contract, she would owe the university $440,000, or twice her base salary." If Levick were to leave "in the fourth or fifth year, she would owe the school only $220,000, one year's salary." Maxie notes GSU also "would have the option of extending Levick's contract for two years after Feb. 28, 2012" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 2/27).