Tim Pernetti will be announced as the new Rutgers athletic director at a Thursday afternoon press conference, according to a report in the Home News Tribune, which cites three high-ranking university officials as sources.
The Rutgers board of governors will convene Thursday morning in Newark to vote on whether to accept President Richard McCormick’s recommendation, but the appointment is expected to be a formality.
The school has announced a 12:30 press conference to introduce the new AD.
Pernetti, 38, was one of three finalists for the position, along with North Carolina-Wilmington athletics director Kelly Mehrtens and University of Akron athletics director Mack Rhoades.
All three finalists met with the 14-member search committee, headed by Dr. Philip Furmanski, for about an hour Wednesday, the Home News reported.
“Tim really made a good impression on us,” one committee member told the paper.
“There was no decision made. We just made recommendations,” the committee member said. “I’d be shocked if it wasn’t Tim. I think he’s smart, he seemed honest, he had a good handle on what needs to be done.”
Pernetti played tight end at Rutgers in the early 1990s, has been the color commentator for the Rutgers Football Radio Network for the past eight years and is close with Rutgers football coach Greg Schiano.
Pernetti will succeed Robert Mulcahy and will become the fifth AD at Rutgers in the last 64 years, succeeding Harry J. Rockafeller (1945-61), Albert Twitchell (1961-73), Fred Gruninger (1973-98) and Mulcahy (1998-2008).
