Rutgers president Robert Barchi has delivered a vote of confidence for his pending athletic director hire despite allegations of abuse, saying in a statement that the school looks forward to Julie Hermann running the athletic department. "We remain confident that we have selected an individual who will work in the best interests of all of our student athletes, our athletics teams, and the university," Barchi said Monday in a statement.
In a phone interview with ESPN earlier Monday, Hermann said Barchi notified her that her job as Rutgers athletic director was safe. "It's been communicated to me (by Barchi) that I'm the athletic director and will lead Rutgers into the Big Ten," Hermann said.
According to Hermann, Barchi spoke with the Board of Governors on her behalf, and the board has reached out to her with a great deal of support.
In his statement, Barchi added she was the best of the 63 candidates interviewed for the job of succeeding Tim Pernetti. Hermann, 49, was hired on May 15 and is scheduled to officially start her new position on June 17.
Barchi's assurances came after the Newark Star-Ledger reported Saturday that Hermann quit as the head women's volleyball coach at Tennessee 16 years ago after all 15 players at the time, in a letter, accused her of calling them "whores, alcoholics and learning disabled."
"It's absolutely not true that I referred to them with any name calling like that," Hermann said Monday. "That's not part of my vocabulary.
"Am I an intense coach? Absolutely as many coaches are. There's a big canyon between being super intense and abuse. This was not an abusive environment. Was it challenging? Yes. It was incredibly challenging. Was I aware players were unhappy? I was unaware by the end of the season. We had so many challenges with this group of women."
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