Former CBS College Sports executive Tim Pernetti will take the reins of Rutgers’ athletics department on April 1. Pernetti is one of several recent AD hires with a background outside of traditional athletics administration, though he was a student-athlete for the Scarlet Knights and provided radio commentary for football games in recent years. Pernetti said his passion for the school will be an asset as he works to grow the department from the inside out.

NCAA News: With your media background, you are coming at this job with truly fresh eyes. How do you think that perspective will help you in your new job?

Pernetti: It’s been interesting to me how athletics departments around the country have looked at more nontraditional candidates. The reason it’s being done is not because there’s not a lot of talented athletics directors out there. There are tons of them out there. It’s just that now in this day and age, especially with the emergence of media in collegiate sports, where it’s always been prominent but now it’s its own category because of the establishment of networks, now more than ever it helps to have a fresh set of eyes, whether it’s me coming from the media or Jack Swarbrick at Notre Dame coming from the legal profession.

With all the opportunities that are out there, maybe it helps to have a fresh set of eyes take a look at what athletics departments perhaps haven’t been taking advantage of as they should. I have said when I first got the job, one big part of my plan or strategy was we’re not going to debate whether our Olympic sports have the same kinds of television opportunities as football or basketball. However, the good news is as a university with a Web site, we control our own media. We should be investigating how we invest in creating our own little network right on our Web site so Olympic sports will get exposure. Instead of our entire women’s soccer schedule not being on television until the tournament, perhaps we should invest some money to stream those games online so people can see them.

NCAA News: Why did you want to take this job?

Pernetti: My affinity with the place because I went there was a draw. I also try to make a policy in the media of trying to understand my partner’s business as well as I do my own. I think a combination of those two things, and understanding where Rutgers is in the No. 1 media market in the country, understanding where we are from being in the shadow of all the major networks, in the shadow of Madison Avenue, it really excited me. Plus, there are great people here. Now they are starting to taste some success in some of the revenue sports, I think it’s a great opportunity to bring success to all our 24 sports.

NCAA News: What is it like to be back on the other side of table?

Pernetti: I haven’t tasted it completely yet. But you deal with a lot of things that you would never deal with on the media side. On the other hand, I dealt with things on the media side that I never will deal with in an athletics department. At the end of the day, what attracted me was that it’s a relationship business. Whether it’s raising money or establishing relationships with student-athletes or establishing relationships within your state with high school organizations so you can create a pipeline, it’s a relationship business. To me, being on the programming side of the media, all I’ve ever done is work in relationships and obviously grow those relationships to the point where you can do business together. That’s really what attracted me to the job.

NCAA News: Does it help being at your alma mater?

Pernetti: That obviously was a huge ace in the hole. If you’re going to be able to build and sell something successfully, you need to be passionate about what you’re building, and outside of my family, there is nothing I am more passionate about than Rutgers.

NCAA News: What are the biggest challenges you see for Division I?

Pernetti: Going forward, everybody’s big question is how we grow revenue to keep pace with expenses, especially in times like this. It’s much more deeply examined than it’s ever been. It’s got to be viewed more as how do we raise and earn, not slash and burn.

As the economy turns, everybody is talking about when ESPN will not be in a position to deliver the huge paydays conferences have come to expect. That obviously is the lifeblood of a lot of BCS conferences. The other thing is the NCAA has done a tremendous job of this – and I was part of this when I was with CSTV and we did a deal with Division II – the NCAA is challenged with trying to find TV exposure and other areas of exposure for all college sports. They’ve done a great job with Division II and Division III, but there’s more work to be done there. The more outlets that are out there – and there’s more than ever before – is just going to play in the favor of every level of collegiate athletics.

NCAA News: You start the job on April 1. What are you looking forward to most?

Pernetti: Just getting there. I know and have dealt with a lot of the people there. I’ve known some of them there since I was a student-athlete. I’m just looking forward to getting on the ground, being visible with our donors and starting to spend time with people I know can help take us to the next level. What I anticipate most is sitting with all of our coaches individually, listening to them and hearing about their vision for their team, how things are going, what the plan is for next year, and – most importantly – how I can help get them there.