Still waiting for a national championship which should happen soon in some sport but we all should be thankful for what happened in 2011. I was around and somewhat active in what was going on. This never happens from my perspective without the relationship which Tim built with Delany. It was real. It took years. Certainly Greg and Bob were huge, but my money keeps going back to what Tim created.Not giving credit to Barchi.
Rutgers won the lottery
- Thread starter RU72
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Mulcahy had a lot more to do with it than Pernetti.
I was just thinking who deserves most of the credit for RU's good fortune to end up in the B1G. I've got to believe Schiano actually winning some games and getting fans to fill the stadium achieved more than Mulcahy or Pernetti. I'd put Mulcahy in second place. I'd also give some credit to Codey -for a Seton Hall guy he has served RU and the state well...even the Fat Man (Chris Christie) should get some credit.
If Rutgers Sports had saints we would need to start the canonization process right away. Going forward I suggest any reference to our recently departed former AD should include the honorific "Venerable" at least.
Very inaccurate. Mulcahy played a big part, don’t get me wrong. But Pernetti is why we got in when we did
There are studies that show the average American who wins the lottery is more apt to go bankrupt in the next 10 years than someone who doesn’t.
Ray of sunshine ☀️
I'll take my chances with that.
It's hard to credit Pernetti since if it wasn't for Mulcahy and GS we would not have even been considered. Not remotely in the running. And I don't think Pernetti could have done what Mulcahy did in terms of building the foundation. So swap Pernetti for Mulcahy in the early days and we never achieve liftoff in the first place. On the other hand, keep Mulcahy at RU through 2011 (swap him for Pernetti) and I still think we are in the Big 10.
Also, taking a look at the big picture, I don't think we are lucky. I think our bad luck and good luck are just balancing out regarding colossally unfortunate decisions starting in the 1970s that continued until Bob Mulcahy.
As the flagship state school in the 13th largest state that is also very wealthy, in the middle of the largest media market in the world, in a recruiting hotbed. Rutgers needed bad luck or bad leadership to keep it down. I see the entry into the Big as just a small reversal of that bad luck and leadership.
Also, taking a look at the big picture, I don't think we are lucky. I think our bad luck and good luck are just balancing out regarding colossally unfortunate decisions starting in the 1970s that continued until Bob Mulcahy.
As the flagship state school in the 13th largest state that is also very wealthy, in the middle of the largest media market in the world, in a recruiting hotbed. Rutgers needed bad luck or bad leadership to keep it down. I see the entry into the Big as just a small reversal of that bad luck and leadership.
Correction to the original post ...
We won the lottery in 2011.....
We then bought prime real estate by getting the loan from the in-laws (Mr Delany) & then reinvested that money into the program with no immediate results.
Then we went back to the cornet deli and even though we became rich again, we bought a different lottery ticket or batch of scratch-offs in a new AD, new basketball coach and football coach and started seeing results sprouting up.
I don't know if there will be a better story or book that should be written, that should cover how this happened. Since the OP has been a very successful writer of books, I would pay to read the step by step-by-step process on how RU went from lower than the outhouse, all the way to rooftop, with the fancy furniture and beautiful view of the skyline.
In no other case, other than Utah launching from the WAC in the shadows of BYU, has a school gone through a evolution. Utah went from the WAC, to Mountain West, to the Pac 12, to a place that probably will see them eventually part of the B1G in short order. Only thing close to that, will be going from Eastern 8/Atlantic 10 or independent RU in the late 80s, to the B1G in under 40 years.
We won the lottery in 2011.....
We then bought prime real estate by getting the loan from the in-laws (Mr Delany) & then reinvested that money into the program with no immediate results.
Then we went back to the cornet deli and even though we became rich again, we bought a different lottery ticket or batch of scratch-offs in a new AD, new basketball coach and football coach and started seeing results sprouting up.
I don't know if there will be a better story or book that should be written, that should cover how this happened. Since the OP has been a very successful writer of books, I would pay to read the step by step-by-step process on how RU went from lower than the outhouse, all the way to rooftop, with the fancy furniture and beautiful view of the skyline.
In no other case, other than Utah launching from the WAC in the shadows of BYU, has a school gone through a evolution. Utah went from the WAC, to Mountain West, to the Pac 12, to a place that probably will see them eventually part of the B1G in short order. Only thing close to that, will be going from Eastern 8/Atlantic 10 or independent RU in the late 80s, to the B1G in under 40 years.
The program was well past its peak when we got the invite. And we didn’t sell out games.
The conference wanted to expand and location/AAU were the only two things that mattered. It didn’t matter who or what (record, stadium size) was doing the talking on our behalf.
So yes, we won the lottery. Rags to riches. Luck, at least in the athletics sense, not athletics leadership. Gradual academic growth to AAU membership in 1989 is what got us here.
The conference wanted to expand and location/AAU were the only two things that mattered. It didn’t matter who or what (record, stadium size) was doing the talking on our behalf.
So yes, we won the lottery. Rags to riches. Luck, at least in the athletics sense, not athletics leadership. Gradual academic growth to AAU membership in 1989 is what got us here.
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We are in the B1G because of Greg Schiano. PERIOD
Luck is an opportunity meeting preparation. 🤭
Warren was lucky USC and UCLA reached out to the B1G. Warren was prepared by having an expansion subcommittee in place if an opportunity presented itself.
Wrong. Again, while Greg deserves credit…it was cause of Tim.
Greg left cause he didn’t think an invite was coming. Pernetti made it happen. With big thanks to Greg and Bob, of course
The single biggest factor is that we have the good fortune of being part of the NYC metro media market, so I believe the credit should go to Colonel Henry Rutgers.
haha yes of course. Lol
Tim, being a TV exec…was the one who leveraged this to a deal
Its pretty safe to say Bob, Tim and Greg all had a hand in making it happen. If anyone of them weren’t at Rutgers for their moment, this may not of worked.
I'm going to give a shout-out to former RU President Edward Bloustein, who told me in 1982 or 1983 that his dream was for Rutgers to be in the B1G and that he wanted to model the university after the large state universities in that conference, both athletically and academically. He took over as president in the early 70s and presided over the shift toward big time football, leading the university almost up to the point where it joined the Big East for football only. He also led the effort to get RU in to the prestigious American Association of Universities and lived to see that part of his vision for the university come true a few months before his untimely death in December 1989. Everybody mentioned above played a valuable role, but if I have to vote for a single man that is "most" responsible for RU ending up in the B1G, I vote for President Bloustein.
I had to pinch myself when the announcement was made. Thank God we got into the Big 10, and thank God for Tim Pernetti.
Was Schleprock the original Goth dude?Maybe time to change your screen name to Schleprock
Uncle Bob started the process, and was instrumental in getting the ball rolling
But RU72 is spot on, without TP, zero shot we're in
He was the catalyst, and is owed a huge debt of gratitude
His body of work as AD apart from that was nothing to write home about / subpar, but I'm willing to overlook that bc he came through when it counted (B1G conference affiliation)
For my money, TP (for playing and his work as AD getting us in the B1G) will always be a loyal son
But RU72 is spot on, without TP, zero shot we're in
He was the catalyst, and is owed a huge debt of gratitude
His body of work as AD apart from that was nothing to write home about / subpar, but I'm willing to overlook that bc he came through when it counted (B1G conference affiliation)
For my money, TP (for playing and his work as AD getting us in the B1G) will always be a loyal son
I remember that weekend when momentum was building. I couldn’t believe it either and we just finished off a huge win vs. Cincy on the road. The defense and Savon were horses that day.
I don’t disagree on Tim deserving credit. However, Greg left to try his luck as an NFL head coach.
he basically said he wouldn’t have left had we were in the big ten.
I know. It’s probably true to the extent that he may not have been as proactively putting his name in the hat for consideration. It would’ve been nuts for him to turn down Tampa though and not take a crack at coaching in the NFL once the offer came.
But no it HAS to be the STADIUM EXPANSION that was the main reason we got into the big ten LOL
Mark Harrison long catch and run FTW!
Someone said the program was well past its peak but being ranked and needing 1 more win to get to the BCS (would've been the Sugar) with the best ranked young talent we'd ever had... we had no idea this was the case
For the "All Tim did is answer the phone" crowd, Tim certainly maintained on-going dialogue with Delany starting from before Nebraska was selected to join the Big Ten in 2010, until Rutgers got its invitation about 2 years later. And through those conversations, Delany and Pernetti certainly shared plans, concerns, expectations, and perspective. (But that also makes Tim's bungling of the Schiano/Flood transition even more baffling, especially if there is truth to the claim that Schiano wouldn't have left if he knew we were going to the Big Ten.)
But by no means should you believe that Delany invited Rutgers because he and Pernetti called each other on a regular basis. Delany selected Rutgers because it made great business sense to increase the value of the conference
Ever since Penn St joined the Big Ten in the 1990s, the Big Ten has looked at Rutgers as a possible inclusion for eastward expansion. Rutgers had a lot which made it a good fit: Geography, Flagship state university, AAU member, not historically tied to another conference. The problem was Rutgers athletic were poor to mediocre, and there was too much risk that Rutgers would be a financial drain on the conference.
Two events changed that calculus: the creation of BTN, and the 2006 Texas Bowl. BTN introduced a nee revenue stream, and the Texas Bowl proved that Rutgers could be leverage to enhance that revenue.
The 2006 Texas Bowl capped off a wildly successful season for Rutgers. Unfortunately the bowl game was set to be televised on the NFL Network, a fledgling cable network which was struggling to get broad distribution by cable providers. Most Rutgers fans would have been unable to watch the game. That sparked a revolt by Rutgers fans that brought the NFL and all major cable companies to their knees, and they buckled and agreed to widely distribute the game.
That was the Aha moment for the Big Ten. If Rutgers fans had enough consumer power to get cable companies to buckle on the Texas Bowl, they could do the same thing for the BTN. And that, in fact, did happen when Rutgers joined the Big Ten, adding to the value of the conference.
So, certainly fans get the most credit for Rutgers joining the Big Ten. But the fan power of the 2006 Texas Bowl doesn't happen without the 2006 football season, and that doesn't happen without Schiano and Mulcahy's hiring and support of Schiano.
But by no means should you believe that Delany invited Rutgers because he and Pernetti called each other on a regular basis. Delany selected Rutgers because it made great business sense to increase the value of the conference
Ever since Penn St joined the Big Ten in the 1990s, the Big Ten has looked at Rutgers as a possible inclusion for eastward expansion. Rutgers had a lot which made it a good fit: Geography, Flagship state university, AAU member, not historically tied to another conference. The problem was Rutgers athletic were poor to mediocre, and there was too much risk that Rutgers would be a financial drain on the conference.
Two events changed that calculus: the creation of BTN, and the 2006 Texas Bowl. BTN introduced a nee revenue stream, and the Texas Bowl proved that Rutgers could be leverage to enhance that revenue.
The 2006 Texas Bowl capped off a wildly successful season for Rutgers. Unfortunately the bowl game was set to be televised on the NFL Network, a fledgling cable network which was struggling to get broad distribution by cable providers. Most Rutgers fans would have been unable to watch the game. That sparked a revolt by Rutgers fans that brought the NFL and all major cable companies to their knees, and they buckled and agreed to widely distribute the game.
That was the Aha moment for the Big Ten. If Rutgers fans had enough consumer power to get cable companies to buckle on the Texas Bowl, they could do the same thing for the BTN. And that, in fact, did happen when Rutgers joined the Big Ten, adding to the value of the conference.
So, certainly fans get the most credit for Rutgers joining the Big Ten. But the fan power of the 2006 Texas Bowl doesn't happen without the 2006 football season, and that doesn't happen without Schiano and Mulcahy's hiring and support of Schiano.
- 2001 - Uncle Bob takes a huge chance and hires Greg.
- 2001-2005 - Greg successfully builds the program from the ashes
- 2006 - Greg makes headlines with 9-0 start and Pandemonium in Piscataway
- 2007-2009 - Uncle Bob and Greg get the stadium expanded
- 2010-2012 - Tim does the relationship building and final legwork to complete the plan that Uncle Bob and Greg set in motion
We’re not in the Big Ten solely because of NY/NJ location or AAU status. Those two things were necessary but not sufficient.
We needed a credible football program, a better stadium, and proof that NJ would support a big time college football program. Bob and Greg gave Delany and the B1G presidents and ADs proof of concept. Tim brought it across the finish line.
- 2001-2005 - Greg successfully builds the program from the ashes
- 2006 - Greg makes headlines with 9-0 start and Pandemonium in Piscataway
- 2007-2009 - Uncle Bob and Greg get the stadium expanded
- 2010-2012 - Tim does the relationship building and final legwork to complete the plan that Uncle Bob and Greg set in motion
We’re not in the Big Ten solely because of NY/NJ location or AAU status. Those two things were necessary but not sufficient.
We needed a credible football program, a better stadium, and proof that NJ would support a big time college football program. Bob and Greg gave Delany and the B1G presidents and ADs proof of concept. Tim brought it across the finish line.
