WANTED: Dynamic, front-facing executive to lead a Big Ten athletic department that is underperforming and swimming in debt. Must be a proven problem solver with a realistic vision for how to elevate a collection of teams that lacks the resources of its higher-profile competition. A working knowledge of New Jersey is preferred but not required. And, uh, did we mention that the last four people to hold this position got fired? It might be one of the toughest jobs in all of big-time college sports. But the reward for the person who actually succeeds? A slice of New Jersey immortality. Rutgers needs a new athletic director, a person who will oversee 24 intercollegiate teams, hundreds of employees and nearly a thousand athletes. The role is so much more than that basic description, however, and requires someone who brings a wide variety of skills and experiences. The Scarlet Knights need someone who can bring outside-the-box solutions to an entrenched set of problems. They need someone who will not only define success in Piscataway, but a forward thinker who can foresee the direction of NCAA athletics in the coming years and position this athletic department for the future. Rutgers announced last week that it has retained TurnkeyZRG to lead the search with the support of a 10-person “advisory committee.” The university did not provide a timetable, but the soon-to-be-named replacement for outgoing president Jonathan Holloway will have a role in the final decision. If all goes well, Rutgers could have a permanent AD before the start of next football season. That would coincide with the one-year anniversary of former athletic director Patrick Hobbs’ sudden resignation as the university launched a probe into his improper, consensual relationship with gymnastics coach Umme Salim-Beasley. The department has been in an odd state of limbo ever since, with interim AD Ryan Pisarri largely forced to spend his time putting out the many fires that Hobbs left behind. A promising football season ended with a 7-6 record and a loss in the Rate Bowl, a disappointment that paled in comparison to the basketball team’s failure to reach the NCAA Tournament with two future NBA lottery picks in the lineup. In short, the new AD will take over a rudderless department at a pivotal time in college sports history. We did mention the job wouldn’t be easy, right? Candidates will emerge in the coming weeks, with some expected to come from outside the traditional college-athletics background. Whoever gets the job, he or she will have to tackle a long list challenges from Day 1 in New Jersey. Here are the biggest priorities: Fundraise, fundraise, fundraise. This is the most important mandate for the new athletic director and, frankly, nothing else is even close. The Scarlet Knights will not reach their potential on the playing field until someone figures out how to get well-heeled alums — or, for that matter, anyone else — to open their wallets on a level that matches Big Ten rivals. Rutgers ranked last in the conference in donations during the 2023-24 school year, at $8.5 million. That’s $3 million less than Maryland, which was second lowest, and barely in the same universe with Nebraska ($76.3 million), Illinois ($57.4 million) and Ohio State ($52.5 million). This impacts every facet of the athletic department. It is true that fundraising has remained an issue for the entire university for generations, but that can’t be an excuse any more. The new athletics boss must identify new donors and land corporate dollars to keep up with its rivals as the pay-for-play era of college sports separates neatly between programs with and programs without resources. The spending deficit at Rutgers topped $70 million last year, another challenge that stands in the way of whoever gets this job. Will the new AD be willing to explore private equity to achieve his or her goals? Can this hire identify the kind of donors who have changed the trajectory for other programs by simply opening their checkbooks? Be proactive, not reactive Rutgers was late to the party on big-time college sports compared to other land-grant state universities and, in many ways, has been playing catch-up ever since. That explains some of the Scarlet Knights historic struggles, but it doesn’t excuse the athletic department’s struggle — or even resistance — to keep up with the changing times. The last time an AD was truly proactive was 15 years ago, when Tim Pernetti worked behind the scenes to help Rutgers land in the Big Ten. Hobbs wasn’t merely reactive toward the name, image and likeness movement, he held the university back in a way that handcuffed his coaches. It is time for Rutgers to hire an athletic director who is a visionary, someone who can anticipate how the landscape in college sports will shift next. In the last five years, this business has undergone a transformation more dramatic than the previous 50, and there are no signs that this is slowing down. It is time for Rutgers to be ahead of the next wave instead of getting washed up in the current. Set priorities and define success The Scarlet Knights aren’t succeeding at much of anything. Rutgers was 100th in the most recent standings for the Learfield Directors’ Cup, the only metric that measures the overall success of an athletic department. That sandwiched them between New Hampshire and South Dakota, not exactly the kind of company that a Big Ten program expects to keep. Part of the problem is that, for decades, the university has spread its resources across 24 sports. Rutgers found out the hard way the last time it cut sports that the blowback is not worth the savings. But the new AD must set priorities to give the handful of programs — women’s soccer, wrestling and men’s lacrosse are three that come to mind — the best chance to succeed at a national level. Defining success in a tangible way beyond the usual platitudes is a must. This is an uncomfortable question the next athletic director needs to ask immediately: How is Maryland, which spends millions less on athletics, filling its trophy case in Olympic sports while teams at Rutgers continue to struggle? Develop a realistic facilities plan The last athletic director was exploring the idea of replacing Jersey Mike’s Arena with a new basketball facility — an idea that made little sense on any level. The current football coach arrived in 2019 with big plans for a football headquarters to rival the best in the country — a plan that, given the dramatic changes in the college sports landscape, also is no longer worth pursuing. That doesn’t mean Rutgers can stop pursuing better facilities. The new athletic director needs to come up with a plan that strikes a balance between what is necessary and what is realistic. JMA needs bathrooms and concourse space, luxury seating that generates revenue and other modern amenities. SHI Stadium is showing its age, too, and the football “bubble” is laughably inadequate compared to where other Big Ten football teams practice. Fix basketball The arrow is pointing down on both the men’s and women’s basketball teams at Rutgers, and there are no easy fixes for either program. Steve Pikiell’s men finished 15-17 this season despite two likely top-five NBA Draft picks on the roster, while the women were 15th in the Big Ten to fall to 33-64 in three seasons under Coquese Washigton. Pikiell, with a contract through 2031, is not going anywhere; Washington has three years left on a deal she hired to replace C. Vivian Stringer in 2022. The new AD will first need to support both coaches and, if necessary, spur them to make internal changes. If that fails, he or she will have to weigh making a change at the top — moves that will come at a significant cost. Support football The situation the new AD inherits in football is strikingly different. Greg Schiano is entrenched as head coach and, coming off back-to-back bowl appearances, has momentum on his side. He has largely operated without support from an athletic director since returning to Piscataway in 2019 — his relationship with Hobbs was chilly, at best, and he knew he couldn’t count on the AD to help when the NIL movement took over the sport. Schiano figures to have significant input in choosing Hobbs’ replacement, and so a better working relationship is a given. The next athletic director has to become something close to a partner with Schiano and help the football coach crack through the ceiling of 6-6/7-5 seasons and climb into the next tier of Big Ten contenders. Avoid scandals This one seems easy, right? Tell that to the last four athletic directors, all of whom resigned or were fired after a scandal — or, in the case Julie Hermann, several — derailed their ability to lead the department. Hobbs’ improper relationship with gymnastics coach Salim-Beasley was just the latest example. The history of Rutgers athletes is marked with incremental gains stymied by self-inflicted wounds. The new AD has to smash that cycle for good. Re-energize the fan base Fan optimism is low. That is mostly the result of a disappointing basketball season with stars Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper, but it also comes from a sense of hopelessness in the new world order of college sports. Rutgers struggled to compete before athletes were highly compensated professionals. How can it win now? The next athletic director needs to be a front-facing figure. The response to this hire should be “ooooh!” not “who?” — and, in the months that follow, this person should be out in the Rutgers community as much as possible. A successful AD often operates in the background, but Rutgers needs a visible leader. MORE FROM STEVE POLITI: Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com.