Shocking! NJ is Corrupt

"I'll take that in unmarked, large denominations."

A few week's back we noted the shady manner in which Rutgers Coach Greg Schiano was wetting his beak. Apparently that's just scratching the surface. The State University's Athletic Department, according to an internal audit (and not surprisingly), may be as crooked as the state's elected officials.

The Star-Ledger via NJ.com reports: "Months before revelations of hidden deals and no-bid contracts sparked two investigations, Rutgers University auditors were warning that no one was watching the money flooding into the school's athletic department. A confidential internal audit issued nearly six months ago criticized the department's fiscal controls -- including hundreds of thousands of dollars in off-the-books spending that never appeared in the Rutgers budget."

Apparently, it's just the burden of "success."

Said Joseph Sikora, the university's director of internal audit, "The leadership and organizational structure over athletics' financial operations show signs of being overextended at a time when the football program is undergoing rapid growth and success."

The 23-page report describes a department suddenly flush with additional sponsorship money and soaring revenues, following the rebound of the once hapless Scarlet Knights football team. At the same time, it details how the department eagerly tapped into those resources with seemingly little oversight.

Auditors found the athletic department subsidized the travel costs of boosters and other VIPs who accompanied the Scarlet Knights on charter flights to post-season bowl games the past three years, at a time when the university was hiking tuition and cutting academic budgets. It also discovered that the department understated its expenses for those games in reports to the administration and concluded the athletic department lacked the ability to collect and reliably report critical financial information "to the president, CFO, the board and the public.

The audit also focused on the university's partnership with a sports marketing company that had exclusive rights to handle radio and television advertising and promotions, funneling millions of dollars into the athletics department.

George Zoffinger, chairman of the audit committee on Rutgers governing board, said the athletics department structured sponsorship deals in a way that deliberately kept the money out of university coffers, and away from direct oversight of administration finance officials.

Zoffinger: "They're basically diverting funds that were sold as sponsorships to pay for other things that are not on the books of the university. This is not the right way to spend public money. The money should come to the university and then be allocated from there. It's inappropriate."

Rutgers Should Give Whatever It Needs to Have Schiano Stay

GREASE TRUCKS!

The Asbury Park Press, most well known for detailing Ren McCormack's 8-yard post route against Sacred Heart in the late 90's, has since moved on to blow the lid off Rutger's Head Coach Greg Schiano and his "secret" contract.

Wait a minute...you are trying to tell me that a college football coach has clauses built into his contract the public doesn't know about? That's crazy talk, and I won't have it.

Turns out Schiano, who should have a statue of himself thrown up in Piscataway for taking Rutgers from a joke to a gem, has a provision in his deal that allows him to walk in 2009 if seats are added to the palatial Rutgers Stadium. In addition, he gets 250K from a sports marketing company that, among other things, helps promote the Rutgers brand.

I know people in the tri-state area generally aren't big on college football because there hasn't been a local team to latch on to, but in the places where college football is king, these type of contracts are the norm and you would probably find that Schiano is on the cheap side of things. One can only guess what has been worked into Bobby "I'm just going to the store for some milk" Petrino or Nick Saban.

Anyway, long story short, Rutgers should give Schiano whatever he needs to stay on board even if that means more seats in the stadium.

--Posted by Cadillac Mescalade

Rutgers Football Follies: Schiano's Shadowy Deal

Artist Drew Sheneman at NJ.com posted this funny about RU football & the unending drama and debate surrounding Coach Greg Schiano's contract.

According to a story by The (Newark) Star Ledger's Josh Margnolin and Ted Sherman, not only was Sciano's contract lucrative (argument was initially made about the public funding such a paycheck), but apparently it was also laced with some good 'ol Jersey monkey business.

Last year Rutgers University football coach Greg Schiano shook hands on a lucrative contract extension that made him one of the highest-paid collegiate coaches in the nation. But that was only a piece of the deal.

Five months after agreeing to terms that will pay him as much as $2 million annually, Schiano signed a side agreement, providing an additional $250,000 a year through indirect payments that were never publicly disclosed, according to records obtained by The Star-Ledger.

In the addendum to his contract, dated July 2, 2007, Rutgers arranged for Nelligan Sports Marketing, the university's exclusive marketing agent, to pay the coach the additional $250,000 -- keeping the payments off the school's payroll.

The money was deducted from sponsorship revenues collected on the university's behalf by the marketing firm, but the amount was guaranteed by Rutgers. It was listed as a payment for "personal services" and was made to a limited liability corporation established by Schiano.

Keep chopping wood.