Rutgers Selects TurnkeyZRG to Find Next Athletic Director
April 30, 2025 – TurnkeyZRG has been called in by Rutgers University to lead a national wide search for a new athletic director. An advisory committee has been formed to support the search. Rutgers has been without a permanent athletic director since Patrick Hobbs resigned before an investigation into an inappropriate, consensual relationship with one of the school’s coaches.
“Athletics often serves as the front porch to a university, and it is essential that Rutgers partner with an established firm to identify a leader who continues to move the program forward during a period of transformational change,” said Jonathan Holloway, president of Rutgers. “Rutgers is a Big Ten Conference institution in our nation’s largest media market, and we look forward to welcoming an athletics director who can leverage our many assets to build prideful results for our students, staff, faculty, alumni and fans.”
“Rutgers is well-positioned, as the birthplace of college football, a proud member of the Big Ten Conference and one of the nation’s oldest and respected public universities, nestled in the heart of the country’s No. 1 market, to attract the best and brightest to lead our athletics department,” said Amy L. Towers, chair of the Rutgers board of governors. “On behalf of the board of governors, we look forward to working with the administration and TurnkeyZRG to identify and select a candidate with the required skill, experience and vision to guide Rutgers into this new era of intercollegiate athletics.”
Mr. Holloway will work with the chair of the board of governors and, when named, his successor as university president to select the finalist.
The Rutgers Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is comprised of 24 men’s and women’s varsity sports serving more than 730 student-athletes competing in the Big Ten Conference. Founded in 1766, Rutgers is the nation’s eighth oldest college. Rutgers University-New Brunswick is the flagship campus, with an enrollment of more than 42,000 students (about 33,650 undergraduates and 8,600 graduate students). The school employs about 10,000 full- and part-time faculty and staff. Its annual budget is upwards of $1.7 billion.
Founded in 1996, TurnkeyZRG is a specialized talent recruitment/executive search firm filling C-level, senior-level and mid-management-level positions throughout sports, media and entertainment. Over the past 25 years, the firm has filled more than 1,400 positions. TurnkeyZRG helps teams, leagues, stadiums, arenas, theaters, college athletic departments, events, sponsors, agencies, media companies, private equity companies and other clients identify, recruit, and hire the best management talent.
TurnkeyZRG conducted many recent athletics director searches, including for the University of Iowa, Texas Christian University, the University of Pittsburgh and Northwestern University. TurnkeyZRG also assisted with the search for the new Big Ten commissioner and conducted the NCAA president search.
Len Perna is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Turnkey. He has 30-plus years’ experience in the sports and entertainment industry, with senior-level management experience in sales, event marketing and management, sponsorships, venue feasibility and development, facility operations, licensing, and legal affairs. Since founding Turnkey, Mr. Perna has managed over 1,400 executive searches.
SMU AD Search
TurnkeyZRG has assisted in the recruitment of Damon Evans as the new director of athletics for Southern Methodist University (SMU). Chad Chatlos, managing director, college & coaching practice, led the search. “Our goal was to find a leader who shared our vision for the future of SMU Athletics – one of continued and even greater national prominence,” said search committee co-chair and board of trustees chair David B. Miller, a former SMU student-athlete. “We found that in a world-class athletic director with experience leading in both the Big 10 and SEC conferences, and who will bring bold, innovative ideas to our campus. Damon has led two top-tier athletics programs, and now he will lead a third. Damon’s knowledge, experience and extensive contacts in intercollegiate athletics will be invaluable in leading our Athletics program to even greater success in the ACC while strategically navigating the evolving NIL landscape.”
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“SMU’s future in athletics is bright, and Damon is the right leader to drive us forward,” search committee co-chair and board of trustees vice chair Richard K. Templeton said. “We are thrilled to welcome him and his family to Dallas and look forward to the impact he will have on our program and on the Mustang community.”
Mr. Evans had been named the Barry P. Gossett director of athletics at the University of Maryland in June 2018. Under his leadership, the Terrapins have won 49 Big Ten championships and tournament titles. The program has earned seven national championships since 2014, when Mr. Evans joined Maryland as the executive athletic director and chief financial officer. He oversees a department with 20 varsity sports, 500 student-athletes, a full-time staff of over 200 and an annual budget exceeding $120 million.
Related: TurnkeyZRG Recruits Director of Athletic for the University of Iowa
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
