Sounds like the new Rutgers Athletic Director did a lot of the same things that got Mike Rice fired

Comedian Phil Silvers once sang that 'Nobody Ever Died for Dear Old Rutgers,' that is until the story broke about the new Rutgers AD Julie Hermann saying a lot of the things that recently-fired Mike Rice said to his basketball team to her University of Tennessee women's volleyball team from back in 1996. At the time all 15 members of the Lady Vols volleyball team signed a letter to the Athletic Director saying:

The players say everyone, including the athletic director, had been brought together by a letter all 15 players on the team had submitted. In it, the players said, their coach had ruled through humiliation, fear and emotional abuse.

"The mental cruelty that we as a team have suffered is unbearable," the players wrote. Specifically, they said the coach had called them "whores, alcoholics and learning disabled."

Hermann says this never happened. She told Craig Wolff with the Star-Ledger she didn't remember the letter being signed by all 15 of her players. Mmmmm hmmmmm, suuuuure you don't.

Let us ask you readers a question if we may. At some point you may have been asked to be a bridesmaid or a groomsman. Perhaps more than once. Here's the question, do you remember all the weddings you stood up in? If you were fuzzy and were then shown VHS talkie movies of yourself at the event you'd probably remember it well in fact, yes? Not if you're Julie Hermann who during her intro presser at Rutgers was asked about comments she made on a tape at the wedding that led to Tennessee losing a $150K lawsuit over a ham-handed firing of one of Hermann's assistants who committed the crime of becoming pregnant.

"There's a video? I'm sorry, did you say there's a video? There's no video, trust me."

You know what happens next.

Remarks Hermann made at the wedding were caught on tape by the wedding videographer and would become central to the discrimination lawsuit against the university in 1997 that ended with the jury siding with Hineline.

"I hope it's good tonight," she says into the camera. "Because I know you've been waiting for a while, but I hope it's not too good, because I don't want you to come back February with any surprises, you know, the office and all, and it would be hard to have a baby in there."

Oh, and this wedding she's fuzzy on, she caught the bouquet.

Zero credibility this one. In our opinion these women have nothing to gain by sticking to their stories when being interviewed by the Star-Ledger. Read the article, it tells of a coach acting like Mike Rice who was just put in charge of making sure Rutgers never sees another Mike Rice.

Sounds like somebody found the old Michigan playbook on hiring Rich Rodriguez in a trash can...