Tom Jurich is looking for a new right hand to help guide the University of Louisville athletic department.
Julie Hermann, his assistant for the past 15 years, was selected Wednesday as the new Athletic Director at Rutgers University, the person to lead the university through a transition period in the American Athletic Conference next year and into the Big Ten Conference in 2014.
Hermann, 49, has served as the Cardinals’ senior associate athletic director and senior women’s administrator. She has worked in the Louisville athletic department since 1998. A former volleyball coach at Tennessee and player at Nebraska, she oversaw 20 of UofL’s 23 sports, excluding basketball, football and baseball. Hermann recently served as president of the National Association of Collegiate Women’s Athletics Administrators.
She was reportedly selected during an emergency voting session of the Rutgers board of governors after members of the search committee deadlocked on a 3-3 vote between her and Sean Frazier, the deputy AD at Wisconsin.
While she has been a highly visible presence around UofL sports, Hermann has largely been a silent force, at least in public, content to let her co-workers take credit for accomplishments in the women’s program, rarely interacting with the media.
However, Howie Lindsey, whose office at the Louisville Sports Report is near the campus, has seen her in action behind the scenes:
“She is a hot-headed, aggressive, tenacious competitor,” said Lindsey, in a recent Rivals post. “She wants every sport competing for a conference title all the time. Fair warning: Coaches that aren’t on their game will be hounded by her. She is so incredibly competitive it can be tough to work around when things aren’t going the way she wants them to, i.e. winning.
“She understands marketing, licensing, working a fan base and building an athletic department. She understands what makes a great coach and she understands the right fit.”
“This is not a PC hire. Julie is not just a diversity hire. This is a great hire. She is tough, focused and very well connected.
Congrats to Julie! We’ll hate losing her, especially because of all the things she did for CARDINAL COUPLE, but wish her the best and we know she’ll get that mess is Piscataway straighten out in due time.