Rutgers Set to Hire Zinn as New A.D.

Rutgers appears close to hiring a new Athletic Director.

According to multiple reports, Rutgers is targeting LSU COO and Deputy Athletic Director Keli Zinn for the top position.

Zinn's candidacy is being reviewed by the Rutgers Board of Governors who are expected to approve on Wednesday according to NJ.com. The same reports states that Zinn could be in line to ink a five-year deal worth $1.35 million in base salary, making her the highest paid Athletic Director in School History.

The hiring of Zinn follows the hire of William Tate as college president. Tate also hailed from LSU.

ABOUT ZINN

Hired by LSU in 2022 after spending more than six years as Deputy Athletic Director at West Virginia University where she provided strategic direction and operations management to the Mountaineers’ 18 intercollegiate programs and 250 coaches and staff. She is credited as the first woman to lead the Athletic Department in West Virginia University history.

A grad of WVU, she took her first job with West Virginia in 2010 as Associate Athletics Director for Compliance and Governance.

In 2014, she was elevated to Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director.

As COO/Deputy Athletic Director at LSU she supervised all 21 varsity programs with direct oversight of football and gymnastics, revenue generation, capital projects, strategic initiatives, and more according to the LSU Athletics website.

Should Rutgers hire Zinn, she would replace former A.D. Patrick Hobbs, who stepped down from the position last year after getting ensnared in a scandal over his relationship with then gymnastics coach Umme Salim-Beasley.

Hobbs initially sited health concerns upon his resignation, until the salacious details came out weeks later about the university's investigation.

Ryan Pisarri served as interim AD over the past year until he accepted the Athletic Director's job at Tufts.