As we all know, Rutgers fired former Athletic Director Bob Mulcahy last month in an effort to revitalize the athletic department at Rutgers.  Currently, interim A.D. Carl Kischner (A Spanish professor and former Dean at Rutgers College) has taken the reigns while Rutgers completes its search for a new athletic director.

The new athletic director has really got to take charge when he/she comes in and provide Rutgers with the athletic program it deserves.  There are so many schools that are doing things the right way.  What is the right way?  Well, in my opinion, it all starts with the culture at a school.  Take a look at the programs with the craziest fans - Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Penn State all come to mind.  The culture is there for people to love the school not only when they are there, but after the graduate as well.  Once you become an alum, it should almost be inherent to donate something to your alma mater, year in and year out, just because of the culture that the school has.

Rutgers has some very distinguished alumni, and is in an enviable position when it comes to fundraising (an area in which Mulcahy failed miserably).  Most alumni are within a 100 mile radius!  Grassroots fundraising efforts and contacting the best of the best of the RU alumni population should be a no brainer, all it takes is a little bit of hard work.

Given that Mulcahy failed miserably with this, raising only pocket change for the Rutgers Stadium expansion, we're now left with a scaled back version of the expansion at a time when Rutgers football is surging and needs a legit stadium.

Don't get me wrong, I love the atmosphere at Rutgers Stadium, especially at night, but the stadium is, for the most part, a glorified High School Stadium.  I've been to Notre Dame, I've been to Penn State, I've been to Texas.  Now THOSE are college football stadiums. That's what Rutgers needs to build.  Even if it's small (which Notre Dame, for instance, is - holding 60 some odd thousand), it needs to have a charm to it, a well positioned student section, and the best luxury boxes around.  Alumni need to be presented this information well so that they can donate to the cause and provide Rutgers with an amazing stadium.

The reason Rutgers needs that stadium so badly is because, well, quite honestly, football can be the biggest cash cow around.  Ask any athletic director in the country who is worth his weight.  That cash cow can fund other programs, including the recently (2006, not so recently anymore I guess) extinguished programs (Men's Tennis, Men's Swimming, Both Fencing & Crew Teams). It's pathetic to not be able to fund these sports, especially being from a BCS conference.

Let's hope that Rutgers can find a full time A.D. that fits the bill, knows how to fundraise and realizes the opportunities that are prevalent at Rutgers, a BCS conference school where the sky is the limit, it just hasn't been reached yet.