LSU President William F. Tate IV Named 22nd Rutgers President, Poised to Help Chart a New Course for Athletics

The Rutgers Board of Governors, with the consent of the Rutgers Board of Trustees, announced the hiring of current LSU president, William F. Tate, IV. The 60-year-old Tate has led Louisiana State University since 2021 and will now oversee a university system with 69,000 students across three campuses and a five-billion-dollar yearly operating budget.

Tate steps in on July 1st to take over for the current Rutgers president, Jonathan Holloway, who announced his resignation last September. Holloway received much criticism during his tenure at Rutgers, notably threatening instructors seeking better pay with a court order to force them to stay on the job and preventing them from staging a walkout, as well as firing an immensely popular administrator.

Holloway's fate was sealed last fall when the Rutgers senate delivered a vote of no confidence in his ability to lead the university forward, leading to his resignation effective June 30th, 2025. This left the university with a lame duck president and no athletic director, after Pat Hobbs resigned due to "health concerns", with it later being revealed that he had an improper relationship with recently fired gymnastics coach Umme Salim-Beasely.

Needless to say, Rutgers University, always on brand, has been nothing short of a hot mess, leaving Greg Schiano, Steve Pikiell, and other head coaches in the department on their own as they navigate the choppy NIL waters. Doug Fillis, an NIL expert based in New Jersey who works with multiple universities, spoke to NJ Advance Media in December of 2023, foretelling the dangerous waters Rutgers was treading at the time.

"Any school in the Big Ten needs to make this a significant priority. If they're not talking about it everyday and have true senior leadership dedicated to it, they will fall behind," said Fillis.

With the announcement of Tate as the new president, the hiring of the new athletic director will hopefully be made quickly. In Baton Rouge, Tate was vocal about putting academics and research first, stating legitimate NIL activities should be driven by actual employment opportunities rather than booster payouts.

LSU had its best fundraising year under Tate's leadership in 2024, an area Rutgers has severely lagged in as members of the Big Ten Conference, as they struggle to keep pace with the "haves". Hiring Tate won't automatically solve decades of dysfunction, but having a proven leader from a major research university in the most competitive athletic conference in the nation, under the purview of a fanbase that expected nothing short of excellence, certainly won't hurt appeasing a Scarlet Knight fanbase that expects the worst and hopes for the best.

"I am honored to join the Rutgers family, where the Rutgers Edge is more than a concept. It is reflected in a history of leading with outstanding research, clinical excellence, insightful pedagogy, innovative partnerships, and storied athletic feats," Tate told the media.

Considering the recent leadership under Holloway and Hobbs, Rutgers fans should be able to get behind the concept of "storied athletic feats".

Recommended Articles