Two weeks after firing Chris Ash and appointing Nunzio Campanile as the team’s interim head coach, Rutgers on Monday announced the retention of Ventura Partners, an executive search and talent-management agency that will offer consulting services.
“We are excited to be working with Ventura Partners,” Rutgers Athletics Director Pat Hobbs said in a statement. “They provide a unique range of services, including talent acquisition and development. We will begin working together immediately to ensure excellent leadership for our football program. They will also be working with us throughout the engagement on strengthening our human resources and providing market data and intelligence.”
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Rutgers officials said Ventura Partners will offer services that include “leadership identification, market mapping and intelligence, outreach, internal search assistance, reference review, staff development, and industry consulting.’’
Terms of the deal were not announced by Rutgers, but a person familiar with the negotiations told NJ Advance Media the state university is giving Ventura a one-time fee of $40,000 due on Nov. 1, 2019, followed by a monthly retainer fee of $4,000 beginning Dec. 1, 2019, and ending Nov. 1, 2020. That adds up to a guarantee of $88,000.
In December 2015, Rutgers paid Eastman & Beaudine $75,000 for guidance in a six-day search that resulted int he hiring of Chris Ash. Three months later, the same Plano, Tex.-based firm was hired to assist in the men’s basketball search and the university cut a check for $60,000 after a nine-day search that resulted in the hiring of Steve Pikiell.
"(Search firms) can be invaluable in the process,'' Hobbs said. "They act as a funnel for information. Obviously if football coaches want to reach out, either themselves or through intermediaries, I would rather not be handling that part of the process, because we want to use all of our efforts and our time to make a considered decision to bring the very best coach here to Rutgers University.''
Ventura has offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Chicago.
“We will work closely with Pat Hobbs, the Director of Athletics, and his leadership team on the appointment,’’ Chad Chatlos, Partner, Sports and Entertainment at Ventura, said in a statement.
According to his website bio, Chatlos is a United States Naval Academy graduate who was a captain for the Midshipman football team. He is said to have assisted other college athletics programs, including on searches for Athletics Directors, football and basketball coaches.
Most recently, Ventura Partners worked with Kansas State in December 2018 after longtime coach Bill Snyder retired.
That national search lasted for about a week before the Big 12 school lured Chris Klieman from FCS-power North Dakota State. Other coaches reportedly in the mix for the Kansas State vacancy included North Texas coach Seth Littrell, Memphis coach Mike Norvell, former USF head coach Jim Leavitt and then-Troy coach Neal Brown (who took the West Virginia job).
One day after firing Ash on Sept. 29, Hobbs said he planned to "be in a position to announce'' Rutgers’ next football coach at the end of the season.
The Scarlet Knights, who stand 1-5 overall and 0-4 in Big Ten play heading into a matchup with Minnesota on Saturday (3:30 p.m., BTN) in Piscataway, will conclude their season on Nov. 30 at Penn State.
"Anyone who can help Rutgers football be competitive and win conference championships,'' Hobbs said, "is a candidate for this position.''
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Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.