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Can Rutgers sports improve its ethics? A Q&A with new athletic director

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After a season of scandal, new Rutgers Athletic Director Patrick Hobbs tackles questions about the department's ethics. Watch video

PISCATAWAY -- When Patrick Hobbs was appointed Rutgers University's new athletic director last semester, the school's president listed the former law dean's experience in sports and academia.

But, the president also made a point to highlight Hobbs' deep background in ethics.

"Pat has served on various state legal and ethics boards and commissions and most recently was appointed by Gov. Christie to serve as an independent ethics ombudsman to the Office of the Governor," Rutgers President Robert Barchi said when he announced Hobbs' appointment in November.

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In his first two months on the job, Hobbs has helped select a new football coach, Chris Ash, courted donors and planned for a major expansion of Rutgers' athletic facilities.

He has also had to confront questions about the ethical culture in Rutgers sports. Before Hobbs' arrival, Rutgers fined and suspended former football head coach Kyle Flood for violating school policy by contacting a professor to help a player get a better grade in a class. Several football players were also criminally charged in a series of off-field incidents last year.

NJ Advance Media spoke with Hobbs about the ethics side of his new job in an interview last month in his new office in the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway. Here's an edited transcript:

What are your first impressions about the ethical culture in the athletics department?

I've been incredibly impressed with the people that I've met, both the administrators in the department. They all want to do things in the right way. They work hard. They are very dedicated people. Coaches who I've had a little bit of time to spend time with, they are committed to that.

I think that starts at the top, but it goes down through your student athletes. That's your message. That's your culture. And I'm happy that folks think I stand for something in that regard. And I do want to do things the right way.

What message are you giving to coaches and athletes?

We won't always get it right. But if we don't get it right, we admit that we didn't get it right and we fix it and go forward. Nobody's perfect, I'm far from perfect. You learn from those mistakes and errors and being able to own up to them.

The worst thing you can do is not admit that you failed here in this way. But, when you fail, aspirations are really important. It's important that we aspire to do things in the right way and to be an example. An example within the Big Ten. An example within college athletics. An example across the university for both coaches, athletes and administrators who are trying to do things the right way.

It's an ethic. I always aspire to that. Again, we're human and things happen. But we should always try to do things the right way.

I hope I bring that. I certainly think Coach Ash brings that.

The inside story on how Patrick Hobbs became the new Rutgers AD

When Gov. Christie asked you to be his ethics ombudsman after the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal, you talked about doing ethical training and starting a dialogue about ethics in the governor's office. Is that something you need to do in Rutgers sports?

A lot of that is really already in place here. In the last couple of years, they've brought in enterprise risk management training modules. It's a pretty full calendar and schedule, which I think is good. So, we'll all go through those modules and exercises.

But, former football coach Kyle Flood admitted he skipped the mandatory ethics training, according to the investigation into his attempt to get a player's grade changed. Right?

Yeah. So, that can't happen. We all need to take it seriously . . .

It's knowing what the guidelines are, signing that paper to say you went through the training.

I'm actually impressed by the training that's here. We have a new head of compliance, Paul Perrier, who joined us a few months ago. I'm incredibly impressed by him and what he brings to the NCAA compliance part of it. There is both a NCAA and an athletic compliance component (to our training), which is relatively new, and a university ethics and compliance component, which is relatively new.

I think it helps all of us.

How important is improving Rutgers' ethical reputation?

Today, the scrutiny is everywhere. It's not just media scrutiny. It's scrutiny within the university as well. It's scrutiny by the public and scrutiny by the donors. So, any sort of misstep affects your success across constituencies.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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