Politi: Rutgers AD Julie Hermann's trust issues make her difficult to believe in bullying case By Steve Politi: Star-Ledger Columnist

Summary A Rutgers football player has accused a coach of bullying him this past spring. The Rutgers Athletic Director, Julie Hermann, has stated that she spoke with the parents of this player and that the matter was resolved. The writer of this column is calling into question the believability of Hermann’s words because Hermann has had issues in her own past about which she has lied.

Rutgers said in a statement that Hermann herself spoke to the parents twice to address their concerns. The parents said that never happened. “That is insane,” Mark Tyree said.

So here was Hermann, mingling with fans gathering before the noon kickoff, when I asked her directly: Did she talk to the parents? “We issued our statement. We were aware of it and we reviewed it again, which Kyle did. So, I’m not trying to …”

When her answer trailed off, I asked again: The statement said you talked with Mark Tyree twice. He strongly denies it. Did you speak to him? “Yeah. Somebody – if it’s not him, who calls me and informs me of it?” she said. “Otherwise I wouldn’t know about it. So I’m not trying to call – I’m not trying to use big words like the words he’s using, but I’m informed by him, to my knowledge. If it’s not him, who’s calling me?"

The bigger problem for Rutgers is the trust issues with the athletic director, and that was always going to be the issue based on red flags from her hiring. The damning wedding video that she insisted that did not exist, when it certainly did. The angry letter from her Tennessee volleyball players, which she insisted she did not remember when more than a dozen players did.

There were so many instances like this, so many moments that left you wondering: Can Rutgers really trust her?