Rutgers University Appoints Second Interim Athletic Director in Matt Colagiovanni
On Monday morning, Rutgers University President William F. Tate IV send out an announcement to the Rutgers Athletics community via email and social media that there will be a new Athletic Director for the Scarlet Knights, only it wasn’t the news that fans were expecting.
Instead of announcing a new hire, President Tate instead announced that he was appointing current Deputy Athletic Director Matt Colagiovanni to the role of Interim AD, thus overseeing the entire department until they can find a permanent fit for the role. He will assume this role starting on July 19th, 2025.
Dear Members of the Rutgers–New Brunswick Athletics Community,
I am writing to share that I have appointed Matthew Colagiovanni as acting director of Intercollegiate Athletics, effective July 19, 2025, as Ryan Pisarri has accepted a position as athletic director at Tufts University.
Matt currently serves as deputy athletic director of facilities, capital projects, and internal operations. He has been steadfast in his support of Rutgers Athletics for more than two decades, providing sport administration oversight as well as capital project and facility management.
Please join me in expressing thanks to Matt for taking on this charge. We also send congratulations to Ryan Pisarri on his well-deserved new appointment and our thanks for his leadership at Rutgers since 2011, especially his efforts over the recent months as interim athletic director.
Sincerely,
William F. Tate IV
PresidentRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Colagiovanni has been with the Scarlet Knights for 24 years now, starting out as the assistant director of facilities and events back in 2001 and served in various roles such as Director of Operations for Olympic Sports (2007-14), Associate AD of Facilities (2014-16), the Big Ten COVID-19 Task Force and he was also mostly recently the sports administrator for Football, Soccer, Men’s Lacrosse, Cross Country and Track & Field.
This promotion for Colagiovanni just comes a few days after the previous interim AD Ryan Pisarri was announced as the Athletic Director of Tufts University. Pisarri is expected to assume that role on August 1st, 2025.
Pisarri was the Interim Athletic Director since August 2024, after previous AD Pat Hobbs abruptly resigned and the Scarlet Knights have been without a permanent solution ever since, as they continue to search for a new leader for the athletics department.
For more on the ongoing search and some names who have popped up as candidates in the search, be sure to check one of the several threads on The Round Table forum right here.
