USC is weird

[Pakuni]

So after disastrously hiring a former player and TV analyst with no athletic department experience as its AD, USC has turned to another former player and TV analyst with no athletic department experience to serve as its AD.
What could go wrong?

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/15196679/lynn-swann-named-athletic-director-southern-california-trojans

The University of Southern California has hired Lynn Swann to be its next athletic director, the school announced Wednesday.
Swann, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, replaces Pat Haden, who will step down effective June 30.

[GGGG]

And prior to Haden was another former player Mike Garrett, who was a complete dumpster fire.

[4everwarriors]

No wonder Katin bolted, ai na?

[MerrittsMustache]

Matt Leinert is readying his resume for when this hire crashes and burns.

[GooooMarquette]

Matt Leinert is readying his resume for when this hire crashes and burns.

I was thinking Reggie Bush.

[MerrittsMustache]

I was thinking Reggie Bush.

Reggie Bush? Reggie Bush? Just checked with the athletic office and he was never associated with USC.

[JWags85]

So after disastrously hiring a former player and TV analyst with no athletic department experience as its AD, USC has turned to another former player and TV analyst with no athletic department experience to serve as its AD.
What could go wrong?

To be fair, Haden was an attorney and in PE for 20+ years before becoming AD.  Swann has been a sideline reporter and a gameshow host...and a failed politician.  If Haden was a disaster, god knows what Swann will be.

[Pakuni]

To be fair, Haden was an attorney and in PE for 20+ years before becoming AD.  Swann has been a sideline reporter and a gameshow host...and a failed politician.  If Haden was a disaster, god knows what Swann will be.

Right ... and the fact Haden is a smart guy who still was a terrible AD tends to support the notion that it's a fairly specialized position that requires some experience in the business of college athletics to succeed.

See also: Dave Brandon at Michigan; Tim Pernetti at Rutgers.

[BrewCity83]

Holy hell, if only O.J. Simpson was available.

[keefe]

Holy hell, if only O.J. Simpson was available.

In this age of distributed ops there is no reason The Juice can't work remotely

[warriorchick]

Say what you want about Lynn Swann, but the dude can destroy an obstacle course .

[rocket surgeon]

In this age of distributed ops there is no reason The Juice can't work remotely

as long as he doesn't have to wear those "ugly arse shoes"

[Lennys Tap]

Holy hell, if only O.J. Simpson was available.

O.J. or Larry Williams?

[ZiggysFryBoy]

How's the sweat line on Swann's USC cap?

[Tugg Speedman]

So after disastrously hiring a former player and TV analyst with no athletic department experience as its AD, USC has turned to another former player and TV analyst with no athletic department experience to serve as its AD.
What could go wrong?

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/15196679/lynn-swann-named-athletic-director-southern-california-trojans

The University of Southern California has hired Lynn Swann to be its next athletic director, the school announced Wednesday.
Swann, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, replaces Pat Haden, who will step down effective June 30.

USC thinks the AD is a fund raiser.  Job is to press the flesh and get alumni to write checks.

[GGGG]

USC thinks the AD is a fund raiser.  Job is to press the flesh and get alumni to write checks.

Having an AD like that isn't necessarily a bad idea if you have a strong organization behind him.  By and large it has worked for UW.  (Although I hear things aren't rosy there either.)

But it certainly is not the direction in which the position has gone lately.  The "figurehead" AD model is pretty much a thing of the past.

[ChicosBailBonds]

So after disastrously hiring a former player and TV analyst with no athletic department experience as its AD, USC has turned to another former player and TV analyst with no athletic department experience to serve as its AD.
What could go wrong?

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/15196679/lynn-swann-named-athletic-director-southern-california-trojans

The University of Southern California has hired Lynn Swann to be its next athletic director, the school announced Wednesday.
Swann, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, replaces Pat Haden, who will step down effective June 30.

Disaster to hire Haden?  Really?

He was exactly the hire they needed to get through the stench from the previous regime.  Highly, highly regarded to get through the NCAA issues they had.  Did he make a bad hires for football?  Yup, but it was also the hire that so many USC people wanted because they like to do the "USC man" stuff.   He has upgraded basketball incredibly.  Other sports doing great, and as someone already alluded...$$$.   $270 million going into the Coliseum, new facilities built, etc.  Rhodes scholar, was quite active in athletics (NCAA and professional) as a result of the law firm he was a partner in.  He was a natural choice when he was hired and SC is better off because of it.

We'll see how Lynn Swann does, but I'd be hard pressed to find anyone that knows anything to call Haden's tenure disastrous, especially when looked at in totality. 

[Pakuni]

Disaster to hire Haden?  Really?

He was exactly the hire they needed to get through the stench from the previous regime.  Highly, highly regarded to get through the NCAA issues they had.  Did he make a bad hires for football?  Yup, but it was also the hire that so many USC people wanted because they like to do the "USC man" stuff.   He has upgraded basketball incredibly.  Other sports doing great, and as someone already alluded...$$$.   $270 million going into the Coliseum, new facilities built, etc.  Rhodes scholar, was quite active in athletics (NCAA and professional) as a result of the law firm he was a partner in.  He was a natural choice when he was hired and SC is better off because of it.

We'll see how Lynn Swann does, but I'd be hard pressed to find anyone that knows anything to call Haden's tenure disastrous, especially when looked at in totality.

I like how you gloss over the trainwreck that was his single most important decision (the hiring of a known alcoholic as head coach) as if it were just one of many things he did at USC. Yeah, a lot of fans thought it was great. They also didn't know Sarkisian's off-field issues, something Haden either knew and ignored or somehow missed in the search process. You pick. Either is damning.

And do we need to be reminded about his zero-class firing of Lane Kiffin (who deserved to be fired, but not like that) or his embarassing sideline tirade at officials?

Bottom line, the single-most (by far) important athletic program at USC, the program Haden was hired to return to glory, was a total mess under his leadership. Your singing his praises is tantamount to praising Larry Williams and Scott Pilarz for the fine job they did with women's soccer while ignoring the mess they helped create with the basketball program.

Also, he has not upgraded USC basketball "incredibly." They remain in the lower half of a middling conference and their attendance  remains utterly pathetic.

[keefe]

the hire that so many USC people wanted because they like to do the "USC man" stuff.

Isn't that more correctly referred to as "Trojan Man?"

[ChicosBailBonds]

I like how you gloss over the trainwreck that was his single most important decision (the hiring of a known alcoholic as head coach) as if it were just one of many things he did at USC. Yeah, a lot of fans thought it was great. They also didn't know Sarkisian's off-field issues, something Haden either knew and ignored or somehow missed in the search process. You pick. Either is damning.

And do we need to be reminded about his zero-class firing of Lane Kiffin (who deserved to be fired, but not like that) or his embarassing sideline tirade at officials?

Bottom line, the single-most (by far) important athletic program at USC, the program Haden was hired to return to glory, was a total mess under his leadership. Your singing his praises is tantamount to praising Larry Williams and Scott Pilarz for the fine job they did with women's soccer while ignoring the mess they helped create with the basketball program.

Also, he has not upgraded USC basketball "incredibly." They remain in the lower half of a middling conference and their attendance  remains utterly pathetic.

I didn't gloss over it.  You said disastrous hire, and I simply don't agree.  What did he take over and did he leave it in better condition than when he left?  The answer to that is unequivocal YES.   A disastrous hire \ tenure would mean he ran the thing into the ground, which he most certainly didn't.  Not close.

You put me in a tough spot having to defend the school I hate the most on the planet, but Pat is a smart man and what he inherited was an absolute mess on so many levels.  You have to also understand the USC football culture, which is go with USC people where they can, that included the football hires.  The booster money that dictates some of that stuff is incredible out here.  He was under enormous pressure to hire a USC guy, with Kiffin and Sark.  I despise both of those coaches, and both are now gone.  I do believe the Clay hire will do well.

[MerrittsMustache]

I didn't gloss over it.  You said disastrous hire, and I simply don't agree.  What did he take over and did he leave it in better condition than when he left?  The answer to that is unequivocal YES.   A disastrous hire \ tenure would mean he ran the thing into the ground, which he most certainly didn't.  Not close.

Remember kids, hiring an alcoholic football coach is better than bringing JUCOs into a college basketball program.

[Pakuni]

I didn't gloss over it.  You said disastrous hire, and I simply don't agree.  What did he take over and did he leave it in better condition than when he left?  The answer to that is unequivocal YES.   A disastrous hire \ tenure would mean he ran the thing into the ground, which he most certainly didn't.  Not close.

OK, you're entitled to your opinion.
But, simply put, when you're AD at a program like USC (or Alabama, Michigan, Texas, etc.) the primary measure of success is going to be the football program. And while you may disagree, I think most people would say the football program during his tenure was, at best, disappointing.
Combine that with several embarrassing episodes (firing Kiffin on a tarmac, berating officials on the sidelines, hiring Sarkisian then waiting too long to do something about his behavior) and it's hard to see his time in the AD's office as anything but bad.

[ChicosBailBonds]

OK, you're entitled to your opinion.
But, simply put, when you're AD at a program like USC (or Alabama, Michigan, Texas, etc.) the primary measure of success is going to be the football program. And while you may disagree, I think most people would say the football program during his tenure was, at best, disappointing.
Combine that with several embarrassing episodes (firing Kiffin on a tarmac, berating officials on the sidelines, hiring Sarkisian then waiting too long to do something about his behavior) and it's hard to see his time in the AD's office as anything but bad.

Firing Kiffin on the tarmac was embarrassing for one individual...Kiffin.  As for Sark, most of that was led by the attorneys at USC and directing Haden to do what he did.  You, of all people, should know this.

You are entitled to your opinion, but he guided USC out of the craphole.  I don't know why you "gloss" this over.

[keefe]

Firing Kiffin on the tarmac was embarrassing for one individual...Kiffin.  As for Sark, most of that was led by the attorneys at USC and directing Haden to do what he did.  You, of all people, should know this.

You are entitled to your opinion, but he guided USC out of the craphole.  I don't know why you "gloss" this over.

Re: Sark - everyone in Seattle knew about Sark's penchant for drink and women. His $20,000 bar tabs are not fiction.

Haden should have known that Sark was out of control. I know for a fact that he was under scrutiny at UDub for many things.

[Pakuni]

You are entitled to your opinion, but he guided USC out of the craphole.  I don't know why you "gloss" this over.

This is where you're wrong. He didn't guide USC out of the "craphole." They're still very much in the craphole, and last year may have been the deepest in the craphole they've been. I mean, you've got coaches turning down USC to stay at Mississippi State and you have to settle for Clay Helton.