USC AD Pat Haden ‘Retires’

In a move that had been telegraphed since mid-October, embattled USC Athletic Director Pat Haden is retiring from his position effective June 30.

As announced via email from USC President Max Nikias this afternoon, in a transparent attempt to dump embarrassing news on the Friday afternoon before the Super Bowl, Haden is stepping down at the end of this academic year.

The letter praises Haden, a ‘Trojan legend,’ to high heaven for his ‘Herculean effort,’ his ‘adamantine’ prioritizing of the student athelete, his ‘integrity, energy, wisdom, and character.’ The adoration is so overblown, you’d be forgiven for assuming this was ghost-written by the Los Angeles Times.

But don’t be fooled by the Traveler-crap piled high on this announcement, this is a firing, plain and simple. Haden was hired to clean up the image of the athletic department after the scandals amassed under Mike Garrett finally came to a head. Here is how he proceeded to manage the Trojans’ highest priority, the football program:

1. He stood idly by and let Lane Kiffin commit two embarrassing infractions without reprimand or consequence: an illegal, in-game uniform swap; and the very same ball-deflating scheme that would amount to such a scandal years later for the Patriots and the NFL.
2. He retained Kiffin after the 2012 team accomplished a historically unmatched level of underachievement by going from consensus preseason #1 to a 7-6 finish and a team brawl in the Sun Bowl locker room.
3. He fired Kiffin in humiliating fashion, on the tarmac at LAX after returning from a blowout loss at Arizona State.
4. He then proceeded to hire Steve Sarkisian, Tweedle-dee to Kiffin’s Tweedle-dum under the Pete Carroll regime – the same regime whose mess he was brought in to clean up.
5. He stood behind the athletic department’s vetting of Josh Shaw‘s fabricated nephew-rescue story, causing the university much embarrassment.
6. Despite being a founding member of the inaugural College Football Playoff Committee, Haden ran down onto the field during a game at Stanford to yell at a referee about a call, an act for which he was fined and reprimanded by the Pac-12.
7. He visibly chastised Sarkisian in a public venue after the coach arrived at a function inebriated and unable to complete his assigned speaking duties, but then let Sarkisian proceed with the season after issuing an apology and doing ‘up-down’ exercises at practice.
8. After Sarkisian’s alcohol issues prevented him from accomplishing coaching duties mid-season, Haden first placed him on indefinite leave to seek treatment and then fired him the next day, a fact which Sarkisian only discovered when friends alerted him to the press release of his own termination.
9. Haden’s handling of Sarkisian’s firing and his reported tirades to Sarkisian and his family after the coach stated his intent to seek counseling exposed USC to a $12 million ongoing wrongful termination suit.
10. Haden claimed no prior knowledge of Sarkisian’s history with alcohol, despite the coach’s partying being an open secret in his previous job at Washington, and despite the avalanche of rumors leaking out of the USC football staff immediately after Sarkisian’s firing.
11. Given the opportunity to start fresh, make a hiring splash, and finally cut ties with the Carroll coaching tree that had become such a liability to USC since 2009, Haden instead hired Clay Helton – the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for both Kiffin and Sarkisian who had gone 6-2 in two interim gigs – to a five-year deal.

But, yeah, Haden’s retirement has nothing to do with this six-year clown show and is purely a health consideration.

What does this mean for UCLA? On the one hand, Haden keeping his job would have ensured that litany of bungling above continued on indefinitely into the future. But, at the same time, don’t despair. A new AD means less stability in Heritage Hall. Helton’s job is no longer safe, as no new AD will want to be saddled with his predecessor’s hire – not that he’d be on the hot seat in 2016 or anything, but he’ll have to prove himself with results fast or risk being replaced after two or three years. It adds uncertainty into the near-term recruiting and hiring.

Related Story: USC Gets Over That Whole Cheating Thing, Honors Pete Carroll

Keep in mind that Nikias has always been a strong backer of Haden. Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports reported back in October that Nikias is known to ‘revere’ Haden even to the point of ‘worshiping’ him. This tells me that Haden’s firing retirement was forced on the university by boosters and trustees, not the result of a coherent plan by the administration. In other words, if Nikias’ judgment is so bad that he had to be strong-armed into firing Haden despite all of the nonsense I outlined above, then maybe UCLA shouldn’t be too terrified of what the USC administration is likely to do next.

Worst case is UCLA has a three-year window to capitalize on the Trojans’ disarray to build the relationships and reputation necessary to compete with a USC athletic department not hamstrung by its own fecklessness.

Either way, though, don’t let worrying about the future take away from the sweet, sweet shadenfreude of the present.

Next: When UCLA Basketball Went Away - An Oral History

Go Bruins! Beat SC!