OT - Pat Haden to step down as USC AD
Pat Haden has stepped down as AD at USC
http://deadspin.com/usc-athletic-director-pat-haden-to-step-down-in-jun…
I guess he is off to do other things, badly.
February 5th, 2016 at 1:45 PM ^
He is retiring in June.
February 5th, 2016 at 1:49 PM ^
Michigan was so incredibly lucky to have someone like Hackett usher us through a coaching and leadership transition
February 5th, 2016 at 3:27 PM ^
I could not agree with you more. Look at everything Jim Hackett accomplished in his short tenure as Michigan A.D. An extremely talented and grounded man and the perfect mentality for the position, especially at the time he was hired. One of the all time greats and like you and most others here (except for trolls and those with short memories I suppose), I am very thankful for Jim Hacketts enormous contribution to Michigan.
February 5th, 2016 at 2:08 PM ^
February 5th, 2016 at 1:52 PM ^
Announcement after NSD. Probably a good play.
February 5th, 2016 at 1:53 PM ^
Not a great tenure. Clay Helton will be like Hoke. Raback it
February 5th, 2016 at 1:57 PM ^
At least that would be better than Drunk Hoke. Baby steps...
February 5th, 2016 at 1:58 PM ^
before they sell out again and hire someone from the Pete Carroll school of ethics.
February 5th, 2016 at 6:15 PM ^
Sarkisian pulled in the #1 ranked class last year, (or #2 depending on the service) and they cracked the top 10 this time after a total mess of a season. Recruiting is not difficult at USC.
February 5th, 2016 at 2:15 PM ^
February 5th, 2016 at 3:07 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
February 5th, 2016 at 3:19 PM ^
February 5th, 2016 at 2:01 PM ^
Kind of a dumpster fire there for the last couple of years and I felt making Helton the HC was a little bit of a stretch for a prorgam like SC. Think they could've done a lot better.
February 5th, 2016 at 2:12 PM ^
Haden basically didn't conduct a search at all. And the last one he did resulted in choosing Sark over Petersen, so not sure it would've mattered this time.
You only need to drink at McKay's for a short while to realize what a weird, insulated world the SC athletic department is. Pat had enough gladhanding douches in his circle to feel great about things on a constant basis, even when anyone with any perspective would see plenty of signs for alarm. Or to freak out and make spur of the moment decisions with lasting repercussions when those people seem pissed (firing Kiffin on the bus, dumping Coach O in favor of Sark's magic beans, but then giving Helton a 5 year deal on the basis of one game against a mediocre UCLA team, etc.).
On the flip side, he did a great job with facilities upgrades and hiring Enfield is looking like a pretty slick move.
February 5th, 2016 at 2:09 PM ^
The new AD will fire Clay Helton next year, I suspect.
February 5th, 2016 at 2:17 PM ^
Bet they wish he did this like 3 head coach hires ago.
February 5th, 2016 at 2:21 PM ^
February 5th, 2016 at 3:05 PM ^
This was his hobby--I think that is the root of the problem. USC has for the last twenty five years or so hired program dignitaries and not professional ADs. He has had a very successful career otherwise, and from all reports (I wound up at some events filled with SC booster types during my LA days) he is a good guy.
February 5th, 2016 at 2:39 PM ^
They have someone as in-tune and exceptional as John U. Bacon to write the USC story in a few years. They seem to be stuck in the "fall" of the story
February 5th, 2016 at 2:42 PM ^
Good to see that Asiasi made the call he made on NSD.
February 5th, 2016 at 2:59 PM ^
Pat Haden is a really good man, but he is too close to the program to be an effective AD.
February 5th, 2016 at 3:13 PM ^
really good man. But, bigtime programs need to learn that just because someone is a former star player, it doesn't mean they will make a good AD. Michigan has learned the hard way too that in today's world, you need a professional athletic administrator who knows how to budget, create effective marketing, conduct coaching searches (the right way), work with a wide variety of consituent groups, etc. . It's too complicated of a business to leave to people who don't really know what they're doing. Pat Haden's main claim to fame post-football was as an announcer.
February 5th, 2016 at 3:23 PM ^
I wholly agree with you. SC needs to professionalize the position, for its own sake. Seflishly, I have enjoyed watching the shitshow, however.
February 6th, 2016 at 10:02 AM ^
I disagree with your position that you need a "professinal athletic administrator." Don't confuse Brandon's complete lack of sensitivity to the organization and its culture to suggest highly experienced professional from outside can't successfully do the job.
The immediate counter point to your argument is Hackett. His results were almost exactly opposite of Brandon's results, yet on paper their backgrounds are nearly the same. And I don't think that there is any way that Warde is going to be as successful as Hackett (only because JH hit 1.000 and had a 4.000 slugging percentage).
February 5th, 2016 at 3:00 PM ^
Everybody bagging their success during Haden's time forgets to mention they were gutted to the tune of 10 scholarships a year for three seasons. Very hard to not only recruit but run proper practices with that little roster depth. I can't think of another program that would have come through everything as well as they did. Kiffin won ten games including at Oregon his first year. Pre-season number 1 the next year. The program averaged 8 wins a year the entire run of the sanctions, won the PAC 12 South twice, beat ND twice, UCLA, and Stanford twice. Yeah not great results, but you run those sanctions on a UCLA they'd spend a decade digging out. Plus it looks like he nailed it with this basketball coach. As a USC fan, I am glad he's leaving, but it wasn't all bad.
February 5th, 2016 at 3:19 PM ^
USC is consistently over ranked. The year you mention where they were a preseason number 1 they went 7-6.
Pat Haden lost all of my respect when he screamed at officials on the sideline during a game and still saw himself fit to be on the selection committee. So I will enjoy my schadenfreude thanks
February 5th, 2016 at 3:25 PM ^
I don't know if he had any individual episode as memorable as the "Quit drinking and go to bed" emails, but his tenure was quietly a train wreck in its own right.
February 5th, 2016 at 3:27 PM ^
February 5th, 2016 at 3:38 PM ^
and the Greeks(Bruins) are aglow with joy.
February 5th, 2016 at 3:50 PM ^
I can't be the only one who found the "Discount Alan Alda" comment on the Deadspin piece very funny - I wouldn't have even thought about the similarities honestly (LINK)
Also, that LA Times piece linked in the replies about some of the other things Pat Haden does (possibly badly) is rather intriguing.
February 5th, 2016 at 4:10 PM ^
Geoffry the Giraffe is probably getting frustrated
February 5th, 2016 at 4:43 PM ^
February 5th, 2016 at 5:12 PM ^
February 5th, 2016 at 8:19 PM ^
but also seems like maybe he has too many "bugs" in his ear. In other words advisors/confidants/close friends influencing him rather than he setting his own direction after clear and rational thought.
Meeting Kiffin's bus to fire him was a lot of unnecessary drama if you ask me. It says to me that Haden's boys were all up in arms after a game (bad loss, seen a few) and someone put him up to something like, "you're not going to stand for this, Pat, are you?" Knee-jerk response in the middle of the night.
I don't really have an opinion on Orgeron, he didn't seem to have the polished P.R. side of the coaching thing down well enough. Which is fine, I personally could care less, but look at all the grief Hoke set himself up for by purposefully being bland, a broken record, and purposefully elusive. I don't think he is actually like this in life, but rather than deflecting attention, it sort of magnified it the wrong way at a time when the chips were down.
Someone had to know ahead of time that Sark liked the sauce. Can't believe Haden allowed himself to overlook it when doing due diligence.
Don't know much about Helton but he seems like a more polished Orgeron. Probably rock solid as far as having personal issues which would be another knee jerk reaction to Sark.
Hope they can pick it back up. I like to hate them and its not as much fun when they are floundering 8-)