Getty Image / Brian Van Der Brug
USC athletics, especially football, has been quite the soap opera since the days of Reggie Bush and Pete Carroll absolutely destroying everyone in their path, except the 2005 Texas Longhorns in that very famous Rose Bowl. And, the unexpected resignation of USC athletic director Mike Bohn has added another
Mike Bohn was hired in 2019 after a string of former USC legends like Lynn Swann and Pat Haden could not bring the football program back to the top following the Pete Carroll years. He had built a winner at Cincinnati, and was doing the same at USC.
Mike Bohn’s biggest accomplishment was guiding USC into the Big Ten Conference, where they will begin play next year.
And, he was loved by Trojan fans for poaching head coach Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma after the 2021 season. That move proved to be the right one, as the Trojans went 11-3 last year in Riley’s first season.
Mike Bohn and Riley seemed to be a dynamic duo, but Mike Bohn announced his resignation Friday in a stunning turn of events. He blamed health issues, but the real story seems much more grim from USC.
Per @Ryan_Kartje, USC hired an external firm to investigate the athletic department's workplace culture.
"Four current and former USC employees said that staffers inside the athletics department had raised concerns to the law firm about Bohn."https://t.co/2WS4oWEdew
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) May 19, 2023
Here’s more from the LA Times.
USC athletic director Mike Bohn resigned Friday, a day after The Times asked him and USC about internal criticism of his management of the athletic department.
Bohn made inappropriate comments about the physical appearance of female colleagues, including remarks about their dress, hair and weight, that staff members said made them feel uncomfortable, according to two USC sources with knowledge of the incidents. They spoke on condition of anonymity fearing retaliation. They said Bohn’s comments left colleagues — especially women — feeling awkward.
Three USC sources said several people confronted Bohn about comments they felt were inappropriate, but they continued.
The Times spoke to six USC sources who raised concerns about his management of the department. Several described him as a poor manager who missed meetings he was expected to attend and was often absent from key events, including USC national championship victories.
Multiple sources alleged employees left meetings with Bohn without direction and that he shied from difficult conversations. Two former USC coaches told The Times that Bohn’s leadership of the department was a primary reason they left.