USC is reportedly nearing a deal with Mike Bohn of the University of Cincinnati to become USC’s next athletic director, first reported by Bruce Feldman of The Athletic.
Bohn, Cincinnati’s athletic director since 2014, was hired to replace Whit Babcock, who left the Bearcats to take the same position at Virginia Tech that year. Bohn’s hiring comes in the wake of former athletic director Lynn Swann’s resignation this past September. Since September, Dave Roberts has been USC’s interim athletic director; Roberts also serves as the NCAA’s Vice-Chair of the Committee on Infractions.
However, Bohn’s potential hiring also would come as more of a comforting move for some – Swann, who had no prior experience as a collegiate athletic director, will be succeeded by one with more than two decades of expertise at the position. Before arriving at Cincinnati, Bohn served as athletic director during respective tenures at Idaho, San Diego State and Colorado.
Bohn would be USC’s first athletic director to not have previous ties to the university or the football team since the hiring of Mike McGee in 1984, who was also hired away from Cincinnati. Since McGee was succeeded by former USC running back Mike Garrett in 1993, the Trojans were led by former USC quarterback Pat Haden as athletic director from 2010-2016 and Swann from 2016-2019.
In Bohn’s first season as Idaho’s athletic director in 1998, the Vandals’ football team was able to secure a Big West Conference championship and win the Humanitarian Bowl over Southern Mississippi. He was also integral in leading Colorado through its transfer from the Big-12 Conference to the then Pac-10 Conference in 2011.
At Cincinnati, Bohn has experience working with two separate football head coaches – Tommy Tuberville from 2013-2016 and Luke Fickell since 2017. His hiring of Fickell, in particular, was heralded as a success as he was able to lure away Ohio State’s defensive coordinator and associate head coach.
Bohn’s potential hiring is the result of work done by a special search committee led by USC trustee Suzanne Nora Johnson; the committee consisted of other USC trustees and representatives from the administration, academics and athletics.
Annenberg Media will continue to provide updates on the developing story.
An earlier version of this story included a headline that stated Bohn will be USC’s next athletic director. Bohn’s hiring has not been officially reported by the university. Annenberg Media apologizes for the error.