USC and the University of Washington are currently on similar tracks.
They are both starting their last year in the Pac-12 and are poised to make a move to the Big Ten in August of next year. They are two of the preeminent athletic brands on the West Coast. They both have Heisman candidates leading their football teams this year in USC’s junior quarterback Caleb Williams and UW’s senior quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
And now, the two schools have an athletic director connection as Jennifer Cohen is taking over the position for the Trojans after holding the same job at UW since 2016. Cohen has her work cut out for her as she prepares to move USC to a new conference, but she showed she could handle it in her time at UW.
In her six school years at UW, the Huskies won 19 conference championships — including two in football — and made a trip to the College Football Playoff in 2016. Cohen was in charge of 18 sports as UW’s AD and will see that number rise to 21 at USC.
“We can win a national championship in all 21 of our sports,” Cohen said during a press conference Monday. “And at the same time, we can graduate our student-athletes with transferable skills that better prepares them for life after college.”
While many expected USC to hire an athletic director with ties to the Big Ten, USC President Carol Folt and her hiring committee decided to go with Cohen, a Southern California native with nearly three decades worth of experience in the Pac-12.
“I admired USC for a long time and have the roots and ties here — I think that’s helpful,” Cohen said. “But I think what’s most helpful is just my body of work, of experience, and what I bring holistically to the athletic department.”
Cohen also helped orchestrate the plan to move UW to the Big Ten, which likely means she knows what has to happen for USC to be ready for a new conference, despite not having that intimate knowledge of the Big Ten.
“I spent a lot of time studying the Big Ten in my previous role, understanding the dynamics of the Big Ten, benchmarking the Big Ten from a salary standpoint, from a performance standpoint, from a facilities standpoint, and so I have a lot of that understanding already in preparation for where I was before,” Cohen said.
USC Athletics is at a pivotal point as it prepares to enter a new conference, but also because of the scandal surrounding former athletic director Mike Bohn’s resignation in May, citing health reasons for his departure. Despite Bohn’s sudden resignation and the subsequent search for a new AD, as Cohen pointed out at the press conference, many of USC’s sports have momentum heading into this season.
The football team was recently ranked No. 6 in the preseason AP poll. The men’s and women’s basketball teams both made the NCAA tournament in the same season for the first time since the 1996-97 season. Beach volleyball has won national championships in three straight seasons.
Likely a factor in hiring Cohen is her membership on the College Football Playoff committee. USC football, which starts its season on Saturday against San Jose State, is poised to make a run to the CFP this season. It certainly does not hurt to have the USC athletic director on the 13-person selection committee as the Trojans look to be playing in either the Rose Bowl or Sugar Bowl, the two CFP semifinal games this season, come Jan. 1.
Cohen also enters the job at a pivotal point in college athletics in general. Conference realignment has bolstered the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12, but has debilitated the Pac-12. She will also have to navigate USC’s NIL plan.
“I had a lot of experience in building out an NIL program at my previous institution, and I’ll be rolling up my sleeves to support our coaches in any way possible,” Cohen said. “And most important, give our student-athletes the opportunities they deserve.”
In her introductory speech, Cohen focused on providing the best student-athlete experience in the country, as she herself has two sons who are athletes at other universities. Cohen starts her quest to do just that when she starts working at Heritage Hall on Tuesday.