USC AD BOHN RESIGNS AFTER CRITICISMS
USC Athletic Director Mike Bohn has resigned from his position, a day after The Los Angeles Times asked him and USC about internal criticism of his management of the athletics department.
In a statement provided to The Times in response to those questions, Bohn said that he will “always be proud of leading the program out of the most tumultuous times in the history of the profession.”
“In moving on, it is important now that I focus on being present with my treasured family, addressing ongoing health challenges, and reflecting on how I can be impactful in the future,” Bohn said in the statement.
USC did not immediately announce who would serve as interim athletic director, following his resignation.
University president Carol Folt said in a letter to the USC community announcing Bohn’s resignation that the university had “conducted a thorough review of the athletics department, including its operation, culture and strategy” ahead of USC’s impending transition to the Big Ten conference.
The university retained Gina Maisto Smith, a Philadelphia-based attorney from Cozen O’Connor, earlier this year to conduct that review, according to multiple people who attended a meeting earlier this year where the review was announced.
During the meeting, USC general counsel Beong-Soo Kim told attendees the review wasn’t targeting a specific person, but instead was meant to ensure the department had a work environment that was compliant with university policy. Smith began interviewing members of the department in March.
Four current and former USC employees said that staffers inside the athletics department had raised concerns to the law firm about Bohn, who previously was the AD at Idaho, San Diego State and Cincinnati.
Bohn was hired in November 2019 from Cincinnati after a decade of turmoil and scandal within USC athletics. In her letter, Folt said that USC’s athletic department had “transformed into a national powerhouse” during Bohn’s four-year tenure.