USC Morning Buzz: Does Focus Now Shift To Pat Haden?

THOMPSONThe departure of Steve Sarkisian now means USC needs to hire another coach. And should Pat Haden be the person to do it?

“(Haden) has zero value as an athletic director,” former USC player and radio host Petros Papadakis said. “What can his value be after this? This is incredibly embarrassing for USC. I’m shocked and blown away there was a power structure at USC that left Sarkisian in charge. It is mind boggling.”

Could Haden be in trouble? USC president Max Nikias hired him and is very close to him. So right now, I don’t see him being in trouble.

Click on the illustration if you want a larger view of cartoonist Jim Thompson’s creation.

71 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Does Focus Now Shift To Pat Haden?

  1. You ever watch Intervention? Haden is like the enabler mother that kept giving Sark money, wishing and hoping and not coming to the reality that his kid has a problem. Guessing in part he was really pulling for Steve to personally pull it together and also recognizing what this meant to his reputation as AD. His gamble failed miserably, basically he helped whitewash the August situation in conjunction with an addict instead of getting him the help he needed. Not exactly leader of young men material, eh?

    • Great point!!! So I guess when dealing with a person with a baaaad drinking problem, crossing your fingers really hard is NOT a great plan???

      well, the Cadre PROMISED the wolfman that when Troy fell apart, (and we KNEW it would) we’d be here to SCATTER THE PIECES, and by god we are here to do just THAT!!!!

      #IronInOurWords

    • Or PH set up Sark to fail? Not necessarily intentionally but in fact this is the result nonetheless.

  2. there’s an old Irish saying: when everyone tells you you’re drunk — sit down.” well Paddy Boy, everyone is saying you should retire…

    #itsSoTotallyLikeThat

  3. If Haden stays, we will get another search just like the last one, another coach who is politically correct, and probably nothing new to build on. I don’t know if Haden knows other ways to do things. Unless they took the hiring away from him and handed it over to a committee, I would say he needs to step down now, while he can.

  4. Haden will be moved to oversee Coliseum remodel and fundraising and new AD will be hired.

  5. If Max Nikias really wants to Keep Pat Haden , then look for some type position to be created that would be in charge of all football affairs including the hiring and firing of the football coach. Something like Senior Associate Athletic director, in charge of football operations .

  6. Final thoughts:

    1. Sark– Yes, he liked to drink at Wash, but he coached 5 years there and left of his own volition. Bear Bryant and McKay liked to drink too. Who knew the extent of Sark’s drinking problem, or how it was becoming increasingly more pervasive, until the addiction finally blew up in August-October? Monday Morning quarterbacks always have hindsight in which to build their hypocritical cases.

    2. Pat Haden– One of my most lasting memories of the guy was the 1975 Rose Bowl where he threw a td to McKay Jr., and then a pass to Shelton Diggs for a 2-pointer to beat the villain Woody Hayes, and secure a national title for SC…Haden also said something once that I have always cherished and use every day in my work– a concentrated 3-hours of work can reap great benefits.

    Now, about Haden’s present predicament. He would not want to part ways as the Athletic Director on this horrendously negative note– not good for his legacy or his pride. So I don’t believe he will quit at this time, nor will his boss fire him. And the general public, a pack of nasty hyenas if ever there were one, can just go straight to heck.

    But I do not like the idea of giving hiring power to one person. I would support a committee approach, and that way the blame for any hire that goes bust can be shared by all.

    • Wingtip…..during the vetting process of Cutty…..his background should have been thoroughly checked by the executive search firm in charge and the drinking issues would have been brought to the forefront. Why else do you pay those clowns UPWARDS OF 1/2 a mill in fees for ‘FINDING’ Sark…and….The Goat Boy hire was indeed done by committee…..and still was a disaster….although you may not agree because I clearly remember you being enchanted by Goat Boy’s odd demeanor….Birds of a feather…..I suppose.
      phaden is a great big overly educated GOOF….and your school’s well earned reputation as a clown school remains intact.
      You should be embarrassed…..instead of trying to defend this entire stupid mess….
      feyight uuhhnnnnnn

      • Go worry about Mora protecting his Ugly players by abruptly shaking hands of an opposing coach after the game is over!

      • Why don’t you volunteer to head the search firm this time. You seem to know and care as much about USC football as anyone.

      • Thigh Mex is right to a point, but it’s thigh mex, so of course her thoughts don’t matter.

    • I don’t think most of the comments have anything to do with Monday morning quarterbacking, because all of the negative information about Steve Sarkisian has been out there for years. Everything in the LA Times yesterday about Sarkisian was almost common knowledge, that it makes Pat Haden look very naive.

      • You know I respect your opinion, Fred. To my mind, some of the smartest observations on this blog continue to come from you (and your “early warning” system was flashing red lights as soon as Sark was hired). But, let’s face it, your (and my) problem with Sark’s hire had to do with his lack of toughness, as well as his inability to motivate the troops—not his much worse than advertised drinking problem. Before Salute to Troy, I didn’t hear anybody saying that Sark’s admittedly free wheeling life style was going to end in the kind of death spiral we’ve seen in the last week. If all these voices now being quoted had spoken out before (“you know, the REAL problem with Steve is he’s going to come to practice drunk every once in awhile”), I’d put the blame on Haden. But the fact of the matter is they didn’t. They’re all coming out of the woodwork now, after the fact.
        As for the one panel cartoon above, it would be funnier (and more accurate) if the guy thrown out was Scottie.

        • His drinking problem is the biggest part of his toughness and his inability to motivate the troops. Accountability instills work ethic and leads to toughness. Accountability allows a leader to lead. Active alcoholics lack in consistent work ethic and accountability. This is the reason his drinking is THE issue.

          • You’re 100% right. But up until Salute to Troy, no one was connecting the dots. Sure, Sark was known to party, but lots of coaches, college and pro (including some of the best of all time), do the same. What was not known —until recently–was that Sark didn’t know how to turn it off when it came to show time.

          • You bring up a good point, but firing Sark on strictly football terms was already justified. Sark’s drinking just made it impossible to defend him anymore (though they were likely both related to some degree).

          • Yeah. It appears that his otherwise inexplicable losses this year are rather easily explained. I keep thinking one thought, “what an injustice to all the young men he recruited.”

          • After the Salute to Troy, I brought up his game management, drinking and the potential for negative impact on game outcomes. I cited last years games against Utah and Arizona state and was totally rolled by bloggers on this site. You’re 100% right about the injustice to the players. USC’s response after Salute to Troy was to put its head in the sand and as a result amplified that injustice. One person is just that. An institution is way bigger than that.

          • And…. that Sarkisian’s game management and his choices of certain assistant coaches were not endearing him to the faithful.

        • I agree, but I remember when it was announced Steve Sarkisian was getting a divorce, and I mentioned his lifestyle up in Washington was probably the cause. Because he was a heavy drinker, and had extra marital affairs, then all the bloggers on this page slammed me so hard verbally, that I refused to bring it up again . Because I had no proof, other then reading blogs from publications up in Washington.

          • Okay —but honestly, Fred —did you ever in your wildest dreams envision Sark drunk on the sidelines? Or coming to team meetings lit?
            Partying for 12 hours after a game, yeah, that’s been heard of. But partying before a team meeting during Notre Dame week? Wow, that’s a whole new thing.

    • Nicely said John. I have to wonder how much Sark’s pending divorce contributed to his recent excess drinking. And none of us can possibly understand the pressure of coaching at a school like USC. Sark knew these pressures coming in, but that doesn’t lessen the load. Sadly, Sark lost his family, his dream job, and likely future career opportunities in the matter of a few months.

      • His drinking led to his divorce and loss of job. I’m going to refrain from being derogatory in a personal manner but please get a clue… divorces and job loss rarely cause one to drink. 95% or more of the time its the other way around. As far as job loss, if he wants to help himself, he can get sober, stay sober and let his actions, not words, speak for themselves. If he does, he will get reemployed as a FB coach in a remarkably short period of time. If he doesn’t, his “bottom” is only going to get worse.

    • If it’s about 1974 season memories and the game vs tOSU someone needs to make Lynn Swann and Anthony Davis the Athletic Directors and get rid of PH and JMKII right? Or call up Mike Garrett and tell him he’s the AD for life (he was after all much more successful on the field and as AD!) I’m sure Swann would be a great AD by the way. 😉

      The AD has to answerable to someone. Saying it’s the media is a cop out isn’t it? This is a train wreck in every way and it isn’t the outside causing it.

      I like guy that stands in there- I recall you have with Iron Mike, with RB, and with SC down the line. But Pat will be okay. He’s just got no leg to stand on in this If it were just a few mistakes and the media, and if we could point to Pat getting SOMETHING right in the big sports… But no, Pat’s an embarrassment to himself now. And he’s making those charges about our Athletic Department being Clown U pretty accurate.

      • Bring back Mike ?
        Just cheat. Again. Horse manure.
        Bring on Lynn or AD, just not Mike or Caesar
        or anyone else connected to disgrace.

        Last consensus National Championship was 1974
        though 1978 probably qualifies as we beat the other claimant head to head.
        1980’s ? 0000000000
        1990’s ? 0000000000
        BCS titles ? 0000000000000000

        Time to stop glorifying cheating. Hire a winner like McKay or Robinson and let him coach.

    • An answer then questions:
      Why no termination or suspension or ‘leave’ in August ?
      1 Drinking was permitted, even encouraged, at the
      ‘Salute’ event.
      2 Federal and CA laws protect an employee who is ‘seeking treatment’
      3 Sark cleverly stated that it was the mixture rather than an alcohol, and if the meds were prescribed legally the employer was boxed in.
      4 Drinking on the job is a firable offense, and is not protected by Fed or CA law. In this case there was neither express nor implied consent, in fact quite the opposite as alcohol was banned explicitly from the workplace.

      Who had responsibility to vet Sark ?
      Search firm ? USC HR ?
      What if anything did they learn pre-hire and who was privy to it ? Just Pat ? Max ? The ‘Board’ ?
      Who had input on the hire and who made the
      final choice to hire Sark ? Just Pat ? Max ? The Board ?

      Throwing stones without knowing answers is plain dumb.

      Throwing them at a dedicated USC man is dumber.

    • CHICKENpoop and more chicken poop….wingtip loves to stand on the soapbox …
      ‘Who knew about sarks drinking problem until it finally blew up……’ Oh…..I’d guess only 5 or 6 THOUSAND PEOPLE witnessed his drunken act while he was in WASH.

      You call yourself a soso cal supporter, but your biggest concern….’ not good for his, hadens, legacy or pride’ REALLY…

      You might consider checking into the same facility as cutty…….

      One more thing…keep humming your song as you skip down the street…..it goes something like this….
      Oh…I wish I was an Oscar MEYER wiener…..
      that is what I really want to be…
      cuz if I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener…..
      everyone would be in love with me……
      tun tuh……

  7. I wonder if Pat Haden realizes what a fool he looks like in all of this ? He actually had Jack Del Rio, and Chris Petersen front and center right in his office , but he hires Steve Sarkisian? Haden played for John McKay, and Chuck Knox , and still has no clue what to look for in a football coach . Sarkisian was a drunk, and had affairs outside of his marriage. And if you did less then an ounce of research, anybody would have known this , I know I did, which is why I wasn’t shocked when the LA Times came up with the same information yesterday. Sarkisians behavior was always child like to me, and when he called Haden out of the stands last season against Stanford to help him dispute a call with a referee, I knew he wasn’t Man enough for the job

  8. Not for nothing but Sports Illustrated, USA Today, New York Times, and for God’s sake Vitale on his facebook page are all calling for Pat Haden to be fired.

    Haden is no longer someone the former co-workers in the media respects, and that was his biggest selling points.

    Whether it was him, Buss, and Roski blowing the Lane Kiffin hire, or the carnival that went on afterward which had to be one of the worst cases of bad oversight and enabling; whether it was the more low key forced firing of Frank Cruz due to NCAA violations; or the Sark disaster; or the mishandling of the Orgeron thing that turned a lot of players and former players sour; or the “right way” talk (hurting the USC brand to build his own brand); the poor handling of the NCAA situation; of the enabling of the McNeill situation which everyone saw unfolding until he was in drunken fights; or the taking a wild swing with the hiring of Amblin’ Andy for winning 3 games in an otherwise very brief and lackluster basketball coaching career…

    Pat Haden really, really has to go. We took far less hits during the Reggie Bush and NCAA era, because those were imposed from the outside. This guy has a situation where he just seems to never get anything right.

    • Haden has been botching this job for years now! Because he’s a media guy and someone long ago anointed him a saint, most people (including 99% of the media) were either to blind to see it, reluctant to call it out, or afraid of the backlash of calling a spade a spade. The only talking head that has had the balls to call out Haden long before this mess is Petros. The Sark debacle is hardly the biggest charge against Haden’s stewardship, but it’s a train-wreck so obvious to see that even the biggest rah rahs can’t ignore it.

  9. According to Jim Hill on CBS-2…last night there was a meeting among the big money boosters regarding Haden’s future as A.D.

  10. Remember that time Haden floated end-zone to end-zone PSLs that were like $5K/seat, then wrote a diatribe in his “State of Troy” newsletter lambasting those who didn’t like his dumb idea?

    Frankly, that was far more reckless with bigger consequences than having your 3rd, 4th, and 5th year student athletes deal with head coach firings TWICE during their college years.

  11. What we need now is a debate in Las Vegas to give the trolls something to do. The coaching situation isn’t going to change for a couple of months.
    So go watch Hillary and what’s his name talk about Trump for a while. We’ll let you know when there’s something to troll here.

    • I watch SC football attentively PRECISELY so I don;t have to watch Hillary. Heck Pat Haden would have probably been telling us to vote for her anyway. Great name btw,

  12. Unfortunately, knowing USC they will keep Haden despite making two bad hires in Sarkisian and Enfield in your only really revenue producing sports. Not sure what it would take to get rid of him. Thought he was here to get stability in the program, if thats the case he has failed miserably

  13. USC football is in shambles. No direction as a program and no leadership. USC needs to hire a real athletic director and then a real football coach. However, the arrogance at Heritage Hall will most likely lead to Pat making another joke of a hire. Another “USC” guy even though the last few guys are not really “USC” guys. As far as I know, Kiff and Sark were just assistants as USC for a few seasons. If that makes someone a “USC” guy, then we have hundreds of “USC” guys to choose from. Heck that would make Ken Norton a viable choice for Pat.

    • It seems that somewhere along the road the definition of an “SC” guy became synomous with a Southbay guy

  14. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Offer Pete Carroll the job as new AD and Head Football Coach. Give him a blank check. Think he’ll say “no”? Maybe. But at least ASK him. It never hurts to ask.

  15. Haden keeps saying all his decisions are made with the team and and University’s best interests in mind. Well the fact is, Haden is a BUFFOON. And the minute he became a Notre Dame football TV announcer several years ago he stopped being a true Trojan in my book. FIRE HIM!

  16. Pat Haden is socially awkward! There have been so many problems in his tenure as AD, because he doesn’t have the guts to stand up to people. This whole sarkisian thing is another example.

    You guys would be surprised by the lack of respect he has from Trojan alumni, and this was before he became ad.

  17. Clay Helton will not consistently win games out this season. He was exposed against Washington.

    • That may be true but he was also on the headset with his drunken boss telling him what to do all game, so maybe we have to wait and see.

      • Very true. I have a feeling Sark was the one who called the bad plays. He only said he was handing over most of the play calling

  18. The next (let’s hope imminent) AD search should go out of the box and follow the lead of the Houston Astros hiring of Jeff Luhnow. We need a numbers and value guy, mostly because of the Coliseum and Sports Arena albatross, but also because of the new reality of converging revenue parity in the Pac-12. “Superior athletes” don’t mean a lot now when Oregon and USC training facilities no longer have the competitive advantage they recently did. So we have to pull value from some uncovered source. And you need an “analytics mentality” to do that, not a hard-nosed competitor like Garrett or a glad-hander like Haden.

  19. WOLFMAN, why dint you TELL US you were gonna be on Good Morning LA tv show??? i KNEW the media would be drawn to you like moths to the FLAME, (they always are when a bit Southen Cal story breaks) but usually, we get a HEADS UP, wolfman!!!

    ps…you were sublime!

    #KingOfAlMedia

  20. I read Mique de-committed?! Man Pat Haden, you are turning this into a real crapshow. Was he our hidden sanction? Or is this some huge ND prank? LOL

    • Yes, Mique has de-committed. It has been predicted for some time but I would imagine the last few days may have sped up the process.

      • Mk. Thanks. You know he and others will probably come back once things get settled. We’re still SC.

        • Others will. I don’t agree about Mique as he was a soft commit at best. You can never rule out SC but the last few years have been a bit of a joke. If SC hires a good coach that is a grownup, SC will be back.

  21. I think it is pretty safe to say, no one really trusts Pat Haden’s judgement anymore in hiring head coaches. Especially if he is liable to again ignore a search firms recommendations like he did with Sark. I think Haden should be involved in the renovation of the coliseum and other fund raising priorities and leave the hiring of coaches to those who have experience in that matter.

  22. If Haden is true to his words of doing what is in the best interest of USC and the student athletes, he will resign

  23. Mique has de-committed, Uncle Wolfman where’s #ClownU recruiting class now, we gots to know.. .

  24. Mique’s ma is a huge Bruin fan…Mique, be a good boy and listen to your MAMA!!!

    (Someone also explain to him what winter in Ann Arbor is like)

    #Brrrrrrrr

  25. Just remembered Pat Haden dressing down Lendale White. And Pat Haden dressing down the big money boosters critical of coach. Aw man, “Right Way” Haden.

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