And now, on a rainy Sunday, let’s answer some reader questions!

Q: marvienna
Can you confirm that Pat Haden is an overly aggressive meddler/micro-manager of the football program, so much so that other coaching hires we’re scared off because of the threat of Haden always looking over their shoulder for every minor detail?

ANSWER: I would point out two things: Look at who Pat Haden hired as his football coaches. People he knew would follow his orders and not make waves. Steve Sarkisian had alcoholic/drug issues but he always did what he was told when he was USC’s football coach.
Now, I can say that Ed Orgeron and Kennedy Polamalu believe Haden was a factor in being denied a chance to return to USC as part of Clay Helton’s staff. Haden told me he loves Orgeron. But Orgeron thinks Haden nixed his return, which is why Helton did not return his phone calls. So in that sense, I guess he does manage things tightly. It is also why someone like Chip Kelly could never be USC’s football coach in the current atmosphere.

Q: Brock Landers
Scott given you extensive knowledge of basketball if you inherited the monster roster Kevin O’Neill left to Andy Enfield what would you have done with it? I’m thinking year one sweet 16, year 2 final 4.

ANSWER: Thanks for the vote of confidence. I’ll tell what. I think I could have won five Pac-12 games and I wouldn’t have charged $2 million to do it!

Q: Mrhawaii
Any timeline on Haden’s exit? Hopefully soon..

ANSWER: Someone who knows Haden said he appears very engaged and does not seem like he will leave any time soon. His consistent appearances at basketball games also tell me he is probably rejuvenated by the basketball team’s success.

Q: Juan Lopez
In the press box, do you drink Lowenbrau or Zima?

ANSWER: Haterade.

Q: YOLO 4 SC
Do you think Lane Kiffin thinks of you as much as you think of him?

ANSWER: No, not at all. But it is not his job to follow USC and/or famous USC athletes/coaches. When he coached, he thought of me more than I did of him. He usually mentioned to someone else at USC about once a day.

Q: steveg
Scott, how much does USC raise annually in support of its athletics. They are obviously not in the top 10 which does include Oregon and Washington. Is this another shortcoming of Pat Haden?

A: Fundraising at USC is going very well if you consider the new swim stadium, renovated tennis stadium, McKay Center, renovated Heritage Hall and now the anticipated renovation of the Coliseum. Where it hasn’t gone so well is with the money received from the Pac-12 Network. I’ve heard grumbling about how USC (and UCLA) never should have allowed itself to become equal partners with the other Pac-12 schools while they are in the biggest media market/fan base.

Q: Hey Phrasing
If I recall correctly, Ed Orgeron’s salary when he was at USC under Lane Kiffin and what you suggested he receive if he return under Steve Sarkisian (back in your 11/9/2014 Daily News article) was over the seven figure per year mark. I believe that’s well above what everyone on the current coaching staff including Clay Helton makes.

If Coach O had returned do you think Helton, Clancy Pendergast and Tee Martin be okay with the D-line coach earning more than them or would they need raises and/or would Coach O needed to take a pay cut from his last USC contract (and would he if that was the case)?

Thanks for starting the forum up again.

ANSWER: Orgeron’s salary would have been an issue but perhaps if he was given the title associate head coach, it would have been a way to justify it. However, this is also a reason perhaps Clay Helton did not hire him, aside from Pat Haden’s opinion. As I mentioned, if USC lost 2-3 games in a row, would fans clamor for Orgeron to take over? Would Helton want to deal with that?

Q: David Keeling
During the first 4/5 years as AD, who in your opinion was doing the better job, PH or MG? And why?

ANSWER: Hmmmm. I think the rise of social media and the internet kind of affects this answer. Because Mike Garrett did some strange things. He wanted to fire Mike Gillespie after he took the Trojans to the 1995 College World Series. He told me he wanted to fire Jovan Vavic, the water polo coach who has won 13 national titles. He hired Henry Bibby, who in many ways was an embarrassment. And he hired Paul Hackett.
These are things that happened in the first 4-5 years. Pete Carroll was hired in 2000 and then came other hires like Peter Smith (men’s tennis) and Mick Haley (women’s volleyball) that were successful.
To be honest, I could ask five USC coaches who was better and probably get a split answer. Depends on who you ask. I think Garrett’s reputation would have been a lot worse if twitter and message boards were as popular 20 years ago. Don’t forget the famous incident where he yelled throughout a Cal-USC game at Memorial Stadium because he wanted a private suite.