One central responsibility USC’s next athletic director must carry
First things first: USC’s next athletic director will have a lot of responsibilities. The new athletic director will oversee a football program expected to compete for national championships for the next decade, a men’s basketball program which will begin the coming season in the top 15 (maybe even the top 10), a rising women’s basketball program, a much-improved baseball program, and an athletic department which has received lots of donations the past two years since Clay Helton was fired.
USC’s next athletic director will also need to avoid the problems which led to Mike Bohn’s resignation. We don’t really have to explain that particular point.
If there is something specific the next USC AD will need to tend to — something which goes beyond the broad and general responsibilities any athletic director has — there is little question what tops the list.
Running a clean program, cultivating good relationships with donors, supporting coaches and athletes — every AD must do those things. What does the next USC athletic director need to do which other ADs at other schools don’t? Here’s the foremost answer:
THE ALEX GRINCH DECISION
Maybe Alex Grinch will make this decision easy. Maybe USC will go 12-1 and make the College Football Playoff. Maybe USC will go 8-4. In either scenario, keeping or firing Grinch won’t be a hard call. However, what if the truth of the situation and the reality of USC’s status fall in between the best-case and worst-case scenarios? That’s when the next USC AD will earn his or her salary.
STYLE POINTS
Even if USC has a relatively good season — much as it did last year — the numbers behind the numbers could complicate the Alex Grinch equation. In other words, if USC goes 11-2 and wins the Pac-12 title but allows nearly 40 points to Washington, Oregon, and its Pac-12 Championship Game opponent, that shouldn’t give Alex Grinch a free pass and a retained job in 2024 — not automatically.
If USC goes 11-2 with the defense being substantially better, then there won’t be a tough call with Grinch and the matter of retention for the following season.
MIDDLE GROUND
If USC goes 10-2 and doesn’t win the Pac-12, but the defense generally plays well in a season where it has only one or two really terrible games, it will be difficult to handle the Alex Grinch question. Notable improvement will have occurred, but the team’s overall goals will not have been met. It’s hard to predict all the underlying details which would be attached to such a scenario, but we can say that if USC doesn’t make the Pac-12 title game this year, the fan base will want some changes even if the level of play is good and the opposition (Oregon, Washington, Utah, Oregon State) is improbably but undeniably elite. The AD will have to weigh a lot of factors.
PAC-12 RACE
The Pac-12 race could be spectacular this year, kinda like the American League East race in baseball. The worst team in the A.L. East on Sunday, May 21 is four games above .500. Finishing second in that division is a real achievement.
The Pac-12 race could be surprisingly mediocre. Maybe Oregon and Washington will have terrible defenses. Maybe Utah’s personnel changes will lead to erosion in Salt Lake City. Maybe Oregon State will suffer because D.J. Uiagalelei will struggle at quarterback.
USC could go 11-1 against a mediocre Pac-12, or it could go 10-2 against a great Pac-12. If Alex Grinch’s future is to be evaluated, the extent to which the Pac-12 does — or doesn’t — live up to the billing will be a factor.
THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE
It ultimately comes down to this: If all the various details of the situation are hard to weigh against each other, meaning that one can make a strong case for firing or retaining Alex Grinch, the new USC athletic director will have to make an informed judgment, and if he feels Grinch needs to go, he will have to conduct a very difficult but necessary conversation with Lincoln Riley in order to bring in a better defensive coordinator. We will see if the new USC AD has to face this scenario in December. Hopefully, it won’t get to that point, but we have to mention it. It might be the first really huge moment of truth for the successor to Mike Bohn.
