USC Finishes the Week With More Controversy

It has been quite an eventful week for USC’s athletic program.

It started off in great fashion with President-elect Nick Nikias’ appointment of former USC quarterback, Rhodes scholar, business executive, and sportscaster, Pat Haden, to replace outgoing athletic director Mike Garrett as of August 3.

Kudos all around!  The alumni, the fans, the media—yes, even Bill Plaschke—and ESPN agreed that it was a great move for Nikias and USC.

But at the same time, Nikias announced that he was returning USC’s copy of Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy and removing all murals of Bush and O. J. Mayo, the two high-profile athletes who were at the root of the sanctions the NCAA levied on the university.

This announcement met with much less than unanimous approval.  Some saw Nikias’ point of view while others sided with Bush.  The move even provoked the Heisman Committee into opening discussions on whether or not they should recall Bush’s trophy. 

The Heisman Committee, to the best of my knowledge, has never asked that one of its trophies be returned.  If they do have Bush return the trophy, it will certainly be a disgrace to his college career and a personal dishonor.

My take on the subject is a fairly simple one.  Had the NCAA sanctions not been so severe and, as many have stated, excessive, Nikias would not have made such a decision.

We need to realize that Nikias’ rather harsh edict was in response to the NCAA’s rather harsh sanctions.  It is not, I feel, a matter of vindictiveness but rather one of posturing on Nikias’ part.

Since the NCAA stressed in its sanctions that USC disassociate from Bush and Mayo, Nikias was hoping to show the Appeals Committee that the university was taking unusual steps in that regard. 

Since Bush and his family certainly instigated the situation for which the university is being severely punished, they and their supporters should have no problem realizing that Nikias took this step, with Haden’s approval, hopefully to have those sanctions reduced.

Shortly after Nikias’ announcement, the incoming athletic director, Pat Haden, immediately named his former teammate throughout their high school and college careers, J. K. McKay, as the associate athletic director in charge of the USC football program.

More kudos!   The appointment was met with unanimous approval from all quarters. 

J. K. McKay, the son of legendary USC football coach, John McKay, like Haden, bleeds cardinal and gold.

But then this Saturday morning new headlines erupted.  It was not only good news but great news: former Trojan and assistant coach Kennedy Pola had agreed to join the staff as offensive coordinator and running backs coach.

The news, however, was skewed on both ESPN and CBS Sports with the report that Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher was disappointed that Kiffin had not informed him that he would like to offer the position to Pola, who had just joined the Titans this spring as their running backs coach.

The Titans begin training camp this coming week.

Once again, Kiffin’s aggressiveness had been judged as less than honest and forthright.

In his defense, Kiffin stated that he had contacted Pola on Friday to see if he was still interested in joining the Trojan staff.  Pola told Kiffin he would think about it and call him back today, Saturday.

Pola called back to accept the position and then Kiffin called Fisher and left a message.

I feel that the headlines smack of sensationalism and media angst toward USC.  Nevertheless, Kiffin has coached in the NFL and is well aware or should be of NFL protocol. 

Any coach or owner must first contact the team to ask their permission to present a job offer to one of their coaches.  They are not supposed to contact the assistant coach first, offer him the job, and then call the head coach after the fact.

Granted, it was just a slip in protocol and perhaps no big deal , but I can see how some will make it a big deal, especially when Todd McNair was dropped a month ago and Pola at the time was quoted as saying it would not be right for him to leave the Titans after just joining them. 

Of course, Pola also added that he certainly wouldn't come to USC just to be the running backs coach.  Perhaps that should have given Jeff Fisher some indication that Pola was not a 110 percent set on staying with the Titans if Kiffin could make him a better offer.

I don't know about this one.  It may have been that Kiffin had decided to go after Eric Bienemy, and Fisher figured his guy way safe.  When Bienemy and Vikes, who upped Bienemy's salary and title, rebuffed Kiffin, he may have gotten desperate and gone back to Pola by passing Fisher in his haste.  I just don't know. 

Personally, I wish Kiffin had contacted Fisher, a former USC alumnus, on Friday to ask if he could talk to Pola—but he didn't. So, no use whining over it now. 

Instead I will have to congratulate Kennedy Pola, a tremendous coach and recruiter, and welcome him back.  I also wish Jeff Fisher the very best on finding a new assistant coach and having another successful season.

My only question is regarding Haden and McKay.  I am sure that either one or both were in the loop as Kiffin needed to get approval for the salary offer to Pola.  So, was either one of them aware that Kiffin had not formally contacted Fisher before making the offer to Pola?

Or did they just assume that Coach Kiffin had observed proper protocol? 

Those who oversee the program cannot afford to make any assumptions when it comes to Coach Kiffin, especially with USC under the NCAA microscope for the next four years.