USC athletic director Mike Bohn steps down amid concerns over program’s ‘culture and strategy’

USC athletic director Mike Bohn has resigned from his position at the school, with the school sharing that they previously reviewed the program’s “culture and strategy” in an announcement of the news.

Bohn joined the program from Cincinnati – where he held the same position – in 2019, and shook things up massively by hiring Lincoln Riley to lead the football team and moving the school to the Big Ten starting in 2024.

But according to the Los Angeles Time, four “current and former USC employees” said athletic department staffers raised concerns about Bohn with a law firm investigating the department. USC General Counsel Beong-Soo Kim told attendees at a meeting this year that the investigation was not targeting any specific person, the Times wrote.

Announcing Bohn’s resignation, university president Carol Folt said in a letter to the USC community that the school had “conducted a comprehensive review of the athletics department, including its operation, its culture and its strategy”.

At the same time, Bohn mentioned health issues in a statement to The Times.

Bohn’s greatest success was hiring Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma to coach the football team.

[I’ll] always be proud to lead the program out of the most tumultuous times in the history of the profession,” he told the newspaper.

“Moving on, it’s important now that I focus on being with my cherished family, addressing ongoing health issues and how I can make an impact in the future.”

Whatever the reasons for Bohn’s exit, Folt acknowledged that USC’s athletic department had “transformed into a national powerhouse” during his four years as DA helm.

The football team nearly made the playoffs last season under Riley and star quarterback Caleb Williams, while the school will take a slice of the new TV deal worth more than $1 billion a year. of the Big Ten after joining in 2024.

UCLA will also move to the Big Ten at the same time as USC.