USC athletic director Pat Haden will retire at the end of June, the school announced Friday morning.
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The USC athletic director job will be a highly coveted one, as they have the tradition, resources and money that few athletic departments have.
Haden created a large NCAA compliance program and improved graduation rates and grade point averages across the athletic department.
Since Haden moved from USC trustee to athletic director in August 2010, USC teams have won 10 national championships, a figure exceeded only by University of Florida’s 11 during the same period.
The jury is still out on Pat Haden’s decision to promote Clay Helton as the head coach of USC football, but he has landed some other major victories during his tenure in the hiring department while also bringing the Trojans into the new age with upgraded facilities.
Haden, a former USC quarterback, fired head coach Steve Sarkisian on October 12 in the aftermath of concerns about the coach’s behavior.
“Our campus now bears Pat Haden’s stamp in perpetuity”, USC President C.L. Max Nikias said in the announcement. The AD wasn’t specific about his health problem, but he has a pacemaker.
Sarkisian sued USC in December, alleging that the school discriminated against him because of his alcoholism.
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Haden’s choice of Andy Enfield to lead the men’s basketball program also wasn’t universally lauded, but the Trojans are 18-5 and off to their best start since 1992 after routing UCLA 80-61 on Thursday.
