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: