Jury is still out on how much transfer portal losses will hurt USC

The overall net effect of various losses in the transfer portal is an unresolved question. Can Zach Hanson and other staffers make up the difference?

Over the past month, USC football has endured a lot of losses in the transfer portal. Among them, former USC defensive lineman Sam Greene committed to Kentucky. As it turns out, he will not be the only Trojan headed to an SEC school next season. Joining him in the South next season will be former USC offensive lineman Mason Murphy. After appearing in every game for the Trojans over the past three seasons, Murphy recently announced he will play his final season of college football at Auburn.

The Tigers will host the Wildcats on November 1 next season. After going up against each other in practice the best two seasons, Murphy and Greene will have a chance to battle it out in game action.

The loss of Murphy is a notable one for an offensive line that struggled mightily at times in 2024. Although USC shuffled several different O-line rotations, Murphy remained a constant, starting all 12 games at right tackle.

Having to rebuild the unit will present a major challenge for new offensive line coach Zach Hanson. However, Hanson did get some very good news when he learned that offensive guard Emmanuel Pregnon will be returning for his final season of eligibility in 2025.

Losing Mason Murphy could be seen as a deficit for USC, but given that Murphy made some key mistakes in 2024, the jury is still out on how severe a loss this actually is. If Zach Hanson can build a better offensive line in the transfer portal and do things Josh Henson could not, USC might still come out ahead. Much remains to be seen about the final composition of the 2025 USC offensive line.

Auburn AD John Cohen given extension to 2029

Auburn University has extended its athletic director, John Cohen, for an extra two years through October of 2029

Auburn’s athletic program is looking to continue on its successful path across all of its teams. As of late, the Tigers have posted many accomplishments under their new leadership and will be hoping to have more luck in the near future.

Auburn athletic director [autotag]John Cohen[/autotag] was given a two-year contract extension in his position, keeping him on the Plains until October 2029.

Cohen was hired on October 31, 2022, which was a big day in the athletics depart as former football coach Bryan Harsin was also fired from the university. He later made his first big decision in hiring current head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] to the job, making an early statement on the Plains.

The athletic director has been a huge leader in making upgrades happen around the Tigers’ facilities. The board of trustees recently approved a new videoboard that is set to be placed in the north end zone of Jordan-Hare Stadium. They also put the current renovations for Plainsman Park into motion.

Most notably, Cohen made a big push for Auburn’s recent declaration that the program was switching from Under Armour to Nike, which will become effective in July 2025.

Cohen’s contract salary agreement will remain the exact same with the extension, being at $1.4 million dollars each year, with a $125,000 increase each November.

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SEC opponents confirmed for Women’s Hoops

Head coach Johnnie Harris is gearing up for her third season on the Plains.

[autotag]Johnnie Harris[/autotag] is gearing up for her third season on the Plains.

After Auburn fell 56-55 at the hands of the Clemson Tigers in the second round of the WNIT, the Tigers are ready to get back in the swing of things.

Auburn will face the Alabama Crimson Tide, LSU Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks twice in the regular season. This is a tough draw as LSU is the defending National Champion and South Carolina is a perennial powerhouse.

The Tigers will face the Georgia Bulldogs, Kentucky Wildcats, Mississippi State Bulldogs, Tennessee Volunteers and the Texas A&M Aggies just one time in the regular season. Each matchup will take place at home in Neville Arena.

The teams Auburn will only face on the road in the regular season are the Arkansas Razorbacks, Florida Gators, Ole Miss Rebels, Missouri Tigers and Vanderbilt Commodores.

Additionally, Auburn will get a rematch with Clemson in the first year of the SEC/ACC Challenge. The contest will take place in Neville Arena on November 30th at 8 p.m. CT.

The dates and times for these games as well as the remaining non-conference opponents will be announced later.

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Auburn Morning Rush: Cannella heads north, Baseball breaks records

There’s plenty of information in today’s Auburn Morning Rush, so come check it out.

Good morning, Tiger fans. It is time for the Friday edition of the Auburn Morning Rush.

Thursday was a busy day for Auburn Athletics, as [autotag]Bryan Harsin[/autotag], [autotag]Tank Bigsby[/autotag], [autotag]John Samuel Shenker[/autotag], and [autotag]Derick Hall[/autotag] all took the podium at SEC Media Days. Because of that, there were several stories surrounding Auburn Athletics that got swept under the rug. No worries, though. Auburn Wire has put all those stories together for your viewing pleasure.

Auburn Baseball had a successful week in the Major League Baseball draft. But, how successful was it? We break down all of the program records that were set this week.

A former tight end is finally getting his shot to prove himself at the professional level after a successful season in the USFL. Who is he, and where is he going?

The Basketball Tournament is heating up, and Auburn’s alumni squad, “Team War Ready” is set to take the court this Sunday.

Finally, a new NIL deal involving a key piece to Auburn Men’s Basketball’s starting five may have fans drinking a new soda.

All of that is coming up in today’s Auburn Morning Rush:

SEC announces revenue distribution for 2020-21 fiscal year

Each SEC school earned $54.6 million.

The numbers for the 2020-21 fiscal year have been tallied. The conference announced $778.8 million in total revenue divided amongst each school.

According to this tweet from the SEC’s official Twitter account, each school in the conference will get $54.6 million. The number excludes revenue retained by schools for bowl expenses.

It is easy to see why schools such as the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns want to make the jump to the Southeastern Conference. It just means more, especially when it comes to writing the check. These numbers reflect the fiscal year that ended on Aug. 31, 2021.

In that timeframe, the Auburn Tigers football program finished 6-5 after a 6-4 regular season consisting of an SEC-only schedule. The Tigers earned a postseason bid to the Vrbo Citrus Bowl but fell short to the Northwestern Wildcats of the Big Ten Conference.

Apparently, not even the pandemic prevented the SEC from earning a big paycheck.

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Watch: Auburn legends, coaches appear in Auburn Unity video

Some major Auburn legends along with current coaches appear in this video.

The CEO of Apple, an Oscar winner, a former NBA MVP and, oh yeah, Bo Jackson appeared in a video released by Auburn athletics on Thursday urging everyone to take part int he new Together We Will initiative and to buy an Auburn Unity t-shirt.

We also can’t forget Gus Malzahn, Bruce Pearl and Tim Hudson as well.

From the athletic department’s press release:

In collaboration with the Auburn Athletics Task Force on Inclusion and Race Relations, and in response to itsrecommendations made on August 28, Auburn Athletics announced the Together We Will initiative on Thursday.  The goal of the initiative is to support and advance the Auburn Family in its quest toward positive action on diversity, equity and inclusion.

As a part of the Together We Will initiative, Auburn athletic teams will incorporate the Auburn Unity Symbol on their uniforms, equipment, warm-up gear or travel bags. The logo serves as a visual representation of people from all walks of life coming together and uniting as one.

“Every family is made up of people with individual thoughts and at times family members disagree. Families also love and support each other despite those disagreements.  Through sport, there is an opportunity to acknowledge differing points of view and unite for a greater purpose,” director of athletics Allen Greene said.  “The Auburn Unity Symbol represents the oneness we seek to instill in our teams and throughout our community.  I applaud the leadership of our coaches, staff and student-athletes for their efforts. Lastly, I encourage the Auburn Family to embrace what makes us unique and enthusiastically support Together We Will.”

Fans are encouraged to support the initiative by purchasing the official Auburn Unity shirt through the AU Team Shop.  A portion of proceeds will go to the newly created Together We Will Scholarship, created to support the University’s efforts to achieve a robust and diverse enrollment of students while enhancing access, affordability and academic quality.  Supporters can also make a financial contribution directly to the scholarship.

“This is an important time for the Auburn Family to unite together towards a common cause,” football coach Gus Malzahn said.  “The unity t-shirts will help raise money to make a difference towards scholarships that promote diversity and inclusion. I encourage everyone to join together and support this initiative.”

“At Auburn University, we’re here to make a difference,” men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl said. “Auburn is the loveliest village on the plains, unique in its character, and we want to share it with everyone. Through individual contributions and the sale of t-shirts, we are going to create scholarships to recruit and retain students, promote diversity and inclusion and make Auburn an even better university. Together we will.”

More information related to the Together We Will initiative, as well as other sustainable action items from the Auburn Athletics Task Force on Inclusion and Race Relations will be announced throughout the 2020-21 academic year.

Allen Greene on social justice conversations: ‘They have been emotional’

The Auburn athletic director spoke on the conversations he has had with student-athlete surrounding social justice issues.

Times right now for any athletic director in the country are going to be tough as the COVID-19 pandemic has quickly cut into the revenue that departments are used to receiving during the year and many social justice issues are coming to the forefront of conversations, especially with student-athletes.

On Friday, Auburn athletic director Allen Greene spoke on the Tiger Talk podcast about some of the challenges he has faced over the past several months and said that, as a Black man, he has shared some of his own experiences with concerned members of the Tigers.

“The conversations have been great,” Greene said. “They have been emotional. They have provided a clearing of a path for us to go down a journey we, these young people in particular, have never had to go down before. That warms my heart to be at a moment in time in our country where we can have such a profound impact on the young people we serve.

“I try to share with them that in these moments we have an opportunity to make a difference. The chances for us to make a difference in the country and the world may not be all that great, but we can make a difference here on our soil with our people. Our energies will be focused on making change locally. How can we help people understand that the walk you walk is different than the walk I walk, and it’s the same road. It’s allowing people to listen as we talk about it and learn. Not that anybody even has to agree as long as you can see someone else’s perspective.”

MORE: ESPN predicts Auburn’s 2020 schedule game by game

Greene said that about a month and a half ago he had a “raw conversation” with many student-athletes about what is happening in the country right now.

I have a pretty good appreciation of what our black student-athletes are going through. I’ve been through very similar situations,” he said. “What I appreciated was our white student-athletes who spoke up about their disapproval of the injustices that are occurring, their recognition of the injustices that are occurring and the heavy hearts that they have in seeing their brothers and sisters, their teammates, their peers have to go through such fear, such anxiety, such emotional torture.”

Here is everything else important that the athletic director had to say:

On uncomfortable conversations

“What we have tried to espouse is being uncomfortable is OK. Being defensive is not. How do we push the boundaries of our comfort level. We’ve had department-wide Zoom calls about race. We have realize that whether we are left, right, red, blue, black, white, we are shaped by our experiences and we are shaped by the people we surround ourselves with. We are shaped by the news that we watch. We are shaped by the music we listen to. We are shaped by our Twitter feeds and Instagram.

“How can we remove some filters and start to broaden our awareness? I’m proud of the members of our department who have really leaned into the discussion on race.”

On the challenges he is facing

“One of the bigger challenge is we have such a large ecosystem in our industry. We’re not professional sports, where we are focused on one sport and a small number of athletes. We (at Auburn) are 550 student-athletes, 300 staff members, 15 head coaches, 21 different sports. And we reside under the umbrella of a larger campus entity and we reside in the city of Auburn and the state of Alabama and then working with the Southeastern Conference. There are a lot of paces we have to go through to try to manage all the different things that are happening. That takes a lot of time and a lot of communication. It takes a lot of mental energy.

“Each day is filled with a number of Zooms communicating with our coaches, university staff, executive leadership, SEC leadership, contacting colleagues across the country to try to figure out what they are doing. We are all trying to make judgment calls. I would say we are thankful and blessed by Commissioner (Greg) Sankey and his leadership and Dr. (Jay) Gogue and his leadership. We are very fortunate here at Auburn.”

On playing fall sports

“It might not seem like it, but we’ve made a significant amount of progress to get those sports in position to play. Football, obviously, is the largest domino. It’s the engine that drives our departments in so many different ways. Soccer starts before football season in a traditional academic year. We delayed volleyball and cross country and soccer so we could get football in a position where we felt comfortable.

“We are still working through some things, but we are in a much better position than we were a month or even two months ago. Our student-athletes want to compete, and we want them to compete. We know they’ve worked incredibly hard.”

On financial impact of COVID-19 pandemic

We’ve known there was going to be a financial impact. With each decision that is made, there is a little bit more of a clear picture. It’s important that people remember that football revenue funds about 80 percent of our operation – about $120 million. Any alteration to that starts to eat away.

“We still want to provide our student-athletes a unique and dynamic experience. In order to do that, we still need to get them from Point A to Point B. We still need to feed them. We still need to give them scholarships. We still need to take care of their mental health issues and their physical issues. And we still need to train and compare for competition.”

On having students at season opener

“As things began to unfold and we kind of got closer to the decision, we collectively as an institution came together and said what is best for Auburn. What is best for us is recognizing those who went to Auburn recognize how special that football game experience was to them as a student. Those who went to Auburn know they have many more years of enjoying time in Jordan-Hare Stadium on a Saturday.

“Our young people are here for a moment in time. That four years goes by awfully fast. Let’s make sure they get that experience, that they remember that experience. Many of them have been on this journey for several years just to get to the Plains so they can have their shakers in the stands and cheer on their peers on the football field. We thought it was really important for us to do that. We know we are an outlier in the country, and we are completely fine with that.”

Auburn’s contract value with Under Armour down $8.23 million

The university accepted a rare equity clause in its contract with the apparel company.

Bad news on the financial front for Auburn’s athletic department as its value in the deal with Under Armour has fallen by 11 percent.

From Sportico:

“Back in 2015, Auburn and Under Armour re-upped their partnership through 2025, a deal worth $78.2 million in total value, according to the contract. As part of the agreement, the school agreed to accept $10 million of stock, paid out over the life of the contract.

It hasn’t worked out. The contract was signed in Sept. 2015, less than a week after Under Armour hit an all-time high of $54.70. The company has struggled since, undergoing a multi-year restructuring that included the elimination of 40% of its product line. With shares currently trading around $9, that $10 million stock grant is now worth just $1.77 million, according to Sportico‘s calculations.

The school was essentially betting that Under Armour’s stock would rise over the course of the deal, increasing the value of the shares. While it hasn’t worked out that way, there’s still time. Auburn won’t recognize that loss until it sells the stocks, and a Tigers spokesman confirmed that the school still owns all the equity.”

The apparel company has recently made news by trying to get rid of its contract with both UCLA and Cal amid financial uncertainty.