Tag: Brandon Sosna

New reporting on Mike Bohn shows how well Brandon Sosna performed at USC

The Athletic’s extensive reporting on Mike Bohn is a very bad look for USC … but not for Brandon Sosna. This is eye-opening.

The Athletic’s extensive reporting on the unprofessional behavior of former USC athletic director Mike Bohn is a very bad look for USC. That point has to stand on its own, and USC shouldn’t escape criticism for it. However, tucked inside this generally embarrassing story for the Trojans is a note which could affect the school’s current athletic director search.

Yes, Brandon Sosna is only 30 years old. Compared to many other people who might want the USC athletic director job, he has less experience in a number of situations. He also hasn’t been able to cultivate as many relationships, simply due to not being in the business as long as the veterans who might throw their hat into the ring and express interest in this position.

However, The Athletic’s examination of Mike Bohn’s appalling behavior at both USC and Cincinnati does mention how much heavy lifting Sosna did while Bohn neglected his job at USC:

“Department staffers regularly assumed job responsibilities generally fulfilled by the AD, most visibly in the case of Brandon Sosna, Bohn’s right-hand man who followed him from Cincinnati. Sosna quickly jumped in on everything from the program’s coronavirus response to the marquee hiring of head football coach Lincoln Riley to the realignment machinations for a move to the Big Ten, becoming the go-to point of contact and decision-maker before leaving for a job with the Detroit Lions last June.”

Sosna might be young, but he carried a lot of responsibilities, and he didn’t merely pass these tests; he aced them. Moreover, these were not third-tier responsibilities, but major central projects for USC.

Brandon Sosna really was the brain behind Mike Bohn. These details certainly enhance a potential Sosna candidacy, if he truly wants to become USC’s next athletic director.

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Brandon Sosna will be mentioned as Mike Bohn’s possible successor at USC

Whether Sosna will want the job, and whether #USC and Carol Folt will want to offer him the job, are separate questions.

Purely in terms of on-field results — not internal office behavior or other administrative evaluations — Mike Bohn did improve USC athletics, particularly the football program. Hiring Lincoln Riley undeniably transformed the Trojans from irrelevant to relevant in a very short period of time.

As USC tries to adjust to the reality that Bohn is no longer the school’s athletic director after his resignation on Friday, one basic fact is impossible to ignore: Brandon Sosna, Bohn’s former associate at USC before he left for the NFL’s Detroit Lions, will be mentioned as a possible candidate for the job.

It might be premature to say he’s the favorite, if only because he has to want the job and USC has to want to give him the job. We don’t know yet if either part of that equation has any substance to it. We’ll have to wait and see. If, however, the interest in the job is mutual on both sides, Sosna would then become the favorite.

Let’s discuss this point a little more:

(h/t Matt Zemek of Trojans Wire)

Lions announce 8 front office changes, continue strong culture building

The Detroit Lions announced 8 front office changes and mostly internal promotions which shows the strong culture the Lions are instilling.

Since Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell walked through the door, they have been building an influential culture from top to bottom. One that awards individuals for their continued strong efforts, giving them the platform to take the next step forward in their careers potentially. Today those efforts were awarded as the Lions announced eight front office changes this morning, with only one being an outside hire.

The one hire of strong significance is the promotion of Mike Disner, who was promoted as the Chief Operating Officer. Disner has risen through the ranks in the Lions organization when he was hired in 2019, starting as the Vice President of Football Administration, then Senior Vice President of Football and Business Administration when Brad Holmes took over as General Manager.

Disner is widely respected in the Lions organization as he was integral in the hiring of Brad Holmes and brought Holmes to the front office’s attention. He has been a main avenue for Holmes, coming in as a first-time general manager and widely recognized as an up-and-comer in the NFL, and on his continued trajectory, he could find himself running a front office shortly.

The lone outside hire was making the hire of Brandon Sosna official. The Lions are bringing in Sosna from USC and making him the team’s Senior Director of Football Administration. He is another individual making a name for himself as he was named to the Forbes’ “30 Under 30 Sports” list in 2020 as he played as USC’s athletic director Mike Bohn’s right-hand man.

Here are the rest of the front office changes to round out the recent promotions:

  • Lance Newmark from the director of player personnel to the senior director of player personnel.
  • Brian Hudspeth from national scout to assistant director of college scouting.
  • Joe Kelleher from pro scout to assistant director of pro scouting.
  • Ademi Smith from personnel assistant to scout.
  • Gina Newell from director of team operations to senior director of football operations.
  • Jesse Giambra from the coordinator of team operations to manager of team operations/head coach administration.

Report: Lions to hire Brandon Sosna into the Detroit front office

Sosna is expected to be the new Lions senior director of football operations

The Detroit Lions are adding a new executive to the front office. Per a report from Pete Thamel of ESPN, the Lions are hiring Brandon Sosna as the new senior director of football operations.

Sosna currently serves as the chief of staff for the USC Trojans football program. From Thamel’s report,

Sosna has operated as the No. 2 to USC athletic director Mike Bohn essentially since Bohn’s hiring late in 2019, including a promotion to executive senior associate athletic director. During that time, Bohn credited Sosna as the architect for the “brilliant” search for Lincoln Riley as head coach.

USC was aggressive in trying to retain Sosna, sources said, but the lure of a career in the NFL trumped anything the school could come up with.

He does have some NFL experience that helps explain the connection to the Lions. Sosna worked in the Cleveland Browns front office in 2017 and 2018 as a salary cap analyst under then-GM John Dorsey, who now serves as a senior assistant in the Lions front office.