Tag: Jennifer Cohen

Jennifer Cohen deserves a lot of credit for USC’s win over LSU

USC’s NIL struggles dominated offseason headlines, but Jen Cohen did pay big money to hire the defensive coaches who beat LSU. Give her props for that.

We all know that the NIL conversation at USC has been a very difficult and contentious one, leading into Sunday’s LSU season opener. It dominated the spring and summer, usually for the wrong reasons. Seeing Isaiah Gibson and Justus Terry decommit and go to Georgia was a double gut punch for the Trojans. Eric Henderson had appeared to have brought two elite defensive players into the program, exactly the kind of thing which would take USC and its defense to the next level and build the program’s reputation to a point where Pete Carroll-level talent would once again exist on a Trojan defensive unit. Jennifer Cohen, as the athletic director at USC, naturally came under fire for the NIL struggles. To be honest, NIL does need to take some forward steps at USC, at least if the Trojans are going to eventually catch Dan Lanning and Oregon in the recruiting rankings. No one would say the NIL program is exactly where it should be. It’s a work in progress.

However, while NIL is its own separate conversation, no one can question Jennifer Cohen’s effectiveness on two other fronts which show how skilled she is as an athletic director: One, she has raised funds for the new football facilities being built and established. That’s huge, and she deserves credit for that. Second, and more specifically connected to the LSU win, Cohen forked up the dollars to hire the new defensive coaches who have given Lincoln Riley and the program a lot of bang for the buck in the early part of the season. USC’s win over LSU doesn’t happen without Jennifer Cohen spending money in the right areas. That’s part of why Cohen — in a picture I took of her on Sunday — was smiling with happiness and, one can imagine, quite a lot of relief.

Catch some of the other photos I took of USC players and coaches during the win over LSU in Las Vegas:

USC athletic director aims to keep rivalry with Notre Dame going

Thank you, Jen!

Recently, USC coach Lincoln Riley indicated that if push came to shove, he would prefer to end his team’s longtime rivalry with Notre Dame. Fortunately for fans of both teams, he’s not the one who would make that decision. That move most likely would come at the hands of athletic director Jennifer Cohen, and that’s a good thing.

In an interview with ESPN Radio’s Los Angeles affiliate, Cohen indicated that she values the rivalry with the Irish enough that she will do whatever she can to preserve it:

Keep in mind that this is someone who has been in her position a year less than Riley has been in his position. So that should quell any real fears that the Irish and Trojans will stop playing each other anytime soon. It just goes to show that some things in college football simply are meant to stand the test of time, and this rivalry is one of them.

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USC baseball hires 2021 Assistant Coach of the Year, Sean Allen

In a very busy week for USC, the baseball program made an important hire.

Earlier this week, USC baseball head coach Andy Stankiewicz announced that the Trojans had hired Sean Allen as the team’s new pitching coach. Allen replaces Seth Ethington, who mutually parted ways with the Trojans two weeks ago. Allen, who received the National Assistant Coach of the Year Award in 2021, joins USC with over 22 seasons of coaching experience as an assistant. During his tenure, his teams have made 14 postseason appearances, including three appearances in the College World Series. Prior to joining USC, Allen spent two seasons at Ohio State and six seasons at Texas, both recruiting and developing top pitchers.  He has produced multiple all-conference selections and Major League draft picks with Ohio State and Texas.

“We are very excited to announce Sean Allen as our new pitching coach,” said Stankiewicz in a press release from the athletic department. “Sean’s reputation in the game is unmatched. First and foremost, he is a baseball coach who knows how to build relationships with student-athletes, staff, administration and recruits. His accolades as a pitching coach are well-documented, and the way he manages and develops a pitching staff is perfect for where we are headed as a program. He knows the national landscape of college baseball and will help us build our brand across the country. Our pitchers, now and in the future, could not be in better hands. It’s a great honor to welcome Sean and his wife Stephanie to the Trojan Family.”

It is clear that USC Athletic director Jen Cohen is making her mark on the athletic department.  She helped Lincoln Riley hire a new defensive coordinator and four coaches. She hired Eric Musselman and an entire new basketball staff. Now Cohen has worked with Stankiewicz to bring in a highly regarded assistant coach who is familiar with the Big Ten and is no stranger to Omaha. USC Athletics continues its run of impressive hires that started in December, which will only dial up expectations in 2024 and 2025.

In a season when the Trojans had their worst start in history, Stankiewicz rallied the Trojans, winning 10 games in a row late in the campaign before coming up short in the final innings of the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament final against Arizona. Allen’s hire might be what USC needs to find success as the Trojans enter the Big Ten.

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USC fans vent on YouTube show, hope Jennifer Cohen’s NIL performance will improve

USC football fans expect Jen Cohen to get this NIL operation straightened out.

USC fans want and need athletic director Jennifer Cohen to be better. They specifically hope she can right the ship in the NIL realm.

We are writing about this:

“This is not a Lincoln Riley problem. This is a Jen Cohen problem. The coaches don’t run the fundraising programs. They sell the program and try to convince players to join. The NIL program is an administrative effort which points to internal operations supporting the coaches in their recruiting efforts.

“Eric Henderson did his job in March. The NIL program, by all appearances, didn’t support the coaches enough. Jen Cohen has to have the tough conversations behind the scenes to ensure USC doesn’t continue to get outgunned, and that commitments of NIL resources have the reliability and follow-through to retain the confidence of both recruits and coaches.”

You can watch our recent USC call-in show at The Voice of College Football to follow the conversation:

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USC athletic director is ready to display Reggie Bush’s retired jersey in the Coliseum

Jennifer Cohen and Reggie Bush are clear on where everything stands.

In an interview on the Peristyle Podcast last week, USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen clarified USC’s stance on Reggie Bush, stating, “To [USC], Reggie Bush is a Heisman winner.  Any and all ways we can honor and recognize that for him, that are appropriate for him, we will do.”  Beyond the clear support that Reggie is receiving from the athletic department, this statement provides clarity for the time when Trojan fans will finally see the No. 5 jersey back where it belongs.

Bush steadfastly maintains that he earned his Heisman Trophy on the field, a notion supported by anyone who witnessed his remarkable performances as one of college football’s greatest running backs. The peristyle end of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the Trojans play their home games, proudly displays the jersey numbers of six of USC’s Heisman Trophy winners. However, two notable absences stand out: Caleb Williams, the 2022 Heisman winner, and Bush, whose No. 5 jersey was removed after the NCAA ruled that he and his family received improper benefits from a marketing agent while he played at USC.

It is worth noting that the NCAA rule under which Bush was penalized has since been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, adjudicating that it is a violation of a citizen’s rights to prevent said citizen from profiting by marketing his or her own name, image, and likeness. Therefore, if the rule is illegal now, it was also illegal then, rendering the case against Bush questionable at best.

Additionally, the entire NCAA investigation was put under a microscope by Judge Frederick Shaller during the related case of Todd McNair’s alleged involvement. Shaller called the NCAA investigation “malicious” and explained that the NCAA infractions report “contained material false statements…”  The NCAA spent 10 years delaying the trial with appeals, but finally settled out of court with McNair for an undisclosed amount.

In 2021 the NCAA remained in character and upheld that Bush was ineligible even though the rules have now changed, in spite of the Supreme Court ruling. The NCAA will not reinstate his 2005 season records. In turn, the Heisman Trust is hiding behind a rule that makes Reggie ineligible for the award if his playing records are vacated.

Last year during the spring game, rumors circulated that Reggie’s jersey would be unveiled during the season alongside Caleb Williams’ jersey when a blank tarp was displayed as a placeholder among the other Heisman winners. Reggie has since clarified that he doesn’t want his number retired at the Coliseum until his Heisman Trophy, which he earned while capping a 34-game win streak at USC, is returned. So as Cohen said, No. 5 will be proudly displayed when Reggie has his trophy returned.  Reggie remains in litigation for a defamation suit against the NCAA.

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USC AD Jennifer Cohen discusses NIL as Trojans figure out long-term plans

Cohen’s public remarks matter a lot less than what she does behind the scenes.

The NIL realm is where USC has been absorbing a lot of hits in college football. Ohio State and Oregon, both Big Ten competitors, are cleaning up thanks to robust NIL efforts and a clear willingness to pay for top recruits and transfer portal prospects. The Buckeyes and Ducks are fully investing in their programs, and it is paying off in more ways than one.

USC is playing catch-up. The Trojans live in the Los Angeles market, the second-biggest metopolitan area in the United States. There is certainly ample accumulated wealth in the area. USC Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen is a prodigious fundraiser. She knows she needs to unlock the resources in Southern California in order to enable USC football to thrive. She recently went on The Peristyle podcast to discuss the NIL space and where USC stands within it.

Some fans might be alarmed and/or disappointed that Cohen painted a relatively positive picture of the NIL situation, but one should realize that Cohen is not going to publicly eviscerate the efforts being made by the people organizing USC’s main collectives. What matters is not what she says, but what she privately does behind the scenes to improve the success rate of the NIL operation. That’s what matters most. The next really big test of USC’s NIL strength will come in the spring transfer portal window, when USC will need a 2024 version of Bear Alexander, the 2023 spring portal pickup who improved the Trojans’ defensive line.

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USC Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen is aware that the Trojans are losing to Oregon in NIL

Jen Cohen knows the score. USC is losing.

We can all debate whether Lincoln Riley and USC are losing to Oregon in the recruiting game because Dan Lanning is doing a better job than Riley. It might not be a matter of one coach doing more than another. It could be that one school’s NIL setup is better than the other’s, and that infrastructure — not coaching acumen — is the true driver of Oregon’s wins over USC on the trail. Yet, after the Ryan Pellum flip and other big recruiting (and transfer portal) conquests for Oregon in the latest cycle, there is zero question that Oregon recruiting and portal success under Dan Lanning has eclipsed Lincoln Riley’s body of work at USC. Lanning and Riley have both been at their current schools for two years. In those two years, Lanning has greatly outclassed Riley.

This should be highly concerning to USC insiders. If USC could get the caliber of athlete Oregon is pulling in, the Trojans would be national championship contenders (now that they have good defensive coaches). However, Lanning and Oregon are getting better players.

Something needs to be done.

USC Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen is aware of this.

Cohen, who used to be Washington’s athletic director, certainly relishes defeating Oregon. She knows how important it is to beat Oregon. Now at USC, her desire to thwart the Ducks has not dimmed.

It is no idle coincidence that after another day of Oregon superiority to USC in football recruiting, Cohen put out a fundraising appeal for the Trojans’ main NIL collective, the House of Victory:

Much more has to be done for USC to catch up to Oregon in recruiting. This is, at least, a start.

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USC AD Jennifer Cohen suggests Trojans’ DC is coaching in a conference title game

Cohen told the Los Angeles Times that conference championship games still have to be played. That seems like a hint.

Public figures generally don’t say things unless they have a specific purpose in mind. Why say something very specific if it doesn’t offer at least some indication of a stated goal or an operational approach to an urgent matter?

USC Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen made a specific statement to Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times on Thursday. She didn’t have to make the statement, but she obviously wanted to. It might indicate where USC’s defensive coordinator search is turning:

“But what I would say is the process is a good healthy combination of urgency with diligence. Ultimately we will get the right person for this job. And that’s the most important thing. You want to act with urgency. You want to make sure that you’re going through your candidates and doing your process for that, but you also want to be diligent enough in this landscape that we’re in where there’s so much movement and change — and that’s just starting, the domino effects. We still have conference championship games to be played. So there’s going to be more change and churn in the whole landscape of college football,” Cohen said.

A reasonable person would interpret that statement as meaning USC is considering at least one coach, if not more, who is coaching this weekend in a conference title game. We’ll talk more about this as the weekend unfolds here at Trojans Wire.

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Defensive coordinator search is Jennifer Cohen’s moment of truth, not just Lincoln Riley’s

We all have to remember one thing about Jennifer Cohen.

Of course Lincoln Riley is the man of the hour at USC. He has to agree to the new defensive coordinator the school will hire. He will be the boss of his new coordinator. He will almost surely allow his coordinator to call the shots on defense, but this is Lincoln Riley’s program. The coordinator answers to the head coach, not the other way around. Riley’s reputation is most squarely on the line in this hire. We all know that. Yet, let’s not forget that another person at USC has a lot riding on this decision.

Jennifer Cohen, as much as Riley himself, needs to land the right defensive coordinator to replace Alex Grinch.

It is well worth remembering that at Washington, Cohen hired Jimmy Lake as Chris Petersen’s replacement, but failed to make sure Lake hired a good offensive coordinator. Lake’s pick of John Donovan turned into a disaster.

Cohen made a mistake there, but that mistake is valuable experience. It should increase the odds that Cohen won’t let this defensive coordinator search turn into a failed venture. Cohen will insist on quality at the position and will make sure Riley doesn’t settle for mediocrity the way he did with Grinch (a person Cohen didn’t hire since she was at Washington two years ago).

At least, that’s what we hope will happen.

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USC YouTube show discusses Jennifer Cohen’s arrival as new USC AD

At the @VoiceOfCFB, @Tim_Prangley @LBCTrojan and @TJAltimore explored what Jennifer Cohen brings to #USC athletics.

Jennifer Cohen is the new athletic director at USC. The Trojans gained Lincoln Riley and a ticket to the Big Ten Conference under previous athletic director Mike Bohn, but many people will tell you that Brandon Sosna was the real mover on the Riley front. Regardless of what Bohn did or didn’t go in those realms, however, his conduct and behavior in the workplace were clearly not professional. A lot of people in the athletic department were unsettled by the way Bohn went about his business, and that might be putting it mildly.

USC needed a true professional, someone fully respected by everyone in the world of college sports administration. Jennifer Cohen, previously the athletic director at the University of Washington, fully meets that description. USC’s internal athletic department employees and staffers, who were uncomfortable in Mike Bohn’s presence, received a boss they can feel good about. They will be happy to work for Jennifer Cohen and advance the mission of USC athletics.

There’s a lot more to unpack about Carol Folt’s hire of Jennifer Cohen. The USC YouTube channel at The Voice of College Football is the place to go for more insights on this big story.

Tim Prangley, Rick Anaya, and Tony Altimore — who will bring you the USC football postgame show this upcoming Saturday after the Trojans’ opener against San Jose State — put together a special “instant reaction” show and talked about what Jennifer Cohen brings to USC athletics:

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