Tag: Jennifer Cohen

Trojans Wired podcast discusses the arrival of Jennifer Cohen as USC AD

Let’s talk about Jennifer Cohen on our new podcast.

Jennifer Cohen moved from one Pac-12 school to another. She also moved from one 2024 Big Ten school to another. In one of the more fascinating athletic director movements in recent memory, an athletic director who watched one Pac-12 school move to the Big Ten decided to join that very school 13 months after that move was announced.

When USC revealed its move to the Big Ten in the summer of 2022, Mike Bohn was the athletic director in Los Angeles. Nearly one year later, Bohn was out. USC engaged in a multi-month search for its new athletic director. Cohen, whose Washington program packed its bags for the Big Ten mere weeks ago, decided she would rather preside over a Pac-12 to Big Ten transition in Southern California instead of Seattle. One could say this is mainly because USC will get a full revenue share in the Big Ten while Washington will not (in the first several years of its Big Ten existence). Yet, the calculus might be more complicated than that.

On our new podcast, we discuss the arrival of Jennifer Cohen at USC and what her tenure means for Trojan athletics. Ian Hest produced the show.

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Twitter reaction to Jennifer Cohen becoming USC’s new athletic director

National commentators were highly impressed by #USC’s move. See what people had to say about Jennifer Cohen.

Jennifer Cohen was preparing to move Washington athletics from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten. She will still move a college sports athletic program from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten, but now she will do that in Los Angeles, not Seattle.

Cohen was named USC’s new athletic director on Monday, replacing Mike Bohn.

Ducks Wire’s Zachary Neel noted that “Cohen was the standing AD for the Washington Huskies since 2016 and is a current member of the College Football Playoff selection committee. The most notable success that Cohen has had at Washington is the hiring of football head coach Kalen DeBoer, who led the team to a 11-2 record in 2022.

“At USC, Cohen becomes the first female athletic director in school history.”

See how various journalists, commentators and fans reacted on social media to Cohen’s arrival at USC:

Southern California names Jennifer Cohen as next athletic director

The University of Southern California named their new athletic director on Monday.

The University of Southern California’s search for the school’s next athletic director ended on Monday afternoon.

Carol Folt, the President of the University of Southern California, named Jennifer Cohen as the university’s 10th athletic director. She replaces Mike Bohn, who resigned from his post due to health-related issues. Cohen is also the first woman ever to be named athletic director at USC.

Cohen comes to USC from the University of Washington, where she has served as the athletic director since May 25, 2016. Before seven years as the university’s athletic director, Cohen spent 17 years as part of the athletic department, with most of her time overseeing fundraising. She also spent time at Pacific Luthern, the University of Puget Sound, and Texas Tech in her administrative career.

During her time in Seattle, Huskies athletics saw success both on the field and in the classroom, including recording a school-record NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 92 in 2021. She also oversaw the hiring of multiple coaches, including head football coach Kalen DeBoer, who led the football program to an 11-2 season in his first year as head coach. Overall, the University of Washington won 19 Pac-12 championships during her seven-year tenure.

Notably, the Acaradia, California native, is also a member of the College Football Playoff Committee and a member of the National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches.

Cohen comes to USC as the university finds itself in a similar spot to the one she was in at the University of Washington. The USC athletic department is in its final year as a member of the Pac-12 as the university, along with the University of Oregon, the University of Washington, and the University of California, Los Angeles, will move to the Big Ten starting next July.

“I have long admired the Trojan spirit and the USC community’s commitment to always Fight On with integrity and absolute dedication in pursuit of excellence both on and off the field,” Cohen said in a press release. “It is an honor of a lifetime to come back to Southern California to serve as USC’s director of athletics and officially join the Trojan Family. I am excited to help realize President Folt’s moonshot plan to reimagine USC Athletics, ensuring student-athletes from all of our 21 teams have the facilities and resources they need to succeed. USC is a national powerhouse in every measure of college athletics, and I look forward to honoring the Trojan heritage while working alongside the incredible USC Athletics team as we embrace both the opportunities and challenges of this complex moment.”

Cohen will begin her tenure as USC’s athletic director on Tuesday.

REPORT: Jennifer Cohen to leave Washington and become USC’s new athletic director

Imagine writing this sentence in 2021: “The AD at Washington left to join USC, moving from one Big Ten school to another.”

USC has reportedly found its new athletic director to replace Mike Bohn.

The Trojans went to another Big Ten school for their hire: the University of Washington.

It’s a reality none of us ever could have imagined a few years ago, but it’s real. The Seattle Times and multiple other news outlets are reporting that Washington Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen will leave Montlake and move to Los Angeles to become USC’s new athletic director.

The move contains a few obvious components which make sense. First, Cohen was already preparing for Washington’s transition to the Big Ten Conference. Taking the USC job means she won’t be behind on the logistical components of the move. She has already been discussing them, but in a Washington-specific context. She can now take on those challenges from a position of responsibility at another school which is moving from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten.

The other reason this is a natural fit for USC is that Cohen will be able to speak up for USC in Big Ten circles, making sure Trojan athletes in various sports get reasonable travel accommodations. Cohen was preparing to do this on behalf of Washington Husky athletes; now she’ll do this for the Trojans.

This move will also ensure that USC and Washington and the other Pac-12 schools moving to the Big Ten play each other as much as possible to limit long-distance travel.

We’ll have more on this story as it develops.

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