Couillon, I don't drink that miller genuine draft crap but I agree, it aint beer. That stuff sucks, do they even still make that crap?
This news caught me by surprise also,.. turns out Haden announced in February that he would step down in June. Lynn Swann is a weird hire me thinks
@GiantDuckFan The hiring of Swann struck me as odd as well until I started thinking about his career. He, along with Haden and Garrett are USC guys. In a sense, it's not a lot different than their recent football coaching hires all tying back to Carroll.
Yeah, no surprise that USC has been looking for a replacement long before February. I'd say his sideline fainting spell in South Bend was the day it really started. Not weird at at.. Swann is the anti-insider insider. He's not really been a part of the shenanigans at Heritage Haul but yes, he's a Trojan and USC is big on the family thing. Unless of course you are Reggie. It's similar with Helton. Kiffin and Sardrunkian were definitely hired because of PC but Helton not so much. Pete's a defensive guy, Clay was the offense guy and not cut from the same mold as the other two nitwits. Clay is blue collar, back to basics, earns the player respect kind of coach. Where PC loved the flash and noise, Helton is about fundamentals and hard work. So....yes and no.
Don't like the Swann hire. Doesnt feel right to me. It's always about getting the opposite of what you just ran out however. It's a human thing. Usually not the smart move but it settles the masses in the meantime.
@uscvball While we're talking about two different time periods and two different programs the recent hires at USC remind me of what's happened with my alma mater—still making some moves that tie back to the good ol' boys. Hell, our current AD ties back to the '70's teams under Bryant. It's not a bad thing considering the fish bowl these coaches and AD's live in. The ability to understand that is one thing. The ability to deal with it? Quite the opposite. Hell, on one of my forums there's a thread about the Swann hire and someone jumps in talking about their hopes the next AD is Ozzie Newsome—yet another Bryant tie-in.
There's no denying that USC has an insular history in hiring. That said, I'm not sure it's always a bad thing. As you say, cronyism is almost always a problem but in this instance, Swann is not part of the good ole boys. The job going forward will hopefully not be mired in HR generalist task skills which was largely the unexpected part of Haden's tenure. We need an AD who can raise money, finesse the media, work with the Coliseum Commission and big donors during the reconstruction, and work the LA City Council. Swann checks all the boxes. In places where he lacks experience or know-how, he'll have plenty of assistance. For those who have questioned, criticized the hire I have yet to see a legit name forwarded as a better hire. And there are 2 very high profile and successful AD's in D1 right now that I can think of who had no AD experience prior to their hiring.
