Haden’s legacy about to be defined

You’re going to read a fair number of prepared statements from USC Athletic Director Pat Haden in the next 12 months.

With Frank Cruz’s termination and Michael Cooper’s resignation, Haden will assumedly announce new coaches for baseball and women’s basketball, respectively, at some point. For women’s basketball, it “could be soon,” Haden acknowledged last Wednesday. Perhaps this week?

And depending on how the football team performs in the fall — an outcome steeped in unpredictability based on the past two very different seasons — he could also be announcing another new head coach. Time will tell.

All this, of course, comes on the heels of last week’s hiring of Florida Gulf Coast University’s Andy Enfield as the school’s men’s basketball coach.

Simply put, Haden, now in his third year as the Trojans’ athletic director, faces his chance to overhaul the breadwinner sports — the “Big Four,” if you will.

This is where he’ll leave his mark at USC. What happens over this calendar year will likely shape his legacy. And there’s plenty of pressure to get things right, though he might not easily admit it.

“I don’t feel any pressure,” Haden jokingly quipped following Enfield’s introductory press conference at the Galen Center last week.

But there is pressure because, well, making the right hire carries plenty of benefits.

“I think you always want to make the right hire,” Haden said Wednesday. “If you get it right, not necessarily in football or basketball but, you can have coaches for 10, 20 or 30 years.”

The former Rose Bowl-winning quarterback and Rhodes Scholar took over as USC’s athletic director in August 2010, replacing Mike Garrett, who stepped down in the wake of NCAA-levied sanctions earlier that summer. It no doubt was an embarrassing period for the university, which was cited for an overall “lack of institutional control” of its athletic program.

What followed included four years of probation, a two-year bowl ban for football and scholarship reductions for football and men’s basketball. In addition, the football, men’s basketball and women’s tennis teams all had to vacate dozens of victories.

This was egg on its face. This was a low point.

Tapping Haden, who sat on USC’s Board of Trustees at the time, was crisis management. He didn’t need an introduction. If there was a poster child of a student-athlete, Haden might’ve been it. His resume said it all. From 1987 to 2010, he was a partner and managing director of Riordan, Lewis & Haden, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm. Prior to that, in the mid-1980s, he was an attorney at the Los Angeles office of Lillick, McHose & Charles. He was, to  put it mildly, a smart guy.

Haden’s foremost task included cleaning up the mess of his predecessor and restoring respect to the department. He naturally talked about winning across all varsity sports, but seemingly every statement that followed mentioned doing so ethically and in the “right way,” a not-so-subtle dig at the previous Heritage Hall administration.

To accomplish those basic goals in Garrett’s wake was a tough task, but it’s been done. Haden, with the assistance of Vice President for Athletic Compliance Dave Roberts, has more than tripled the size of the school’s compliance department, which is tasked with monitoring coaches and student-athletes so that they remain, as the name suggests, in compliance with NCAA rules and regulations.

Under the watch of Haden and then-new President C. L. Max Nikias, the university also retained the services of the Freeh Group to oversee compliance issues and assess the athletic department. They prepared a report to the school with recommendation in the fall of 2010. The group, headed by former FBI director Louis J. Freeh, was also used by Pennsylvania State University in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sexual-abuse scandal last summer.

Not to mention that when it comes to public relations, Haden has handled the situation with great aplomb.

Because of all that, and because of his on-the-field success as a USC quarterback, Haden will always be thought of fondly by many around the athletic department. He’s been dutiful when it comes to his alma mater. He answered the call to serve as athletic director. His place in Trojan lore is safe.

But his ability, or inability, to turn baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and football into perennial contenders on a national level will ultimately become his lasting legacy. Fair or unfair, that’s the expectation many hold.

His ultimate success as AD rests on that.

Quite a number of USC-centric message boards have, over the last year, collectively referred to Haden as “Patient Pat,” a sign of the mounting frustration among a growing segment of the fanbase. They’ve been waiting for Haden to make a slam-dunk hire, and to reinvigorate programs such as men’s basketball, which has enjoyed success over the last decade (see: the Tim Floyd years) but not much sustained success.

Haden gets that chance at a “reset” on the hardwood with Enfield. He’ll get that chance on the diamond, too. Maybe even the gridiron in a year’s time. Who knows?

It won’t be long until we know whether or not Haden’s patience has paid off.

He arrived on the scene as the bright All-American quarterback heading the cleanup crew. We’ll see if he leaves with any additional bullet points on that already lengthy resume.

“The 19th Hole” runs Tuesdays. To comment on this story, email Joey at [email protected] or visit dailytrojan.com.