USC hires Washington’s Jennifer Cohen as athletic director with Trojans prepared for Massive Ten transfer

USC employed Washington athletic director Jennifer Cohen to the identical place, the college introduced on Monday. Cohen has been the athletic director at UW since 2016 and is a Pac-12 consultant on the Faculty Soccer Playoff committee. Cohen replaces Mike Bohn, who retired in Might, 

Cohen has deep West Coast roots and spent most of her profession in Washington. After transient stops at Pacific Lutheran, College of Puget Sound and Texas Tech, Cohen joined Washington’s athletic division in 1998 as assistant director of growth. She labored her means up by means of the UW fundraising world earlier than finally incomes the highest job. 

“I’ve lengthy admired the Trojan spirit and USC group’s dedication to all the time Struggle On with integrity and absolute dedication in pursuit of excellence each on and off the sector,” Cohen stated in an announcement. “It’s the honor of a lifetime to come back again to Southern California to function USC’s director of athletics and formally be part of the Trojan household.” 

Underneath Cohen’s watch, Washington soccer has performed at a nationally related degree with a 58-25 document in seven seasons. Cohen’s current rent, Kalen DeBoer, instantly led the Huskies from 4-8 to 11-2 in 2022 earlier than signing a contract extension by means of 2028. The Huskies are ranked No. 10 within the Preseason AP Top 25. 

Now, Cohen enters a USC athletic division dealing with a essential second. Bohn retired citing well being points, however the Los Angeles Occasions reported that he resigned under pressure after allegations arose of a hostile work surroundings and inappropriate conduct with feminine staff. Cohen ranks because the Pac-12’s solely full-time feminine athletic director, a job she’s going to proceed at USC. 

“Once we have been outlining the standards for our subsequent director of athletics, we set a excessive bar,” USC president Carol Folt stated in an announcement. “We had a protracted listing of high candidates who wished to come back to USC and win on the largest stage. Jen Cohen actually stood out for her expertise, her dedication to college students and their success and her identified strengths as a workforce builder. She is a fierce competitor who shares with all Trojans a willpower to win the best means. I am assured she’ll lead a tradition of integrity, teamwork and dedication to success.” 

Moreover, Cohen will now be answerable for overseeing USC as this system transitions to the Massive Ten in 2024. She additionally could have one of the crucial vital jobs within the nation: Construct a winner round soccer coach Lincoln Riley, who joined USC after signing a contract rumored to be price greater than $100 million to guide this system again to relevance. 

Cohen was elevated to the Faculty Soccer Playoff committee in March to a three-year time period. Nevertheless, it is unclear at the moment how the committee would possibly change with eight of 12 Pac-12 faculties scheduled to go away the convention in 2024. Two different committee members — Michigan AD Warde Manuel and former Nebraska guard Will Shields — have Massive Ten affiliations.