USC hires Mike Bohn as new athletic director

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The University of Southern California named Cincinnati's Mike Bohn as its new athletic director Thursday.

The Trojans reportedly zeroed in on Bohn, 58, last week but delayed his hiring while it conducted background checks.

Bohn, the athletic director at Cincinnati for five years, replaces Lynn Swann, who resigned in September after three years as AD at his alma mater. The move is a break from tradition for USC with an outside hire.

Bohn inherits a program that has been enmeshed in two college sports scandals over the past year. In January, former assistant basketball coach Tony Bland pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in the college basketball recruiting probe. In March, multiple coaches and administrators were arrested for their roles in the massive college admissions bribery scandal. One coach and one administrator admitted they took bribes to get students into the school. Both have pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges.

Bohn will also have to assess the future of fourth-year football coach Clay Helton. His job security has been the topic of conversation since USC went 5-7 in 2018, the program's first losing season since 2000. This season, the Trojans are 5-4 overall and atop the Pac-12 South at 4-1.

At Cincinnati, Bohn hired Luke Fickell as football coach in 2017. Fickell, the former defensive coordinator at Ohio State, is 21-11 in his three seasons. The Bearcats are 6-1 this season, leading the American Athletic Conference, and ranked No. 17 in the latest AP poll.

Bohn, who was a quarterback and also played on the baseball team at Kansas in 1982, was athletic director at Colorado from 2005 to 2013 before taking the Cincinnati job. He hired three football coaches for the Buffaloes -- Dan Hawkins (16-33), Jon Embree (4-21) and Mike MacIntyre (20-29). Each eventually was fired.

ESPN contributed to this report.