Lynn Swann is out at USC. After three years packed with scandals and overseeing underachieving teams, Swann has finally stepped down as athletic director at his alma mater.
There have been whispers this move was in the works for weeks, but an official move hadn’t been announced. When USC brought in new president Carol Folt this summer, it was assumed Swann would be on the way out.
The school had to deal with the notorious “Varsity Blues” scandal this spring which heavily-involved Swann’s athletics department. Throw in basketball assistant Tony Bland getting caught up in the college basketball corruption trial and Swann’s seat was getting awfully hot.
The performance of the teams under his watch were largely a disaster too. The Trojans feature a crumbling football program that went 5-7 in 2018 and a basketball program that has missed the NCAA tournament in back-to-back campaigns. A baseball program that used to be the envy of the nation hasn’t reached the NCAA tournament since 2012.
Swann was a disaster as athletic director and was just the latest example of USC hiring a “USC guy” and watching him fail miserably. It’s probably time for the Trojans to go outside of their tight-knit circle and find a real, big-time athletic director with high-level experience.
