USC President C. L. Max Nikias released a statement today in support athletic director Pat Haden.
"As president of USC I am very, very fortunate to have Pat Haden as our Athletic Director - as is the entire Trojan Family. He is a man of true character and integrity, he cares deeply for our student athletes, and he always makes their well-being his highest priority.
"Pat Haden has been doing an outstanding job in leading Trojan Athletics in the past five years and I want to take this opportunity to reiterate my unwavering support for him.
"I look forward to working with Pat Haden as our USC AD for many years to come."
Yesterday, Zach penned an article asking what Haden's role in the Steve Sarkisian saga was; "either he wasn’t fully aware of his head football coach’s pattern with alcohol, or he knew and thought it wasn’t serious enough to pull him from the sidelines back in August."
As long as this statement from president Nikias holds true, it appears that that Haden will be the guy pulling the trigger on the Trojan's new head coach. This will mark his second shot at hiring the right guy for the USC program. Haden made the call to part ways with Lane Kiffin (who was hired by previous AD Mike Garrett), and then hand picked Steve Sarkisian as Kiffin's replacement after Ed Orgeron filled in admirably as Kiffin's interim replacement.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.