USC is nearing a deal with Cincinnati's Mike Bohn to become the Trojans' next athletics director, according to a report Friday from The Athletic's Bruce Feldman.
Bohn has run the Bearcats' athletics department since 2014.
Prior to that, he held AD jobs at Idaho (1998-03), San Diego State (2003-05) and Colorado (2005-13). At Colorado, Bohn helped lead the Buffaloes from the Big 12 to the Pac-12.
The move is a prerequisite to what many view as the biggest and most inevitable football job to open this winter, as the Trojans are expected to move on from head coach Clay Helton. USC stands at 5-3 this season with No. 7 Oregon coming to the LA Coliseum on Saturday.
As would be expected for an AD with two decades' experience, Bohn has made a number of football hires in his past. He fired Tommy Tuberville at Cincinnati and gave Luke Fickell his first full-time head coaching job, a move that is paying off handsomely with the Bearcats now 17-3 since the beginning of last season.
At Colorado, Bohn stepped in at a time where the football program was emerging from a scandal that saw CU's AD, president and chancellor all lose their jobs. He fired Gary Barnett after his first season in Boulder and subsequently hired Dan Hawkins, Jon Embree and Mike MacIntyre. (Bohn was forced out before MacIntyre coached his first game.) The Buffs went 23-60 in Bohn's tenure.
Bohn did not make any football hires in his 18 months at San Diego State. At Idaho, Bohn hired Tom Cable after Chris Tormey left for Nevada in 1999. Cable went 11-35 in four seasons on the job, a time when the Vandals were transitioning from FCS to FBS.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.