‘Perfect fit’: UW’s Cohen employed as brand-new advertisement at USC

Aug 21, 2023, 01:40 PM ET Simply days prior to USC’s 2023 football season begins, the school announced Monday that it employed Washington’s Jennifer Cohen as the program’s brand-new athletic director.

“There was just one school I ‘d ever leave UW for, and that was USC,” Cohen, who was born in nearby Arcadia, stated Monday. “I simply felt like it was time for me to extend. It was a great run. This is a brand-new chapter in my life, both personally and expertly, and it was the perfect fit.”

Cohen is one of the country’s most recognized athletic directors and will end up being the first female to lead the Trojans’ athletic department. On Monday, she stated her priorities as the brand-new USC AD are to cultivate the best student-athlete experience in America and “develop off the competitive requirement” at USC.Editor’s Picks

1 Associated”I can’t imagine a much better specific to lead our athletic department in this time and take us into a brand-new period of success,” USC president Carol Folt, who was the very first lady to have the role of university president, said. “Everybody does speak about her being really enthusiastic. She is a relentless rival. I love it. People will really embrace her.”

Cohen takes over at an essential time for USC, which leaves for the Big 10 at the start of the 2024-25 academic year and is reeling from the questionable departure of previous athletic director Mike Bohn, whose resignation in May prompted Folt to act rapidly to have an athletic director in location by the start of the football season. Cohen brings strong experience in football and fundraising, which must match well with USC as the football team enters its 2nd season with Lincoln Riley as head coach.Folt said Cohen stood apart among a big prospect list for her experience, passion and leadership, in addition to for being an”prominent nationwide voice in college sports”who is well respected among her peers. Cohen is a member of the College Football Playoff committee and said Monday that her function on the committee will be reviewed as she prioritizes leading USC through a transitional year. “I have actually spent a great deal of time studying the Big 10 in my previous role and understanding the dynamics of the Huge 10 benchmarking, the Big 10 from a salary perspective, from an efficiency viewpoint, from a center standpoint,” Cohen said.” So I have a lot of that understanding currently in preparation for where I was previously. And so I’ll bring that knowledge and experience here.”

Cohen hired current Washington coach Kalen DeBoer, who went 11-2 last season in his debut and has the Huskies poised as a potential College Football Playoff contender for 2024. Washington is No. 10 in the preseason Associated Press poll.While at Washington, Cohen was the athletic director when the Huskies reached the College Football Playoff in 2016. She leaves Washington simply weeks after the school secured a place in the Big 10, a relocation that became part of the dominoes that have resulted in the treacherous future for the Pac-12. She’ll leave as both USC and Washington start the shift to a league mostly based in the Eastern time zone.As Folt mentioned numerous times Monday, USC’s transition to the Huge 10 was a significant factor in the look for a new athletic director. And while Cohen’s role in getting Washington to that exact same conference didn’t precisely element into the decision, Folt said it displayed Cohen’s capability to change as the landscape of college sports is moving.

“We’re not going to get into specifics here,” Cohen said. “However I can tell you, when I was focused on getting Washington into Big 10, I was a hundred percent concentrated on getting Washington in the Big 10.”

Cohen’s background at Washington returns to 1998, when she began in development. She emerged for many years as a respected charity event, ultimately supervising the department’s significant gifts program.Since Cohen took control of as AD in 2016, Washington has won 17 Pac-12 titles across all sports.” Jen is one of the very best there is,”Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith told ESPN. “She cares deeply about trainee athletes and everyone she serves. She is a true expert and terrific coworker and friend.”Cohen was not the athletic director when Washington hired Chris Petersen in football, however she did play a significant function in that search. She traveled with then athletic director Scott Woodward to Boise, Idaho, to consult with Petersen and worked closely with him throughout his successful run.Woodward, whom Cohen followed at Washington, said Cohen’s character and experience will be a possession to USC. He said he wasn’t familiar enough with the details of some of USC’s problems over the last few years, however he’s positive Cohen will attack the job.”Even with their stumbles [athletically and academically], it’s a very tanker, it’s tough to screw up, “stated Woodward, now the athletic director at LSU. “It’s a terrific chance and she’ll accept it with gusto and understand that she has chance to do something excellent.”Woodward likewise dove into Cohen’s football experience, that included taking a trip with him to Boise State to hire Petersen

to Seattle.Folt echoed Smith’s remarks consistently Monday and positioned Cohen as the right person to lead USC athletics into a brand-new period. Cohen said she will start work Tuesday and take a look at the entire facilities of the department in addition to the shift plan to the Huge 10 in order to begin evaluating what, if any, modifications require to be made.” The landscape’s changing,” Cohen stated.”Comprehending [it] and having the ability to be nimble and adjust to what’s taking place in college sports to provide us the best competitive advantage here at USC. “