Lynn Swann deserves some credit for USC's great finish



… stood up to crazy Trojan faithful 


When Lynn Swann was hired last April as Athletic Director at the University of Southern California, many people made fun of the hire.

One fan took to Twitter and said this, "USC used a search firm with zero athletics placement experience and wound up with somebody with zero AD experience in Lynn Swann."

The former Super Bowl MVP receiver and member of four Super Bowl winning teams with the Steelers was 64-years-old when he was hired. And indeed, he had no college athletic administrative experience.

In fact, since losing the race for governor of Pa. in 2006, he has had no real nice gig that paid him a decent salary. He was certainly not a pauper since he had probably invested well from his Steeler days and his wife had a practice as a psychologist in Pittsburgh.

However, they had two sons, one of whom is now a student at West Point and the other a freshman at USC. So, having a job shows a certain level of success in life.

So, the move to USC provided some luster to an accomplished resume in need of it.

Swann's major accomplishment at USC?

After a 1-3 start to the football season and incessant pressure from USC football fans and media, Swann did not fire Coach Clay Helton. He has really not explained why he stuck with him, but that is not important.

What is important is that Helton was able to lead the Trojans on a great nine-game winning streak that culminated with the comeback win over Penn State in the Rose Bowl.

Swann deserves credit for not bending to the will of the public. Perhaps as a player, he knows that firing a coach in mid-season rarely has positive results. Sometimes it does, but stability is more important than caving to the fans.

Headlines

Here are some of the headlines from September when the Trojans were 1-3 or 1-2 and everyone was going off the deep end:

Sept. 24: "Clay Helton must be fired and USC must find a real head coach" thebiglead.com

Sept. 28: "Les Miles' firing could give USC a golden opportunity" conquestchronicles.com

Sept. 24: "Five potential replacements for Clay Helton at USC" fansided.com

One of the ironies of those headlines is that Les Miles was also being touted as the replacement for another floundering coach in the early season: James Franklin.

Instead, Franklin's squad also turned its season around and put together a similar winning streak that gave it Big Ten title and a berth in the Rose Bowl.

Swann had true USC pedigree

Swann had a successful football career at USC as his team won the national title under John McKay in 1972. He was then selected in the first round by the Steelers in the incredible 1974 draft that now includes four NFL Hall of Famers.

He became an All-American and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, as well as the NFL Hall of Fame.

Jobs

He then worked as a sideline reporter with ABC and then branched out into sports other than football. When he ran for governor, he gave up the ABC gig, which in retrospect, was a mistake.

Swann inherited a mess in football

The truth is that Swann inherited a true mess in the football program, one reason that he was hired to lead the athletic department starting in July of last year.

Pete Carroll had restored the glory to USC football with national titles in 2003 and 2004 and playing for a third, though one had to be forfeited. The Trojans won 35 consecutive games from 2003 to 2005.

The problem occurred when the NCAA discovered that former Trojan Reggie Bush, a Heisman Trophy winner, had accepted a number of illegal gifts when playing at USC, including use of a home for his family.

Those sanctions came down in 2010, and the two coaches who succeeded Carroll, Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian, were both fired in the 20-teens.

That led to Helton being named the interim coach, and then the full-time coach during the 2015 season by previous AD Pat Haden.

Helton was deemed to be incapable of leading a top NCAA program by many USC faithful. Hence, when he started out 1-3 this year, including a humiliating 52-6 loss to Alabama in the opening game, the pirañas pounced on the coach.

Nine consecutive wins ended that.

Swann now has some cred

Because he stuck with Helton, Swann has been praised by the media and even many USC faithful for making the right decision.

Whether or not Helton can continue the run next season is an interesting question, but for now, the inexperienced AD is being looked upon as a wise leader whose confidence has given the program hope for the future.

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