Former athletic director Mike Bohn left Cincinnati for Southern California in 2019 amid an investigation into his “discriminatory and professional misconduct,” On3 reported Thursday.
On3 cited information found through a public records request.
The report comes one week after the Los Angeles Times reached out to Bohn and USC about internal criticism levied against the former administrator over alleged inappropriate comments to staff members.
Bohn, 62, abruptly resigned from USC the following day, Friday, citing “ongoing health challenges.”
At Cincinnati, three current or former UC Foundation or athletic department employees alleged that Bohn made “racially harassing and other unprofessional remarks,” per the On3 report.
At USC, the Times reported Bohn “made inappropriate comments about the physical appearance of female colleagues, including remarks about their dress, hair and weight, that staff members said made them feel uncomfortable.”
USC on Wednesday announced it had formed a leadership team on an interim basis until a permanent AD can be found. Dr. Denise Kwok, current executive senior associate AD, will act as interim executive administrator.
Three external administrators will support Kwok in the interim — former Penn State and Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour, former Duke deputy of athletics Mitch Moser and former Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg.
“This team brings depth, experience, and great expertise in championship-level Division I intercollegiate athletics, including NIL, recruiting and facilities management, operations, marketing, finance, and Big Ten conference processes and procedures,” USC president Carol Folt wrote in a letter to the athletic department. “They will augment the leadership and staff in our department and provide a broad national perspective on changes taking place nationally.”
Folt also announced a four-person internal transition team.
Bohn had been in charge of Trojans athletics since November 2019 and made a splashy hire in football coach Lincoln Riley as well as guiding the university’s pending move to the Big Ten Conference in 2024 with rival UCLA.
