USC rumors: Insider wonders if Trojans would pursue DeBoer to replace Riley
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USC fell to Oregon on Saturday, dropping their first game of the season. The Trojans not only lost, but an incident involving Desman Stephens celebrating his dirty hit on Oregon quarterback Dante Moore has led to questions. Colin Cowherd has criticized the culture of the program under Lincoln Riley. Meanwhile, Paul Finebaum called for USC to fire Riley.
If USC decided to fire Riley, there is the question of where the Trojans would look for a new head coach, as noted by Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports.
“Many around the industry assumed that Riley entered this season needing a trip to the playoffs. But after a lowly performance at Rutgers and a loss at home to Oregon — which played the second half without star QB Dante Moore — a playoff berth doesn’t look likely. The schedule is loaded. They host Ohio State on Halloween and travel to defending national champion Indiana. Road games against Penn State, Wisconsin and UCLA loom as problems, too. The buyout may be high, but it’s unlikely to stop a decision from AD Jen Cohen, whose frustrations must be high given the resources poured into the program. Would Cohen, the former AD at Washington, go knock on Kalen DeBoer’s door?” Dellenger wrote.
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Jen Cohen joined the University of Washington athletics department in 1998. In February 2016, she was named the interim athletic director at Washington before getting the full-time job in May. In August 2023, she took over the job as the USC athletic director. While at Washington, the school made the playoffs once. It was the 2016 season, when Washington lost in the CFP semifinal to Alabama.
Cohen also got to make two hires as the athletic director at Washington. She hired Jimmy Lake in 2020, but fired him before the end of the 2021 season. She then hired Kalen DeBoer from Fresno State.
While DeBoer could be an attractive option, leaving Alabama for a struggling USC program may not be attractive for the coach.
USC still sits in the Top 25, but has little margin for error. USC will face DeBoer and Cohen’s former school, Washington, on Saturday at 7:30 pm ET.
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