No one would accuse USC of being the best-run athletic department in the country.
And no one would accuse the Pac 12 being the best-run conference .
But somehow Lynn Swann is the nation’s highest-paid athletic director and Larry Scott is the nation’s highest-paid commissioner.
You can thank Max Nikias for being involved in both decisions although he had a lot of help when it came to Scott.
InsideUSC with Scott Wolf 
It confirms a concept in management theory formulated by Laurence J. Peter in which the selection of a candidate for a position is based on the candidate’s performance in their current role, rather than on abilities relevant to the intended role. Thus, employees only stop being promoted once they can no longer perform effectively, and “managers rise to the level of their incompetence.”
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Agreed, gt.
#ButEvenThePeterPrincipleDoesn’tExplainLarryScott
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P. S.
Come to think of it, NOTHING explains Larry Scott…
#…wtf?!
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That is a ironic indictment.
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Former waterpolo player speaks on his former coach
http://www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2019/03/26/former-usc-water-polo-player-speaks-out-on-college-cheating-scandal/
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I’m as sympathetic as can be to all the innocent athletes who are touched in any way by this scandal. Here’s what I’m wondering, though: Why didn’t Swann ask his more experienced subordinates when he started his job, “is there any way I can track the admissions process for the preferred walk ons?” This is an area that is so obviously ripe for abuse that any half way decent manager would want to make sure his department wasn’t being taken advantage of.
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There you go! Perfect. Scott could have a secret poll of all his unnamed AD sources and find out how many schools did that prior to this investigation. I’d be curious. If it was such a natural thing then why didn’t any of the previous ADs do it? Walkons have been around for quite some time, no? And I’m not being facetious, I really do want to know.
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Pudly —I’m sure that IS Swann’s defense. And, as far as defenses to negligence go, it’ll do the trick. The standard is pretty much set by your predecessors. But people who are serious about their business (not talking Garrett or Haden here) want to know every phase of their operation so that they don’t get backdoored, fleeced and/or screwed over on a regular basis. Knowing how many dollars are allotted for scholarships (and making sure every dollar is accounted for) is just the STARTING POINT for a serious Athletic Director. Somebody who really wanted to run a clean department would ask, “besides the athletic scholarships how is this department involved in admissions?” He would be told “well, as you should know, high school athletes with below average grades can get admitted as preferred walk ons.” And, then, if Swann was the least bit interested, he’d ask ‘how can I make sure that the people coming in as preferred walk ons are REALLY CONTRIBUTING to the Athletic Department?” And he’d be told “well, why don’t you do a check of the names of all the preferred walk ons and see if all —-or ANY — of them are participating in USC sports —then it won’t be a big mystery to you anymore.”
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I’ll ask you a different way then. How many schools in the country do they regulate the admissions of walkons through the AD directly? It’s always obvious after the fact. Evidently Yale nor Georgetown, two rather prestigious schools, thought of it. And I would venture a guess that many more will change now than have ever instilled those restrictions prior to this month. It’s not a question of his defense. Both he and Austin are responsible. But fault and responsibility are two different things.
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Pusly —Swann is not legally responsible —the standard is so low, he’s fine in that regard. Swann is no different really than Hayden or Helton or a bunch of other people placed in charge of stuff at USC.
#Helton:”Oh,YouMeanIHaveToMakeHalfTimeAdjustments,Too?!”…..
#…”I’mOnlyOnePerson!!”
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Oddly, MG, I don’t remember you ever mentioning the inherent bozo walk-on admission scam prior to Clown U’s federal BUST.
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You post on Swann’s defense is why I come to this blog- simply brilliant and concise anaylsis, Michael!
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Thanks, gt…..
#…WeCan’tListenToSwannSayHe’sNotResponsibleForAthleticDept
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Another great find Pud and both yours and Mike’s breakdown are stellar!
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Here’s one last article for you Alv. Thought you’d enjoy.
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Oops. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/us/usc-admissions-scandal-students.amp.html
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It could be called “vicarious liability”…under enterprise liability.
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The responsibility of the superior for the acts of their subordinate.
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The responsibility of any third party that had the “right, ability or duty to control” the activities of a violator. WIKIPEDIA
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Says here further, vicarious liability does not have “knowledge” as an element of this tort law….
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If you want to take back USC, start here…
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None know the way the money was moved and when just yet – Heinel’s photo that I saw on Tuesday showed her calm and a smile on her face outside the courthouse with her attorney. She’s the mastermind here – she’s the one who handled what the dems are so good at doing on election day ‘WAM’ walking around money
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Thank you.
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