Report: USC will hire Washington's Jennifer Cohen as next athletic director

USC has a new athletic director. Jennifer Cohen will replace Mike Bohn as the athletic director at Southern California following his departure earlier in 2023, per Pete Thamel. On3’s Pete Nakos confirmed the report.

Jennifer Cohen had been the athletic director at Washington since 2016. There, she recently made headlines by making the move from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten. Now, she is set to handle that same transition for the USC Trojans.

During her time at Washington, the Huskies also made the College Football Playoff, an accomplishment that USC has not managed, yet. For her part, Cohen has served CFP Committee.

Mike Bohn served as the USC athletic director from 2019 until 2023. He resigned in May, citing health issues. However, it later came out that USC had launched an internal investigation into the culture that Bohn had overseen. There were also reports that Bohn left Cincinnati for USC amid an investigation into unwanted physical contact with women on multiple occasions. He also reportedly made inappropriate comments about women while at Cincinnati regarding their dress, hair, and weight.

Jennifer Cohen is a native of Washington and a graduate of San Diego State. She later earned a Master’s Degree from Pacific Lutheran University. At the time she was hired by Washington, Cohen was one of just three female athletic directors at the Power Five level.

Among her major accomplishments at Washington was the hiring of head football coach Kalen DeBoer. In just his first season with the Huskies, DeBoer led the Huskies to an 11-2 record and a win in the Alamo Bowl over Texas. Now, it seems like the Washington football program is in a prime position to thrive as the program moves to the Big Ten.

Of course, Cohen won’t have to hire a head coach at USC for the foreseeable future. There, she will inherit Lincoln Riley as head coach. Instead, handling the conference transition will be her top priority.

Off the field, Cohen also secured a 10-year, $119 million apparel partnership with Adidas for the university.

During her time at Washington, Jennifer Cohen also led the Huskies to success off the field. In 2022, the Washington athletic department had its highest-ever, department-wide NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR), of 92. According to the latest release, eight of the school’s teams led Pac-12 Conference in GSR as well. On top of that, football also posted a record Academic Progress Rate of 999.

Now, Jennifer Cohen will be bringing that impressive resume to USC.