via sportingnews.com

By Dave Cooperman

Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before Mike Garret would be out as the Athletic Director at USC and apparently that time is today.  Garret was replaced by former USC quarterback and current NBC broadcaster Pat Haden.   The Los Angeles Times reports that Garret will retire and that Haden will be in the hot seat as of August 3^rd.

Haden has no previous experience in an Athletic Department though his time spent playing quarterback at USC is pretty nice first bullet on his resume.  What was apparently not an appealing bullet was the Syracuse section on the resume of Dr. Gross.  Syracuse fans have assumed, some have hoped, that Gross would be a natural fit to replace an outgoing Garret at USC.  While I have never personally seen it written anywhere, most would agree that Gross would have walked from Marshall St. to Hollywood Boulevard if the opportunity had come up for him.  It would be tough for anyone to argue against his logic.

For the Gross haters, well, this part of the story is over and there is no reason to believe that the future of our athletic department won’t have a touch of Daryl to them.  I have always found myself somewhere in the middle.  I have not loved all of his decisions (retiring #44) but have always appreciated his ability to think big and his effort to promote Syracuse on the grandest stage.

For better or for worse, this marriage extends into the future.