USC is hiring Jennifer Cohen of Washington to be its athletic director

USC has named Washington Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen to be its athletic director, a source familiar with the employee is not authorized to speak publicly to The Times.

University of Southern California President Carol Wohlt called a press conference at 1 p.m. Monday to announce the hiring. Cohen, 54, of Arcadia, will be the first female athletic director in USC history.

ESPN’s Pete Tamel was it The first to report the rental.

Cohen has spent the past 24 years in Washington, where she has held the athletic director position since 2016. Since taking over, Cohen negotiated a 10-year, $190 million apparel contract with Adidas in 2019 and led the Huskies to join USC and UCLA in the Big Ten. starting in the fall of 2024. Washington will reportedly receive about a half share of the conference’s media rights distribution, while the Trojans and Bruins will receive the full shares from the start.

Before leading the department, she headed fundraisers at UW, raising $50 million for the Husky Stadium renovation, which was completed in August 2013.

On the field, the Huskies made the College Football Playoff semifinals in 2016, seven months after Cohen was hired, won two conference titles, and ended a 17-year drought. When former head coach Chris Petersen stepped down in 2019, she promoted Jamie Lake to the head job at Petersen’s recommendation, but the defensive coordinator’s coveted tenure as head coach lasted less than two seasons as he was fired mid-season in 2021 after being suspended. To push one of his players during a match. Cohen then hired former Fresno State coach Calen DeBoer, who went 11-2 in his first season in Seattle.

The Huskies were the last Pac-12 team to reach the semi-finals. In March, Cohen was named to the CFP selection committee for a three-year term.

Check back soon for more updates on this developing news story.