USC has hired Washington’s Jennifer Cohen as the school’s new athletic director, the school announced Monday.
Cohen is one of the country’s most established athletic directors and becomes the first woman to lead the Trojans’ athletic department.
She takes over at a crucial time for USC, which leaves for the Big Ten at the start of the 2024-25 academic year and is reeling from the controversial departure of former athletic director Mike Bohn.
Cohen brings strong experience in football and in fundraising, which should pair well with USC as the football team enters its second season with Lincoln Riley as head coach.
Cohen hired current Washington coach Kalen DeBoer, who went 11-2 last season in his debut and has the Huskies poised as a potential College Football Playoff contender for 2024. Washington is No. 10 in the preseason Associated Press poll.
While at Washington, Cohen was the athletic director when the Huskies reached the College Football Playoff in 2016. She’s a current member of the College Football Playoff committee and is one of the most respected athletic directors in the country.
She leaves Washington just weeks after the school secured a place in the Big Ten, a move that was part of the dominoes that have resulted in the perilous future for the Pac-12. She’ll leave as both USC and Washington begin the transition to a league primarily based in the Eastern time zone.
Cohen’s background at Washington goes back to 1998, when she started in development. She emerged over the years as a prolific fundraiser, eventually overseeing the department’s major gifts program.
Since Cohen took over as AD in 2016, Washington overall has won 17 Pac-12 titles.
Cohen was not the athletic director when Washington hired Chris Petersen in football, but she did play a major role in that search. She traveled with then-athletic director Scott Woodward to Boise, Idaho, to meet with Petersen and worked closely with him throughout his successful run.
