Each month, we sit down with athletic director Pat Haden to get his thoughts on all news USC and the intercollegiate athletics landscape.
Q.) How important is it that the USC head football coach beats Notre Dame?
For all our players, coaches and certainly our fans, Notre Dame is always a special game. They are a program that is definitely getting better. I sense they are rising and we need to keep pace, and maintain the dominance that we have had over them in recent years. I will always evaluate separately how we play against UCLA and Notre Dame. That will always be important to me.
Q.) In regards to conference expansion, you emphasized adding "equitable partners."Â Is that a key reason why the Pac-12 remains 12?
If there is ever going to be an expanded Pac-12, every partner is going to be treated similarly. We are very happy with our twelve. By not expanding further, we were able to preserve the historic annual rivalries with UCLA, Stanford and Cal. Let us exhale here for a few years and see how this goes with the Pac-12 and then thoughtfully look for expansion if it is presented to us.
Q.) Conference expansion continues nationally. Is it good for college athletics?
The geographies do not seem to be working when you hear about a school like Boise State potentially considering a move to the Big East. Television contracts are driving these decisions. Athletic departments have to support lots of non-revenue sports and to be able to have the great athletes participate in those sports, you have to find and drive the revenue to support them. Â
Q.) The next football home game (USC vs. Stanford on October 29) is Family Weekend. Tell us about the new Trojan Athletic Parents Association (TAPA) that was formed this year...
We have had a great response from student-athletes' parents. We have several hundred who are members already. It is an opportunity for them to be more connected to the athletic department. They get to share their personal experiences and build new friendships. They will have a voice in the athletic department and I will be meeting with them the night before the "Family Weekend" game against Stanford (October 29).
Q.) How has the women's volleyball program turned around a slow start to win eight consecutive matches?
After a tough home loss to UCLA, the women really responded. In the locker room after that game, Mick Haley challenged them. They worked hard and then beat No. 1 Cal and No. 2 Stanford and they have been marching ever since. They are a blast to watch and so any fans who have not been out to a women's volleyball game, please come out and show your support.
Q.) Basketball practice begins today. How does the men's team look?
Losing Jio Fontan really hurts because he was playing such great basketball before the knee injury. We have some big-potential guys in the two new big men Dewayne Dedmon and James Blasczyk, who could be game changers, but we do not know yet because they have not played. We are playing as difficult a non-conference schedule as anyone in the country and that is Kevin O'Neill saying, "Bring it on!" If ever there was a year to come to Galen Center, this is it.
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Q.) How about a preview of the women's hoops squad, which returns nearly intact from last season?
I am pretty optimistic about the kind of team we can have coming off the great run in the WNIT last year. They have great leadership in place on that team and now with the influx of some young talent, we have a chance to be a really good women's basketball team.  Â
(All photos by Pierson Clair)
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