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College Notes: USC President Says School's Search For Next AD Will Take Months

USC President Max Nikias said that the search for the school's next AD will "take months and could result in a hire without any previous USC ties." In his first public comments since AD Pat Haden announced his plans to retire, Nikias said he would conduct "a national search." In L.A., Zach Helfand noted Nikias "watched Wednesday's USC basketball game from a courtside seat" alongside Boston-based exec search firm Brill Neumann Principal & co-Founder Nick Brill, whose firm is being "retained by USC." Brill declined comment, and Nikias did not "reveal any early candidates." Helfand noted every USC AD until Mike McGee in '84 "had previous ties to the school." USC's next two hires, Mike Garrett and Haden, "were former USC football players" (L.A. TIMES, 2/18).

CHARGED UP: In Florida, Samantha Bequer notes further "establishing the Excellence Fund" is just one of new UCF AD Danny White's goals, along with "developing a more competitive advantage in the American Athletic Conference and re-energizing the school's fan base" following an 0-12 football season. Excellence Fund donations will be "used to purchase equipment ... produce assistant coach salary enhancements and cover travel expenses for recruiting trips and facility upgrades." UCF Senior Associate AD & Assistant VP/Athletics Development Mark Wright said that the fund is approaching $1.5M and will "be disbursed over the next four or five years, $325,000 per year." So far, the majority of the fund "comprises 13 separate $100,000 donations." White: "We're all pretty tired, but we're working hard. This is an important time to get started the right way, and to get launched with our new leadership and our athletics department" (CENTRAL FLORIDA FUTURE, 2/19).

PARADISE CITY: ESPN.com's Andrea Adelson noted ACC Commissioner John Swofford is "among those not exactly thrilled" that Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh has "decided to hold spring practice in Florida." Swofford said of the possibility of closing a loophole that would allow that, "The NCAA needs to look at that, yes. I'm not sure I've ever even heard that brought up before." He added, "It certainly is creative thinking but I do think it flies in the face of the whole national discussion of time demands. When you start considering taking a spring break away from a student-athlete and requiring a practice session wherever that might be, if we're trying to move the student-athlete experience back toward a more collegiate experience -- and it can't be totally like other students that aren't involved in intercollegiate athletics it's understood -- that would not seem consistent with the overall discussions about time demands and the student-athlete experience" (ESPN.com, 2/18).

CFP TWEAKS COMING? ESPN.com's Heather Dinich noted a new clause in the CFP selection committee protocol "could extend the term" of committee Chair and Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt for one more season. Hocutt's term on the committee "is set to expire" after the '16 season, but the first-year Chair could also serve in '17 "because of the recent tweak to the protocol" (ESPN.com, 2/18).

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