Austin Thomas, USC’s assistant athletic director and director of player personnel who announced on Monday his return to LSU after just three months in Los Angeles, told Matt Moscona of 104.5 ESPN Radio in Baton Rouge that his decision had nothing to do with Lynn Swann’s appointment as the new Trojan athletic director.
“That had no effect at all,” Thomas said of Swann’s hiring, noting that he had known that Haden would be leaving his post even before he signed on to come back to USC. “I was actually very, very excited about Lynn Swann when he was named AD and I think he’ll do a tremendous job there.