How did USC and Turnkey miss on Mike Bohn? Search firm industry insiders expose flaws.
LOS ANGELES — Word first began to spread that Cincinnati’s Mike Bohn was USC’s top choice to lead its athletic department on Nov. 1, 2019.
Celebratory announcements often follow such leaks, but USC President Carol Folt did not officially announce Bohn’s appointment until Nov. 7.
It was a particularly awkward pause for Bohn, who waited in a Los Angeles hotel while USC conducted a final round of reference calls. Multiple sources granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the search told The Los Angeles Times the school was double-checking the background vetting of TurnkeyZRG, the executive search firm it hired to conduct its two-month hunt for a new athletic director.
Whatever new information USC learned about Bohn, the veteran college athletics administrator with previous stops at Cincinnati, Colorado, San Diego State and Idaho, did not stop the school from hiring him. During his introduction at USC, Folt described Bohn multiple times as a man of integrity.
Less than four years later, the Trojans are once again looking for an athletic director after Bohn’s abrupt resignation on May 19.
Bohn resigned shortly after The Times sent him and USC detailed questions about internal criticism of Bohn’s management of the department and unprofessional conduct dating back to his tenure as Cincinnati’s athletic director.
Turnkey spoke with more than two dozen references as part of its process, according to a source with knowledge of the search not authorized to speak publicly. But there were others working closely with Bohn at Cincinnati who could have provided a more complete picture.
In October 2019 as Turnkey performed its search, Karen Hatcher, a
