USC Fires Senior Athletics Officials Steve Lopes, Ron Orr, And Scott Jacobson
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — USC fired three senior athletics officials Tuesday to make way for new leadership under Athletic Director Mike Bohn.
Steve Lopes, Ron Orr and Scott Jacobson were all let go Tuesday, as the university continues to recover from the college admissions scandal.
Lopes was the CFO and COO of the university's athletics department and considered to be second-in-command to the athletic director. Orr was the senior associate athletic director and leader of the Trojan Athletic Fund.
Jacobson was an associate athletic director.
Officially, USC is saying the moves were done to allow Bohn to bring in his own people. Bohn was hired in November, after Lynn Swann resigned abruptly in September.
Lopes, Orr and Jacobson have not been publicly linked to the "Varsity Blues" investigation that led to the criminal charges against Donna Heinel, a top USC athletic director, and water polo coach Jovan Vavic, both of whom have since been fired.
However, the Los Angeles Times reports all three were referenced in internal USC emails in the case, discussing "development opportunities" and pledges from families.