Mike Bohn
Athletics Director
Speaker Bio
Mike Bohn was appointed USC’s director of athletics on Nov. 11, 2019. He holds the Charles Griffin Cale Director of Athletics’ Chair. He succeeded Lynn Swann, who resigned as athletic director.
In his first months at USC, he helped the athletic department navigate through challenges posed by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
In the spring of 2021, USC won NCAA championships in women’s beach volleyball, women’s water polo and women’s track and field. USC was sixth in the Directors’ Cup standings and the Women of Troy finished second in the Capital One Cup.
In recognition of how USC excelled athletically in 2021 despite the ongoing pandemic and the many challenges facing college athletics, Bohn was named a 2021-22 Football Bowl Subdivision Athletics Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), becoming USC’s first-ever honoree.
Bohn has more than 35 years of experience in collegiate athletics administration and an established record of integrity and strength in critical areas including compliance, recruiting and athletic excellence. He provides strategic and administrative oversight of the USC athletics department, including the university’s 21 women’s and men’s varsity teams.
Prior to joining USC, he held leadership positions in athletics with Cincinnati, Colorado, San Diego State, Idaho and Air Force.
In his five-year tenure at Cincinnati starting in 2014, Bohn oversaw dramatic improvements across the university’s intercollegiate sports, including a resurgence of its men’s football team and consistent NCAA Tournament appearances by the men’s basketball team. He emphasized academic performance as well, and 77% of student-athletes at Cincinnati earned a GPA of 3.0 or higher during his final year. Bohn prioritized diversity in the athletics department and received a top rating from the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport for hiring female coaches. He also led a major renovation and expansion of Cincinnati’s football stadium and oversaw improvements to its soccer, track and field, baseball and tennis facilities.
Prior to Cincinnati, Bohn led Colorado from 2005 to 2013, including its transition to the Pac-12 Conference. The university secured four conference championships in two years under his watch, and his emphasis on academics led to departmental records for GPA and APR, an academic progress metric for student-athletes. His department also earned acclaim for creating the first zero-waste stadium initiative in collegiate and professional sports in 2008.
As athletic director at San Diego State, Bohn increased fan enthusiasm and attendance, including setting the university’s single-game attendance record for football and the NCAA single-game attendance record for baseball.
In his prior post as director of athletics at Idaho, he led the university’s transition to Division I-A, the top collegiate football subdivision. He also spearheaded construction of a major athletics center and increased support for the university’s athletics scholarship fund.
Bohn holds a bachelor’s degree from Kansas, where he played quarterback for the Jayhawks football team and competed as a member of the baseball team. He earned his master’s degree in sports administration from Ohio.
was appointed USC’s director of athletics on Nov. 11, 2019. He holds the Charles Griffin Cale Director of Athletics’ Chair. He succeeded Lynn Swann, who resigned as athletic director.
In his first months at USC, he helped the athletic department navigate through challenges posed by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
In the spring of 2021, USC won NCAA championships in women’s beach volleyball, women’s water polo and women’s track and field. USC was sixth in the Directors’ Cup standings and the Women of Troy finished second in the Capital One Cup.
In recognition of how USC excelled athletically in 2021 despite the ongoing pandemic and the many challenges facing college athletics, Bohn was named a 2021-22 Football Bowl Subdivision Athletics Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), becoming USC’s first-ever honoree.
Bohn has more than 35 years of experience in collegiate athletics administration and an established record of integrity and strength in critical areas including compliance, recruiting and athletic excellence. He provides strategic and administrative oversight of the USC athletics department, including the university’s 21 women’s and men’s varsity teams.
Prior to joining USC, he held leadership positions in athletics with Cincinnati, Colorado, San Diego State, Idaho and Air Force.
In his five-year tenure at Cincinnati starting in 2014, Bohn oversaw dramatic improvements across the university’s intercollegiate sports, including a resurgence of its men’s football team and consistent NCAA Tournament appearances by the men’s basketball team. He emphasized academic performance as well, and 77% of student-athletes at Cincinnati earned a GPA of 3.0 or higher during his final year. Bohn prioritized diversity in the athletics department and received a top rating from the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport for hiring female coaches. He also led a major renovation and expansion of Cincinnati’s football stadium and oversaw improvements to its soccer, track and field, baseball and tennis facilities.
Prior to Cincinnati, Bohn led Colorado from 2005 to 2013, including its transition to the Pac-12 Conference. The university secured four conference championships in two years under his watch, and his emphasis on academics led to departmental records for GPA and APR, an academic progress metric for student-athletes. His department also earned acclaim for creating the first zero-waste stadium initiative in collegiate and professional sports in 2008.
As athletic director at San Diego State, Bohn increased fan enthusiasm and attendance, including setting the university’s single-game attendance record for football and the NCAA single-game attendance record for baseball.
In his prior post as director of athletics at Idaho, he led the university’s transition to Division I-A, the top collegiate football subdivision. He also spearheaded construction of a major athletics center and increased support for the university’s athletics scholarship fund.
Bohn holds a bachelor’s degree from Kansas, where he played quarterback for the Jayhawks football team and competed as a member of the baseball team. He earned his master’s degree in sports administration from Ohio.