Decision on Tollner Is Expected Before Jan. 1, McGee Says

USC Athletic Director Mike McGee said Thursday night that the issue of whether Coach Ted Tollner will be retained or terminated probably will be determined before the Trojans’ Jan. 1 Florida Citrus Bowl game with Auburn.

McGee, appearing at USC’s annual football awards banquet at the Biltmore Hotel, added that the timetable of the evaluation of Tollner and the football program is uncertain.

“In all likelihood, some decision will be reached before the Citrus Bowl game,” McGee said. “We’re trying to look at all aspects of the situation. It’s an important decision, and we want to do as systematic a job as possible.”

Tollner, who has two more years left on his contract, said that he has no scheduled meeting with McGee.

McGee preferred not to say when he is going to meet with Tollner. “I’d just as soon not discuss the details of the process,” he said.

Tollner said he has already met with USC President James H. Zumberge but wouldn’t discuss details of that meeting.

Zumberge is in Alaska for a speaking engagement and won’t return here until early next week.

McGee left a Pacific 10 administrative meeting in San Francisco to attend the awards banquet and was on a plane back to the Bay Area after the ceremonies.

Tollner will accompany All-American guard Jeff Bregel to New York for the National Football Foundation scholarship awards presentations early next week.

Zumberge will make any final decision as to Tollner’s future, with a recommendation from McGee.

In the past, USC presidents made such decisions on the football coach without much input from an athletic director.

John McKay, a former longtime, successful USC coach, said that he met with McGee last Sunday at a hotel here. McKay was here to attend the USC-Notre Dame game.

“We just talked about the university in general,” McKay said. “Mike McGee did not bring up the coaching situation. But I told him that if a change was contemplated, it’s important that the job should go to someone who understands a unique university.”

McKay said that if asked for a coaching recommendation, he would endorse Dave Levy, offensive line coach with the San Diego Chargers. Levy was McKay’s assistant coach during his 16-year tenure with USC.

McKay, 63, president of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is semi-retired. He said that he wasn’t a candidate for the USC job but didn’t rule out the possibility that he might coach again.

In other developments, Pittsburgh Coach Mike Gottfried removed himself as a candidate for the USC job if Tollner is fired.

“I’ve made a commitment here, and I expect to keep it,” he said.

Gottfried coached under McGee when McGee was the athletic director at Cincinnati. They are regarded as close friends.

McGee also denied a report by a Miami newspaper that he asked permission from Sam Jankovich, the Florida school’s athletic director, to talk to Coach Jimmy Johnson about the USC coaching job.

USC finished the regular season with a 7-4 record. The Trojans lost their final two games to traditional rivals UCLA and Notre Dame. The Bruins beat the Trojans, 45-25, and the Irish won, 38-37.

Tim McDonald, USC’s All-American safety, was named the Trojans’ most valuable player for 1986. The awards:

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER--Tim McDonald; MOST INSPIRATIONAL PLAYER--Rex Moore; OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR--Rodney Peete; DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR--Marcus Cotton; PLAYER OF THE GAME VS. NOTRE DAME--Todd Steele; OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME VS. UCLA--Rodney Peete; DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME VS. UCLA--Rex Moore; HOWARD JONES INCENTIVE AWARD (for greatest increase in grade-point average in last academic year)--Bruce Parks; “GLOOMY GUS” HENDERSON AWARD (for most minutes played)--Junior Thurman; ACADEMIC LETTERMAN AWARD (for senior with highest cumulative grade-point average)--Jeff Bregel; JOHN WAYNE MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP (for senior with aspirations of continuing in higher education)--Lonnie White; JACK OAKIE “RISE AND SHINE” AWARD (for the season’s longest run from scrimmage)--Rodney Peete (32 yards); TEAM CAPTAINS--Jeff Bregel and Tim McDonald.