Seeking ‘New Leadership,’ USC Fires Tollner : Decision Effective After Trojans Play Auburn in the Citrus Bowl

USC football Coach Ted Tollner was fired Monday, not having met the university’s expectations in the past and unlikely to fulfill them in the future, according to President James H. Zumberge.

Zumberge made his final decision Saturday and informed Tollner Monday morning. It was not unexpected.

It has been speculated that Tollner was out after he lost season-ending games to both UCLA and Notre Dame, the school’s traditional rivals.

But Zumberge and Athletic Director Mike McGee said that was only a factor in the decision to release Tollner, who has two years remaining on his contract.

Zumberge said that financial obligations of that contract will be honored along with those of Tollner’s assistants, who work on a year-to-year basis.

Tollner will coach the team, though, in the Florida Citrus Bowl game against Auburn Jan. 1.

He is only the third football coach to be fired since the school took up the sport in 1888. The others were Gloomy Gus Henderson and Jeff Cravath, who were terminated after the 1924 and 1950 seasons, respectively.

In making his decision, with a recommendation from McGee, Zumberge said:

“A decision of this magnitude is not arrived at without considerable personal pain and agony. It wasn’t just the total performance of the program, but, also, most important, what is the outlook for the future?

“I became convinced after thinking about this for some time that a change was in order. I was not convinced that the future looked much better under Ted Tollner’s leadership.”

Tollner’s Trojans finished the regular season with a 7-4 record. He had an overall, four-year record of 26-19-1.

Tollner, 46, said that he was extremely disappointed about his release, adding that the decision was wrong.

Said Zumberge at a press conference on the USC campus: “I met with Ted Tollner this morning to inform him of the outcome, and I can report to you that he responded with dignity and in the gentlemanly manner that anyone who knows him would expect. This is not to say that he welcomed the decision, or that he wasn’t deeply disappointed with it.”

Both Zumberge and McGee said that a search will begin immediately for a new coach.

“Our responsibility is to move as quickly as possible with the full understanding of the importance and meaning of the future to the program,” McGee said. “We’re not going to look at just one person. It’s our responsibility to the president that we consider several candidates. I believe this is one of the top jobs in the country, and it will be a very strong pool.”

McGee wouldn’t put a time frame on the selection of a coach and said that a formal search committee would not be named.

Some of the possible candidates for the job include:

--Dave Levy, a former USC assistant coach under John McKay. Levy is the offensive line coach with the San Diego Chargers.

--Bobby Ross, who recently resigned as Maryland’s head coach.

--John Gutekunst, a former assistant to McGee when he was Duke’s coach and who is now Minnesota’s coach.

--Dick Sheridan, North Carolina State’s coach, who reversed a losing program with an 8-2-1 record the past season.

--Artie Gigantino, the defensive coordinator on Tollner’s staff.

McGee said that Pittsburgh Coach Mike Gottfried is not a candidate for the job. Gottfried was Cincinnati’s coach when McGee was athletic director at the school before McGee accepted the same position at USC in 1984.

It was rumored last season, when USC finished with a 6-6 record, that McGee already was looking for a possible replacement for Tollner.

McGee has denied that allegation and said Monday that he didn’t think it was proper to have a search under way while a decision on Tollner was pending.

“I’ve had a couple of calls that I refused to take from coaching candidates,” McGee said.

McGee has consistently said that the football program would be evaluated at the end of the season.

Such a policy has left Tollner twisting in the wind for the past few weeks.

It has also raised speculation that McGee was not supportive of Tollner.

“Many people interpreted that as lack of support,” Zumberge said. “I would say that Ted Tollner has had from Mike McGee’s office and my office everything he has asked for in the way of support.”

Tollner has refused to comment on his relations with McGee.

Said McGee: “Professionally, there wasn’t any impediment to communication (with Tollner).” There are things that have happened over the last year that Ted has become upset with me--the Russ Purnell firing and not rolling over his contract as I indicated a year earlier that he could expect.”

Purnell, a USC assistant coach in 1985, was fired in the wake of illegally recruiting an athlete that resulted in Pacific 10 and NCAA sanctions.

As for not extending Tollner’s contract, McGee said: “In that year’s time, we ended up with NCAA probation for two years because of violations that occurred in 1984 and 1985. I had no way of knowing that at the time (anticipated contract extension).”

In his short tenure as USC’s athletic director, McGee has fired basketball coach Stan Morrison, eased baseball coach Rod Dedeaux into retirement and recommended to Zumberge that Tollner should not be retained.

Said Zumberge: “After Dick Perry stepped down as athletic director, there was a period of looking for his replacement. I assembled a committee, which not only advised me on what we’re looking for in a new athletic director, but to tell me of what problems might exist in the whole athletic department.

“That report identified two areas that I had to address: basketball and baseball, problems that existed long before McGee came here.”

There are positive points in Tollner’s behalf as USC’s coach, such as a 9-3 season in 1984, along with a Rose Bowl victory over Ohio State, a 6-1 record against top 10-ranked teams and a four-year conference record second only to UCLA, 22 wins to 21.

But there are negatives, such as the combined 1-7 record against UCLA and Notre Dame; the lowest winning percentage of any USC coach in his first four years, only one team (1984) finishing in the top 20 of the final wire service polls, and losing 10 games in four years by 20 or more points.

By contrast, John Robinson, who recommended Tollner to succeed him, had a combined 11-3 record against the Bruins and Irish and lost only two games by 20 or more points in seven years as USC’s coach.

But is USC realistic in expecting a return to the glory years of McKay and Robinson, given the more balanced nature of college football and stronger competition in the Pac-10 since Arizona and Arizona State joined the conference in 1978?

“We compare ourselves with our own record of the past, not schools X, Y or Z,” Zumberge said. “That again is a belief, a feeling. It may be wrong. However, until there is more evidence that we have on hand now, we don’t believe that everyone is coequal in the Pac-10.

“I think it’s a cop-out to say that we don’t have great expectations here. We do. That’s the standard by which we judge ourselves.”

Apparently, Tollner didn’t meet those expectations.