Hackett Is Aware of History

History is not on Paul Hackett’s side.

The embattled USC coach needs only to look at the three men who came before him to know the athletic department and alumni have scant patience for anything resembling back-to-back .500 seasons.

“The last three guys were fired,” Hackett said. “Our track record is pretty obvious.”

Hackett has now entered such perilous territory.

After Saturday’s loss to California, his team is on a five-game skid and needs an almost miraculous turnaround to finish 7-5. This comes on the heels of a 6-6 record last season.

Though Athletic Director Mike Garrett has said he supports Hackett--the coach he handpicked three years ago--it remains to be seen if Hackett can escape the fate of his predecessors:

* In 1986, Ted Tollner’s four-year tenure ended after 6-6 and 7-5 seasons. He guided his teams to the Aloha and Citrus bowls in those final seasons, but lost both games.

* In 1992, Larry Smith lost his job after 3-8 and 6-5-1 seasons. He took his last USC team to the Freedom Bowl but was dismissed after the Trojans suffered an embarrassing defeat to Fresno State.

* In 1997, Garrett fired John Robinson after 6-6 and 6-5 seasons.

“That’s a matter of record,” Hackett said. “The question is, what’s on the horizon?”

As Robinson’s replacement, Hackett started well enough, his 1998 Trojans finishing 8-5, albeit with an upset loss to Texas Christian in the Sun Bowl.

But the 1999 and current seasons have included five-game losing streaks--the first time that has happened to USC in consecutive seasons. The Trojans have made more bad history by starting 0-5 in a Pacific 10 Conference play this fall.

Hackett says fans and alumni are right to be upset, but he makes a case for “staying the course,” a term he has employed often in recent weeks. He talks about an alternative to changing coaches every few years.

“You get a person in place and support that person for as long as it takes,” he said. “That’s the commitment by a university to say, hey, we have the right guy, we have the philosophy we want.”

And USC has a history of doing that too--under the right circumstances.

Howard Jones survived losing seasons in 1934 and ’35. But they came amid a 16-year run in which his “Thundering Herd” won a handful of Rose Bowls and three national championships.

Decades later, John McKay went through disappointing seasons in 1960 and ’61 and 1970 and ’71. Both times he rebounded by leading the Trojans to a national championship.

Garrett played tailback for McKay from 1963 through 1965, all of his teams finishing with winning records. Now, as athletic director, he has talked about how it pains him to see the team lose.

Twice in the last three weeks, he has walked up the Coliseum tunnel after games, hearing the jeers of disappointed fans.

“I’m just hanging in there,” he said Saturday before declining to answer further questions.