Former USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett To Be Named AD At Langston

Former University of Southern California Heisman Trophy winner and athletic director Mike Garrett will be named the new athletic director for Langston University.

Garrett replaces Patric Simon, who left Langston in April to take the athletic director position at Alcorn State University.

Garrett will be introduced to the public at a news conference on Thursday, June 7 at 10 a.m. on the university campus. He will assume the position in July.

"We are pleased that Mr. Garrett has bought into our vision of moving our athletic programs and University to a higher level of competition and visibility," said LU President Kent Smith, Jr. "Mike Garrett is just the type of leader we need to take our athletic program to the ultimate level and put Langston University's name at the top of the list of schools that are serious about competing on and off the field while maintaining a high level of academic excellence and winning with integrity."

Garrett won the Heisman Trophy in 1965, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1985.

Garrett had been the athletic director at USC for 17 years before being fired in August 2010 for overseeing the program during the time former Trojans Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo received numerous illegal benefits, resulting in several NCAA violations.

USC was hit with four years of probation and extreme scholarship limitations as a result of the NCAA declaring the dreaded ‘lack of institutional control' citation on the athletic department. The USC football team also received a two-year postseason ban.

Not all of Garrett's tenure was shrouded in controversy. The Trojans won 23 national titles in 10 sports while he was at the helm, as well as 48 conference championships.