By Ben Malcolmson
USCRipsIt
Athletic director Mike Garrett sits down for an insightful Q&A with USCRipsIt.
He’s the athletic director at one of the most up-and-coming universities in the country, both academically and athletically.
He oversees a $67 million budget in one of the most tradition-rich athletic departments in America.
He’s seen the Trojans win 16 national championships and 40 conference titles in 19 varsity sports during his 14-year tenure.
He’s Mike Garrett, Heisman Trophy winner, star NFL running back and USC athletic director.
A man who turns down nearly all media requests, Garrett gave an exclusive interview with USCRipsIt on Tuesday and offered a rare and illuminating glimpse through his eyes.
USCRipsIt: You grew up in the city, you came to USC, you won the Heisman Trophy, played in the NFL and now you’re athletic director at USC. Would you ever have expected you would be where you are today?
Mike Garrett: No I didn’t, I had no idea. One of my heroes in life is John McKay. If I could’ve come back and been around him, that would’ve been enough. To think I could come back and run the department and work with the people I do, I never thought that could have been possible. So I thank my God and my stars everyday for this experience and I take it very seriously.
USCRipsIt: What has been your best decision as athletic director?
MG: I don’t think there’s been one decision. I don’t think it’s about ‘Did this coach do this?’ or ‘Did I do that?’ I think the best thing I ever did was, as a manager, incorporate all the people in the department, to let them do the things they do best, and that includes coaches and all the associate [athletic directors] I have here. I think that’s the best thing I’ve done.
USCRipsIt: How do you do that? What is the method to that?
MG: I think it’s all about empowering people, giving them the ability to do things and giving them assignments and letting them do it. The more empowered the staff is, the better the results are and it leaves me with a lot of time to think and find things out while relieving me of a lot of pressure.
USCRipsIt: How did you learn that?
MG: I think I learned that by working with other people. I always dreamed someday of having a boss who let me do my thing and get out of my way and give me an assignment or a task and get out of the way. And I dreamed of that and said that if I ever became a boss, I would like to be someone who empowered people.
USCRipsIt: When you hired
Pete Carroll, could you ever have expected this level of success? Could you ever have envisioned this success?
MG: If I was clairvoyant, I could say yes. But I wasn’t. Every coach I hired I believed was good. Well I should say there are some exceptions. I made some moves sometimes because the person who I thought was available wasn’t available. I made moves which didn’t make sense to people, and I was just hoping things would have worked out. But every coach who was hired I believed had the ability to really blossom here at USC and use all the things that this great university offers. I thought Pete would be very good, but I never thought he would be this good.
USCRipsIt: How has your job changed with the success of the football team?
MG: My job never changes. The thing I have to do more of is take advantage of opportunities we have. You’re always in a position as a manager of maximizing opportunities and I think with the success we’ve had, we’ve had more opportunities and I have to make sure I recognize them and maximize them.
USCRipsIt: How much of a role does your playing career and your athletic history at USC and the NFL play a part in your position today? Did it teach you things that you hold on to today?
MG: One piece of advice someone gave me a long time ago was: Be careful of using the pronoun “I.” And I’m talking with that because as I say “I,” let’s make it understood that it’s been a team effort in the athletic department — like I said, empowering people. I’m giving myself more credit than I’m due.
Playing athletics helped me tremendously to understand the dynamics of what a student-athlete goes through, what a coach goes through, what the fans go through. So when I’m making evaluations with many of my staff, we’re always cognizant of certain facts and realities and we try to make the best decisions.
USCRipsIt: USC hasn’t always been succeeding athletically like it is now…
MG: That’s not true. When I was here in 1962, we had 10 varsity sports and we won five national championships. My goal, because of that and because I know it’s possible, is to have every one of our sports, other than women’s cross country, always be in a position to vie for a national championship. That was the best experience I had in the ’60s and I think every student-athlete wants that kind of support and opportunity. And I think that coming to SC, that’s supposed to be expected. I’m trying and my staff is trying to all make that happen.
USCRipsIt: Is that what motivates you in this position?
MG: Yes. It’s all about winning. When people win, kids grow, coaches grow, programs grow and isn’t that what life’s all about — growing?
USCRipsIt: What excites you in this position? What gets your juices flowing?
MG: Winning, growing. Winning a game in Nebraska or knowing our girls are in Ohio playing in a volleyball tournament. Let me give you a stat you probably don’t realize: So far this year, in four varsity sports, we’ve only lost one game and tied one game. Two are ranked No. 1, one is ranked No. 4 and one is ranked No. 14. That’s what I’m looking at. And the No. 14 team [the women’s soccer team] has a great ability of being in the top 10. So I’m always looking across the board, we as a department are looking across the board.
USCRipsIt: The athletic department has been winning on the field in great ways lately. But it’s winning in the classroom too. How important is that to you?
MG: I was very fortunate in 1962, John McKay and the president, Dr. Topping, allowed me to come here. I was a special admit. And I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have an education. They never would’ve let me be athletic director if I didn’t have an education. I grew up on the projects in a very meager background, with a wonderful family, but I would always read in the paper about my area and I would always say, ‘There are nice people in this community.’ If I think of anything, I’m thinking of every one of those student-athletes, male or female, black or white, who have that same story. And so, if we don’t educate them, it’s a crime. If we don’t give them a chance to make a difference in their lives and their families and their communities, it’s a crime. We’re doing two things here: we win national championships and educate and graduate our student-athletes. And we all take that very seriously.
USCRipsIt: Along those lines, you and President Sample have a great relationship. How special is that to you and to this program?
MG: I think Dr. Sample has done amazing things academically here, and presently, if you look at us as an institution of higher learning, there’s a couple of Ivys and maybe Stanford above us. But we’re in high cotton, as my father would say, academically. I think that enhances our ability to recruit student-athletes, coupled with our tradition in athletics and our great coaches. We’re thankful the president’s allowed me to do that. He’s allowed me to do things and I try to do the best I can. He’s very supportive.
USCRipsIt: How important have facilities been and will they be to the success of this program?
MG: Facilities have always been important but I learned in the ’60s when we were very good, compared to other places, we never had the best facilities — we always had the best people. People make programs, not facilities. With that in mind, we also want to provide better facilities and add quality to them, and that’s what we’re trying to do. The Galen Center is very special because for years we talked about it. When I was in school we talked about it. And if you looked back in history, we’ve been talking about it for 100 years. We improved the track stadium, the tennis stadium, the baseball field, the swim stadium and the Galen Center dining facility. We’re always trying to improve facilities because a lot of things are aging on us, like Heritage Hall. It’s 35 years old and it was built for 10 varsity sports, and now we have 19. So we have to improve Heritage Hall, too.
What we’re trying to do is get everything in the best condition that we can. We know that we’ll never be like some state schools where they get state aid and all that. We need facilities where kids can grow and compete at the highest level and win.
USCRipsIt: You’ve talked a lot about the people at USC and how much they mean to you. What is it about the Trojan family? What makes it so special?
MG: I’m going to give you a story. California is the fifth largest economy in the world. The No. 1 economy in the world is the United States. So only three foreign countries have a bigger economy than California. California’s economy, the biggest part of it is in Southern California. When the university was founded in 1880, this was a little tiny town. USC built this city. It’s no coincidence we’re the University of Southern California. Only special people can do things like that. We didn’t do it alone, but the core of it all were SC people and those who identified with SC. It’s a pretty special place. It’s all about growth.
So when you talk about our family, it’s us against the world. I believe we love to do things well. That’s why we talk about winning national championships and educating student-athletes, that’s why the university has grown so much as an institute of higher learning. We take success pretty seriously. As a result, we support each other. That’s what it’s all about.
USCRipsIt: You’re very involved in the community, yet it’s not a very well-known part of you. What are your community endeavors?
MG: I used to be more involved, but now all my time is spent on being an athletic director. But I still help a lot of people and it’s all because by the grace of God go I. A long time ago, someone helped me. And the promise I made when he helped me was that I would help other people. If you’re growing, if you’re truly growing, you will go out of the way to help other people who are in like situations that you were in one time. I think that’s an obligation, and I think people who don’t do it are really blind by not helping others.
USCRipsIt: What would you tell a student-athlete considering the things you know now?
MG: The thought I have is that institutions of higher learning are a great place and they’re very important to our country and society and the way we think. With that thought in mind, there are these special places that exist such as the University of Southern California, which is a very special place. You’ve got to be lucky to figure it out to come here. And when you come here, it behooves you to maximize the opportunity. When I was going to undergrad here, most of the people who ran the Middle East were going here. When you talk about Persia, I knew the Chief of Police in Persia and all the other positions. And now you’ve got countries like China, Japan and all of Asia sending their kids here. It’s pretty incredible. And that’s what SC is and that’s what we’ve been doing. What can I say? This is a great place and people are recognizing that. We’ll continue to do that as long we’re Trojans and as long as we understand what it means to be a Trojan.
USCRipsIt: How much longer do you want to hold this position?
MG: Let’s talk about that after five years. Right now, I’m thinking about a five-year plan. I want to dominate college athletics in Division I-A. There are still things to do.
USCRipsIt: What is that five-year plan?
MG: To dominate college athletics. I would like to think we could win nine national championships in one year. That’s what I would like to do.
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Ben Malcolmson is the Director of Online Media for USCRipsIt.com. You can contact him at Ben@USCRipsIt.com. 
