USC Athletic Director Pat Haden fined $25,000 by Pac-12

USC Athletic Director Pat Haden’s self inflicted punishment wasn’t enough. After he banned himself from the USC sidelines for two games, the Pac-12 fined him $25,000 for his argument with the officials on Saturday.

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Haden’s intervention was concerning in many ways. Most of all, his judgement will be relied upon to decide the four College Football Playoff teams. If he is so disrespectful and unbiased, then perhaps the role is not suitable. He is one of 13 members — that’s a lot of power.  However, via SI.com, CFP executive director Bill Hancock said “emotional outbursts at games” are not a matter for the committee to deal with and Haden’s standing is unaffected by his behavior and punishment.

Haden was also texted to come down to act as an intermediary. Instead, his actions were incendiary. The coach that texted Haden hoped that he might come down and prevent Steve Sarkisian from getting a second unsportsmanlike penalty. Sarkisian was arguing with the referees about a targeting penalty.

Haden made a formal apology on Sunday:

"“I apologize to Commissioner Scott, to the game officials, to Stanford and to the fans for any distraction I might have caused during Saturday’s football game,” Haden said in a statement. “In retrospect, I should not have approached the game officials. I should have waited until after the game and gone through the appropriate channels.“In the best interests of our team and our coaches, I will stay off the sidelines for our next two games.”"

Watch the bizarre scene on this GIF: