USC Looks to NFL Team to Play at Coliseum: Athletic Director

USC officials have spoken with an NFL franchise about the possibility of a team playing at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum while a new football stadium is being built, the university’s athletic director said.

In an exclusive interview on NBC4’s Going Roggin, USC Athletic Director Pat Haden revealed that the school had spoken with at least one NFL team about the move.

Haden said the university is in the process of "evaluating, re-energizing" the Coliseum, and that “maybe an NFL team might help us finance the renovations."

Haden made it clear that if an NFL team moves to southern California, the university would like that team to make the Coliseum their temporary home.

Although Haden nor anyone on his staff has had conversations with NFL teams, he divulged that university officials have.

He declined to reveal the extent of the conversations but said "it doesn't make much difference if they [NFL] come in 2015 or 2016 in terms of our renovation of the Coliseum because we have a lot of work to do before we start that. If they come in 2016, great."

Haden said the cost of renovations to the Coliseum are being determined. The project could begin in 2017.

A quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams from 1976-1981, Haden said that if any team relocates, he'd love to see his former franchise back in southern California.

"I still see people wearing Ram paraphernalia around here... If a team were to come back, for me personally having played for the Rams, I'd love to have the Rams come back."

During the interview, Haden also said he intends to remain the university's athletic director for at least one more year but that he'd like to have "two more careers" after this one is complete.

"I've been through this terrible morass and dark cloud that's hung over the athletic department with NCAA sanctions for four years, and I owe it to myself to give me one year where we don't have that," he said.

Haden was hospitalized twice in August 2014, but described his current health as "very good." He revealed that he was much more concerned about his condition last fall.

"Quite honestly I thought I was having a heart attack, had a bunch of chest pains and it turned out it wasn't. It's just another condition I have to manage... but it doesn't affect me in any way."