First Pat Haden fired Lane Kiffin, naming Ed Orgeron his interim successor, adding he wanted to keep the search for a permanent coach private, but the USC athletic director could not have seen what happened next coming.
ESPN reported that both Tony Dungy and Jack Del Rio, two people rumored to be favorites for the job, received calls from people pretending to be Trojans representatives. Haden, athletic director at the University of Southern California (USC), confirmed the school had not actually reached out to Dungy or Del Rio.
USC has also reportedly identified the impostor and is taking "appropriate action" in the situation.
In a blog post on the USC Trojans' athletic department website, the person reached out to both former NFL head coaches to discuss the vacant position. The impostor reportedly called the Denver Broncos, with whom Del Rio is the defensive coordinator.
Del Rio, former head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, has been rumored to be targeted for the USC job and was mentioned in the search that landed Kiffin.
Dungy, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts head coach, was more of surprise, but the impostor, apparently a different one, actually got hold of him. Now a broadcaster with NBC, Dungy joined the Dan Patrick radio show Monday to say he had been contacted by USC but was not interested in the Trojans' football coaching job.
Haden was surprised, to say the least, and was also less than amused.
"Tony's discussion on the radio today of being contacted by USC was a complete surprise to us," he said. "So were the calls made to the Broncos. I can assure you no authorized representative of USC or our athletic department made these calls."
Dungy later tweeted he had been fooled by "someone acting on their own" and the former coach apologized to Haden for the mix-up.
"As I said last week, we will not comment on every name that comes out," Haden said. "It would be a disservice to our players and coaches, who are devoting everything they have into the remainder of our season. We have a head coach right now in Ed Orgeron. We have not offered the job to anyone."
Haden originally stated he wanted to keep the search private and the early-season firing of Kiffin will give the school plenty of time to do so.
The Trojans are 3-2 this year, but both losses have come within the Pac-12 conference.