Here it the latest on the State of Troy from AD Pat Haden…

Haden on the unveiling of the John McKay Center…

The John McKay Center, which opens its doors officially August 21, is transformational. The real message is twofold. First and foremost, academics count. The Stevens Academic Center is the entire first floor, 20,000 square feet, which sends a signal that no longer is academics in the basement with no light shed upon it. Secondly, this is not just a football building. We are celebrating our female athletes, our Olympic heritage and all 21 of our sports.

Haden on the start of football season…

We have a chance for a great season and our fans need to be a part of it. When they fill the Coliseum, it gives us a competitive advantage. Our kids feel their energy and it fuels the recruiting effort for the next generation of Trojans. We hope everyone comes to the opener on September 1 against Hawaii, or if you cannot make it, please use Trojan Ticket Transfer, so somebody else can fill your seat. And then on September 8, we have an opportunity to show the coast-to-coast power of the Trojan Family. We want all our Northeast alumni to fill up MetLife Stadium and help us beat Syracuse.

Click here for more info on Trojan Ticket Transfer.

Haden on the WE PLAY campaign…

The WE PLAY campaign is unique in that we are promoting all 21 of our sports under the same brand. We have generally done a good job marketing football, but we have athletes throughout our sports that are worthy of being promoted across the city and country as evidenced by our tremendous success at the London Olympics with 25 medals. The WE PLAY campaign is clever, vibrant and dynamic and a leader in innovation, which is where we want to be as an athletic department.

Click here to see the first WE PLAY commercial.

In the athletic department, we have some very creative people who have grown up with and embrace new technology. I have asked them to push the envelope to promote our 21 sports, which includes redesigning our website. The new USCTrojans.com showcases big, bright photos and stories as well as the #USCNOW section, which provides up-to-the-second updates on all of our social media platforms.

Click here to see the new USCTrojans.com.

Haden on the Pac-12 Network launch…

This is a huge opportunity for us as a conference and certainly for us at USC. Finally, all our student-athletes can feel like their sport is significant. Fans can use any kind of device to watch any kind of sport. We already have great distribution to 48 million people, but we want everyone to get the networks, so please let your satellite or television provider know that you want Pac-12 Networks.

Click here to let your provider know you want Pac-12 Networks.