USC Athletics Recruiting - Working in “The Office”
By Joy Ofodu ‘18
The flyest on-campus job you’ve never heard of? Think: watching every home game from the field, working with players like Iman Marshall and Velus Jones Jr. to host recruits and reporting back to one of the nation’s top university Athletics facilities every week.
I had the chance to sit down with Taylor Lott (left) and Haley Coleman (right), two Recruiting & Operations Assistants for USC Athletics. Both are seniors in Marshall and Annenberg, respectively, and key-holders to an exclusive, fast-paced working world that changes the face of the USC football team each year.
Let’s go behind the scenes of USC Football, through Taylor and Haley’s eyes!
Haley Coleman: Literally, every single time somebody finds out I work for the team – ‘What do you do?’ Or, better yet –
Taylor Lott – ‘What do you even do?’
HC – You take a stab each time because you realize in the moment that the ‘even’ means: ‘Oh, you all just sit there and look pretty and smile?’
TL - And you also get the doubtful questions of: ‘How did you get that? Is it competitive?’ As though we, as women, could not be interested in the sports industry.
Joy Ofodu: So, if you were given the chance to outline ‘This is what our office does and this is why it’s important to USC Athletics’, how would you frame that?
HC – The recruiting aspect happens more in the office … various computer projects and with us focusing on recruits, we update transcripts, keep up with their activities, families, and the communication piece. Since we’re the social media generation, we look out for changes on their profiles, too. You don’t want to lose any of them for a second.
TL – We also help facilitate both print and digital communication between the coaches and recruits. Attention to detail is very necessary in our job.
HC – We’re proud to be the face of the program.
JO: Sounds fire. What’s the best part of the job?
HC – [Laughing] Going to the games for free.
TL – I love being a part of the process. USC has such an epic football team in general; being able to have that on-the-field access and seeing the alumni come back –
HC – Meeting celebrities like Allyson Felix, DeMar DeRozan, Willie McGinest –
TL – They’re just fellow Trojans.
JO – Do you become close with the current players in this position?
HC – Naturally, you see them in classes and around campus. It’s encouraged to build a family atmosphere. People who work in our office who have gone on to top programs attest to it being a different vibe within USC. We always say –
TL and HC – Faith, Family, Football!
HC – We know every coach, and they know us, and if they see us in like, Target, they’re gonna say hi! Not all departments are as social as ours. If we’re assigned to recruit a lineman from the South for example, I need to know the lineman coach. It would be really awkward to start playing House the day that the recruit comes in!
JO – Why and when did you start working at The Office?
Haley – August of last year, and I always wanted to be tied to football because my dad was a former NFL player. My first semester here, I went to every game. I thought: “I love this sport and want to be a part of it.”
TL – Spring 2016. I came in as an Equipment Manager and found it was a bit more hands on with practice than I thought, and I wanted something more administrative. I sought out Coach Helton’s Assistant and started in Summer 2016 to gain more exposure to sports marketing and operations.
JO – What do people in this role typically go on to do?
HC – Most people want to directly work for a college or NFL team. Everyone who graduated last year went on to do just that. Marketing –
TL – Community Relations –
HC – Or social media roles, event planning –
TL – Day-of operations –
HC – Chargers, Saints, Rams –
TL – Browns, Texans –
HC and TL – Penn State.
JO – [Laughing] Y’all don’t mess around. Any last things that people should know about your job?
HC – I think it’s really a perfect role for a freshman, male or female, interested in sports. You then have four years to build a relationship with a series of coaches and people in athletics who could connect you to your next job or help you discern what you want to do. Many people ‘want to work in sports’ but don’t know what that means. Oddly, women in sports are viewed as ‘the pretty people with no substance.’
TL – Right. Right.
HC – But then you see powerful women in USC’s office running things and setting the tone for student workers.
TL – If you’re a woman working in sports, you can really learn from this role. You’re not just a pretty face – you get real tasks and are looked at and critiqued because of this industry. Just keep making those connections and learn from it.
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