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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;USC president Max Nikias&amp;nbsp;announced his continued support for athletic director Pat Haden following the firing of football head coach Steve Sarkisian on Monday.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u200BHaden has served as the university\u2019s athletic director since August 2010.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nikias issued the following statement on Tuesday:\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CAs president of USC I am very, very fortunate to have Pat Haden as our Athletic Director - as is the entire Trojan Family. He is a man of true character and integrity, he cares deeply for our student athletes, and he always makes their well-being his highest priority. Pat Haden has been doing an outstanding job in leading Trojan Athletics in the past five years and I want to take this opportunity to reiterate my unwavering support for him. I look forward to working with Pat Haden as our USC AD for many years to come.\u201D\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sarkisian was fired on Monday after leaving the team to&amp;nbsp;reportedly&amp;nbsp;seek alcohol treatment.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Offensive coordinator Clay Helton is set to assume the team\u2019s interim head coaching duties.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Trojans are 3\u20132 this season, coming off a 17\u201312 loss to Sarkisian\u2019s former team, the&amp;nbsp;Washington&amp;nbsp;Huskies, on Thursday.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;USC will travel to Indiana to play Notre Dame on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;STAPLES: What do Haden, USC do now?&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;- Christopher Chavez&lt;/em&gt;\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/college-football/2015/10/13/usc-football-president-max-nikias-supports-athletic-director-pat-haden>