Coaches Positions Ride on USC-UCLA Outcome

Although there is no conference championship at stake or a Rose Bowl berth awaiting the winner, the result of this Saturday's USC-UCLA game at the Coliseum could have a big effect on the teams' two coaches.
For USC's Ed Orgeron, a victory over the Trojans' crosstown rivals would almost force Athletic Director Pat Haden to make a quick decision on whether to hire Orgeron now. The former assistant who was hired as interim coach when Lane Kiffin was fired in September, is 6-1 since that bombshell of a night at the airport when the team arrived home from being wiped out by Arizona State and Kiffin was told he was no longer the coach.
Several former USC greats, including Ron Yary, Marcus Allen and Shawn Cody, have all publicly supported Orgeron for becoming the permanent coach, especially after USC's upset of Stanford two weeks ago.
Across town in Westwood, the feeling is that if UCLA beats USC, Coach Jim Mora will leave the Bruins' bench, possibly heading back to the NFL  or onward to a top-tier college program. In his two seasons at UCLA, Mora has revived foundering program that was dead in the water, constructing a defense that has the four best linebackers in college football and a possible Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback.
The answers to the futures of Orgeron and Mora will come soon, possibly as early as Sunday. If USC wins, and the Trojans are favored by a field goal, Orgeron is hired and Mora stays at UCLA. If UCLA wins, both Mora and Orgeron are gone.