The Lynn Swann era at USC has come to a close.

The embattled athletic director and legendary USC receiver has resigned effective immediately, per an email sent by new university president Carol Folt on Monday afternoon. Special advisor to the president Dave Roberts will take over as the interim athletic director.

Here are excerpts of Folt's letter to the USC community:

I am writing to share my sincere appreciation for Lynn Swann, who has decided to resign from his position as the Director of Athletics effective today. Lynn has been a leader on and off the field at USC for nearly five decades, and he will forever be a valued member of the Trojan family. Lynn has led our Athletics Department to five national championships in five different women’s and men’s sports during his tenure. Our student-athletes’ cumulative GPA for the past two years and our graduation rate of 86% last year were all-time highs for USC Athletics. We appreciate Lynn’s leadershipof the department over these past three years and will continue to be grateful for his historic contributions to USC.

Folt also introduced the committee that will handle the search for USC's new athletic director:

"I am pleased to introduce the committee who will conduct the national search for our next, permanent athletic director. USC Trustee Suzanne Nora Johnson will chair the search committee, which includes alumni representative Bill Allen; Vice President for Student Affairs Winston Crisp; Faculty Athletics Representative Alan Green; Academic Senate President Rebecca Lonergan; Provost Charles Zukoski; and trustees Jeff Smulyan, William McMorrow, and Board Chair Rick Caruso. Importantly, the committee will also include two student-athletes, who will be named shortly. The position will be filled with an experienced and accomplished individual..."

National college football reporter Bruce Feldman of The Athletic reports that USC had been reaching out to prospective AD candidates about replacing Swann in recent weeks.

Folt, the former University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill chancellor and internationally recognized biologist, was announced as the university’s 12 president in late March and took over the office of the president at USC on July 1, 2019. The first-time athletic director Swann took over the position from Pat Haden in the spring of 2013 and has been under fire the last several months.

Roberts, who served as the special advisor to former president C.L. Max Nikias, has been at USC since 2010 with experience in athletic compliance. Per a USC press release on Roberts' 2017 Frank Kara Leadership Award by the National Association for Athletics Compliance: "He came to USC in the summer of 2010 as vice president of athletics compliance, a position he held until last year. Prior to his appointment at USC, Roberts was a managing partner at the Los Angeles law firm he co-founded, Roberts, Raspe & Blanton."

The hot seat turned up on Swann when he retained USC head coach Clay Helton after a 5-7 campaign in 2018. But that paled in comparison to the criticism Swann’s leadership took after the shocking FBI college bribery scandal rocked USC and several universities across the country in April.

Former USC senior associate athletic director Dr. Donna Heinel, ex-USC women's head soccer coach Ali Khosroshahin, ex-assistant soccer coach Laura Janke and former USC men's water polo head coach Jovan Vavic were all indicted in April. Vavic and Heinel were terminated following their arrests.

The crux of the allegations center around William "Rick" Singer, a SoCal business executive, who ran a for-profit college counseling business called Edge College & Career Network and a charity called the Key Worldwide Foundation. The FBI alleges that Singer used these businesses to facilitates bribes to administrators and college coaches around the country to gain admission for the children of paying parents. Part of the alleged scheme includes these prospective students being "recruited" as athletes to gain access to the more lax admissions process designated for student-athletes.

Heinel, who allegedly influenced USC's admissions process by submitting fake recruits for consideration, was at the center of school's latest scandal. The football program was allegedly one of the vehicles Singer, Heinel and the operation used as three prospective students were fabricated a potential football recruits, per the FBI wiretaps.

Swann said he was “blindsided” by the case in an L.A Times interview and added that he would not leave his position.

“I have not considered resigning. I’m committed to this school and I’m committed to this job,” Swann said at the time. “This was an opportunity that presented itself to me. I never went out looking for this job, but this is a job I feel I’m prepared for. Everything I do at USC, I’ve done before for someone else whether that’s raising capital, sitting on corporate boards, being chairman of the board of trustees for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, chairman of the President’s Council on Sports Fitness and Nutrition."

The Hall of Fame wide receiver also drew criticism this spring for attending an autograph session back East during the fallout of the FBI case that rocked the athletic department.

“I couldn’t believe it,” former USC linebacker Rick Ellison, a member of USC’s 1978 national co-championship team, told the Times. “Lynn’s a good guy, but isn’t his salary in the millions? Why does he need to do this? It’s just embarrassing.”

The April admissions scandal was actually the second FBI case USC's athletic department was caught up in under Swann. Back in September 2017 former USC assistant coach Tony Bland was one of several assistant coaches across the country nabbed in a bribery and corruption scandal across college basketball. Bland received benefits from financial advisers and others to influence student-athletes to retain their services.

The Trojans are 2-0 on the season, fresh off a 45-20 rout of then No. 23 Stanford.

This story will be updated.