He walked into a meeting room not far from his office on the second story of Heritage Hall and spotted the only empty leather chair at an oblong table.

"Is that the executioner's chair," he said, "or what?"

He smiled, he had a zip in his step, he joked and laughed. However, Hackett paused for a few seconds when he was asked about what advice he would give to the next man who will occupy his office.

The smile disappeared.

Paul Hackett walks off the field as coach of the Trojans for the last time.(AP)

"Be sure to understand the climate that exists at USC right now," Hackett said. "Be sure to get ... all the knowledge you can gain about USC. Try to get all that as quickly as you can, because there are a whole lot of factors that exist at the University of Southern California now that are different than they were before, or years ago.

"The quicker you can get all that information, the better it will serve you to do this job."

At the other wing of the building, USC athletic director Mike Garrett surprisingly put aside his putter, four golf balls and little green tin cup to meet with the media and discuss his firing of Hackett.

Three years ago, Garrett was certain that Hackett was the man to turn around the Trojans' fortunes. Garrett was wrong, as USC went 19-18 under Hackett with only one bowl appearance, a Sun Bowl defeat in '98.

Hackett, 53, is the fourth consecutive football coach that USC has fired before his contract expired. Hackett had two years left on his original deal, but he will be paid $800,000 -- or one year's salary -- as severance.

As contrite as he was defensive, Garrett even took issue with those who reported how badly he had bungled John Robinson's sacking after the 1997 season. Robinson ultimately received word of his dismissal from a message that Garrett had left on his answering machine.

You can't fire someone in a respectful manner if you can't get him on the telephone, Garrett said Monday. He squelched that topic as quickly as he brought it up, but he did tell the assembled writers that he knew more about football than they do.

With his hiring of Hackett, who was 12-20-1 in three years as Pittsburgh's coach, that's disputable.

Garrett's availability was surprising in that it had nearly been a foregone conclusion that USC was going to announce Hackett's dismissal in a simple press release faxed to media outlets on Sunday.

Professional? No. Painless? Yes.

Instead, Garrett -- whether forced to by USC president Steven Sample or another school official, or by his own volition -- faced the music himself.

And Garrett did follow protocol with Hackett, firing him in a 30-minute meeting that took place late Sunday night in the office of Dennis Dougherty, a senior vice president of administration. Garrett and Hackett will address the team Tuesday afternoon.

"I think all of us have gone through a lot of pain and a lot of suffering ... with losing and the way we've been playing," said Garrett, 56. "We continually talk about how we haven't progressed or improved like we thought we should. That's just the reality.

"When we don't beat people, it's painful."

USC lost its first of five consecutive games this season to Oregon State, which it had beaten 26 times in a row. The Trojans have now lost four of their last five games to Oregon, California and Arizona State, and they lost to Washington State this year for only the third time in 30 years.

It was suggested to Garrett, who won the Heisman Trophy as a USC tailback in 1965, that the position of Trojans football coach isn't as prominent or special as it was 10, 15 or 20 years ago.

"I'd even say 30 years ago," Garrett said.

With that, Garrett shoveled sand on national championships that USC won with Rose Bowl victories after the 1972, '74 and '78 seasons, and four other seasons that ended in bowl victories that decade.

And Hackett was the problem?

Garrett said he recommended Hackett's firing to Sample on Saturday night, after USC had lost to Notre Dame in the Coliseum. Sample told Garrett to "sleep on it," but the sandman couldn't talk Garrett out of his goal.

Garrett even casually downplayed Hackett's contention that scholarship restrictions and other factors have leveled the national playing field for the country's elite programs. Baloney, Garrett said. The rich Southern California talent base and attractive weather here haven't changed.

"Every year, Florida State's up there. Penn State's been up there. They're down (this) year, but they'll be back," Garrett said. "Look at Florida, they're doing very well. It seems Miami's back. If you're good, you can do it. If you're not good, you'll have a difficult time doing it.

"I would say this, we have failed. The whole objective now is to improve. I told the staff, we failed. We knew what we had to do, and we didn't do it. It didn't work out. It's about progress, and winning and losing."

Garrett acknowledged that he would be interested in talking with San Diego Chargers coach Mike Riley and Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson, among others, about USC's new opening, and he said he had already heard from some interested parties as of late Monday morning.

Miami was hit with severe NCAA penalties the year after Erickson left the Hurricanes' program, and Garrett said an investigation into that history would have to be thorough.

"It would depend on the severity in what we're talking about. We do have standards here. We are an academic institution. I think, if someone was notorious and irreparable, and all that, we would talk that way," Garrett said. "(But) I think he's someone I should look up and talk to.

"I keep hearing the name Barry Alvarez, he's done very well at Wisconsin. I wouldn't be afraid to talk to him ... and I like Mike Riley. I've always kept him in the back of my mind, and I would not be afraid to consider Mike Riley."

The Chargers' season ends Dec. 24 at home against Pittsburgh, while Oregon State will play either in the Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl or in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 29. Wisconsin is expected to play in the Sun Bowl the same day in El Paso.

Another name that Garrett is expected to consider is Mike Bellotti. The Oregon coach has his team in the Top 10, and will play in either the Holiday Bowl or head to Hawaii for the Oahu or Aloha bowl (Dec. 24-25), depending on which way the bowl dominoes fall.

Whomever Garrett taps, he would be wise to heed Hackett's advice on gauging the climate of USC football. The guy with the Heisman is antsy, and the last thing he wants is to find himself in the executioner's chair.