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Pat Haden says he won't attend playoff selection committee meeting in Indy

USA TODAY Sports
Southern California athletic director Pat Haden.

The new Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act is causing consternation all across the country.

On Tuesday, Southern California athletics director Pat Haden — a member of the College Football Playoff selection committee — said in a post on Twitter that he is the "proud father of a gay son" and would not attend the CFP meeting this week in Indianapolis, site of the Final Four.

The Indiana law, which was signed by Gov. Mike Pence on Thursday, could protect businesses that don't want to provide service to gay and lesbian couples based on "religious freedom."​

"I certainly understand and respect Pat's position," College Football Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock told USA TODAY Sports. "Everyone has the right to express their personal opinion and Pat, to his credit, has expressed his. As a father and also a human being, I respect him for that. I will also express my personal opinion: I think they need to fix this.

"But my focus is on sports. Other people who are more knowledgeable that I am are better positioned to address this matter. Our group's focus will remain on sports."

Haden denied an interview request through USC spokesman Paul Goldberg, saying he was comfortable that the tweet stands on its own.

The College Football Playoff's selection committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday and Thursday in Indianapolis for what Hancock described as a "nuts-and-bolts" session, reviewing the 2014 season and considering tweaks for 2015.

Last week NCAA President Mark Emmert expressed the NCAA's concerns in a statement:

"The NCAA national office and our members are deeply committed to providing an inclusive environment for all our events," the statement read. "We are especially concerned about how this legislation could affect our student-athletes and employees.

"We will work diligently to assure student-athletes competing in, and visitors attending, next week's Men's Final Four in Indianapolis are not impacted negatively by this bill. Moving forward, we intend to closely examine the implications of this bill and how it might affect future events as well as our workforce."

Contributing: George Schroeder

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