By USC Athletics: In alignment with updated public health guidance, USC football home games at United Airlines Field at L.A. Memorial Coliseum will operate at full 77,500-seat capacity for the 2021 season, Trojan athletic director Mike Bohn announced today (June 15).
“We are beyond excited to welcome the Trojan Family back to the Coliseum for the first time since 2019,” Mike Bohn said. “Our home games were not the same last year, and the gameday experience at the Coliseum is so special primarily because of the fans. Our players and coaches can’t wait to see fans and family in the stands and that energy is a difference-maker for us on the field.”
The Trojans averaged 59,358 fans for home games in 2019, a slight increase from 55,449 in 2018 but well below the 72,588 the team averaged in 2017.
Bohn also said that for all home athletic events, USC will align with the latest state guidance regarding indoor and outdoor live events and performances, as well as county, city and campus directives.
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A bit premature because I expect a dedicated post but the NCAA got news from the Supreme Court. I wonder if it’s time to give Reggie back his trophy
I’d much rather see Reggie publicly apologize to the USC football program and all the fantastic and deserving preps (30 total) who couldn’t go to USC for three straight years and play football for the Trojans because of ReggieGate than see him get his Heisman back. He voluntarily gave the Trophy back because he knew he didn’t have a leg to stand on (no pun intended). He just turned it back over. Never even fought for it. Clearly, I think he had numerous lucrative endorsements and a massive NFL contract as the #2 overall pick on his mind instead, if… Read more »
The Supreme Court ruled today against the NCAA on limiting compensation to athletes. While not the holding, the reasoning was clear that the NCAA cannot restrict kids from getting legitimate endorsement deals. Kavanaugh wrote a concurring opinion that made this last point crystal clear. Get ready for NILs. Jason Whitlock did a great 5 minute video on sports and politics for Prager U (an online conservative website which specializes in 5 minute presentations). He pointed out that Nike was behind much of the use of politics in American Sports. His point was that the NBA, for all practical purposes, was… Read more »
I peg them at 7-5.
@TrojanRJJ Do you still believe USC loses to ASU in Tempe now that we know the Sun Devils and Herm Edwards have made themselves look like total cheating idiots and will undoubtedly receive some NCAA/conference penalties, depending on how they self-penalize first?
Supreme Court to the rescue! I think the NCAA will be very reluctant to impose anything but a minor face saving sanction on ASU. If it does anything remotely like was done to USC, ASU will litigate (or should) and after that opinion, their will have to back down. ASU will make a couple of changes internally on compliance and maybe give up a couple of meaningless schorlarships. My opinion of The Cat (loved that article) has not changed. The staffer who leaked that information (if not already fired from ASU) made a career ending mistake. The Cat will go… Read more »
@TrojanRJJ I’m still waiting for your prediction on the USC at ASU game on Nov. 6. I still have USC losing that game because of the location.
Plus, regardless of the Sun Devils’ current very public and indefensible cheating problems, I don’t think they will allow themselves to lose to the Trojans in 2021 — not after the way they lost last season. I still can’t believe the Trojans won that game.
Sorry, my above post was not as clear as it should have been. I am still picking ASU Sundevils over the USC Helton Cats.
I should call them the USC Helton meows.
The teams Helton puts on the field disgrace the name Trojans. So, I now have another name to call them I love that nickname – The Cat.
It fits Gentleman Clay perfectly. The Cat! The credit all goes to SportsPac12.com’s Mik Dietlin.
I really like the “Helton Cats.” USC plays just like little kitties when up against the big guns of the game now. Against mid-major type. middling outfits (except IOWA, god forbid) USC can win a lot of games, or at least a decent amount of Holiday Bowl-type contests. But USC gets dominated by anyone any good, and it’s been that way for a long time. TEXAS, which fired their big-name coach, walloped USC 37-14 in 2018. But my personal highlight is the next year, when ORE strolled into the Coliseum and scorched USC 56-24. I absolutely believe we need a… Read more »
Mike Bohn on Quincy Watts, the Trojan/Olympic 400m track great who is now the new Trojan Director of Track & Field/Cross Country (as I suspected might happen, or I should say “hoped” might happen): Bohn — “His impact on both our men’s and women’s programs over the past eight years has been significant. Consistent with our vision to be the most student-athlete centered program in the country, engaging our student-athletes is an important part of every coaching search process, and I am so impressed with the overwhelming support Quincy has from our current team. “He is also highly respected by… Read more »
Quincy must work cheap….
Or maybe he is a better fit (and just as qualified) than Gilbert was.
Hopefully, Quincy can win actual T/F national championships like CSG did, more than once. Not an easy thing.
Jack Follman’s (sportspac12.com) 2021 Pac-12 DB Unit Rankings:
1.UW
2.ASU
3.USC
Cornerbacks: Chris Steele, Isaac Taylor-Stuart
Safeties: Isaiah Pola-Mao, Greg Johnson, Chase Williams
The Trojans were good at defending the pass last year and have some nice pieces coming back.
IPM is probably the best, one of the top safeties in the Pac-12, and former five-star recruit Steele is a guy who could quickly turn into a star.
4.ORE
5.STAN
6.CAL
7.ORE ST
8.CU
9.UCLA
11.UTAH
12.WSU
sportspac12.com
ASU at number 2? With Jack (Toast) Jones? I still cringe every time I remember him getting completely lost on consecutive plays at the end of the Rose Bowl only to be saved both times by Leon McQuay.
As I’ve said here in other places, 4-star CB Jaedon Gould (6-2, 190) from Oradell Bergen Cath, NJ (same HS as LB Brian Cushing), announces on Sunday, Father’s Day, between USC and PSU. He had a fantastic visit to USC June 4-6 and fully gushed about it afterward. “I definitely had high expectations going out there and the visit really just blew me away. The city, the coaches, the players; it was really great. I had a great time and my family did as well…” You say, so what? Every recruit usually says terrific things about a school they’ve just… Read more »
As long as hugs isn’t allowed to make the closing arguments
Things are looking very bad for ASU and Herm Edwards: Yahoo Sports — ‘There’s Too Many Disgruntled People’ “The arrival of the (recruiting violation list) dossier at Arizona State football became the subject of intense intrigue this week, as it underscored the schism that has divided — and could potentially disrupt — the tenure of fourth-year coach Herm Edwards. While Edwards operates as a mostly hands-off CEO, associate head coach Antonio Pierce has accumulated much of the power in the ASU program thanks to his recruiting reach. His rise to power has been enabled by deputy athletic director Jean Boyd,… Read more »
Getting ugly. Hugs has to be smiling that this will keep the writers attention off of him for a while.
Tic, Toc, Tic Doc, Drip Drop! That’s the ASU program you feel slipping down the drain. The article I attached here is incredibly damning towards the entire Sun Devil program, including Herm Edwards. Was I an ASU fan, I would be truly thinking about crossing off my optimism about the program in 2021. When programs start to come under this intense type of public heat and focus, it eventually, and often quickly, begins to filter through the entire team, and the kids get distracted badly. USC just became much more likely to win the South now that ASU has started to… Read more »
I was planning on driving down to the USC vs ASU game in Tempe this Fall to see the game. With what’s going on with ASU and the subject of the blog being the Coliseum will be at full capacity welcoming back fans, I may change and go to a game in the Coliseum this Fall. I’m curious whether fans will flock to the Coliseum or stay away as a way of protesting the ongoing mediocrity of Clay Helton and the football program. Will be fun to see what happens!
Rlee, I cannot remember which stadium in Arizona is built like a ladder (I think it’s Arizona) but the games in Arizona are always a nice change of pace for an away game. If all of this hoo-haw gets ugly for ASU it’s easy to remember that it’s not USC under the microscope for a change. That being said, no matter where you see a game it is always a challenge for the head coach of the Trojans to come up with a new and more frustrating way to display his utter incompetence. (There I made a comment without using… Read more »
My son went to the University of Arizona in Tucson for his Freshman year of college in 2012-13. I was living in So Cal at the time and traveled over to see him on a parents weekend that included a football game. I recall the stadium was built like a ladder with very steep staircases and I got the feeling of being almost on top of the field like the blue seats behind home plate in Dodger Stadium. I’ve never been to ASU’s stadium in Tempe so it will be a first for me this year. Anytime I can see… Read more »
This is looking really ugly for both ASU and the Pac. ASU looked to be a top program to help lead the Pac back. Sure looks like a staffer sabotaged the 2021 ASU season and is looking to get Herm removed. This is an AD’s nightmare. Herm clearly has lost control of his staff and also clearly thinks he does not have to obey the rules. Tough place to be as an AD. Sad for Chris C that he walked into this.
Chris C should have done his homework. It’s called due diligence. He should have been more patient because this ASU program obviously has some SERIOUS problems and staff divides. But he’s still young, inexperienced, and can recover. In the meantime, bye bye Sun Devils. Good luck with dealing with life as a program that’s waiting for the hammer to drop. Best thing to do now is what USC football and Mike Garrett self-righteously refused to do — play the game, promise to do better, self-impose semi-painful football sanctions, let some people go, and pray the ghost of Paul Dees isn’t… Read more »
Yessir, the ncaa is knocking one their door. To bad, Herm has done a good job and now it is getting flushed.
I’m personally shocked that Herm Edwards would place himself in the position he finds himself. He seemed to command a lot of respect from those both inside, and outside the game. I would say his stature has immediately taken a big tumble.
Were I a Pac-12 coach, I wouldn’t be looking kindly at what Edwards has allowed to go on at ASU in an attempt to gain a blatant competitive advantage.
I have the Sparky solution and I’m delighted to share. Just hire Alum Donte Burfict to restablish ASU’s awesome Public Image. 😎
I have the solution. ASU tells the NCAA it is self-sanctioning by firing Herm and his staff and hiring Clay Helton as HC for the next 3 years. Everyone knows Clay runs a clean program and is incompetent. Clay has stated he intends to hire Clancy Pedergast as DC and Tee Martin as OC and John Baxter to coach special teams, with Clancy to hire Ronnie Bradford as DB coach and Tee will hire Tim Drevno as OL coach. AA will run the S&C program! That is almost a death sentence for ASU football and the NCAA should smile approvingly… Read more »
It would be interesting to know the whereabouts of all of the former USC coaches who have been fired by Clay Helton and which ones are still actually in the game, at any level.
I greatly appreciate your sense of humor. Great idea.
I see they have changed the Portal website on 247 that makes it easier to understand without going through a lot of clicks. Much better now.
Did USC pick up another RB out of TCU named Darwin Barlow through the portal? Who is this DE Mykel Williams supposedly committed. 5* Both are listed on 247.
Yes. I already made extensive comments on both Barlow and Williams here back on the 14th and 15th.
As always, a day late and dollar short.
@Steveg Both good additions for USC football, I think. Barlow could eventually be called up, and Williams might become another special Trojan from Georgia.
We also might be in line for another well-regarded 2022 DB from New Jersey who has it down to the Trojans and Nittany Lions, and will announce on Sunday. I’d say he’s a slight longshot for USC, primarily because PSU usually does so very well in New Jersey.
USCTrojans.com — Caryl Smith Gilbert was named National Women’s Coach of the Year and Quincy Watts National Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year it was announced by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Smith Gilbert, who was similarly honored in 2018, was hired on June 13 by Georgia as its new Director of Track and Field, but will remain coaching USC athletes at the U.S. Olympic Trials the next few weeks. Watts also won the National Men’s Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year in 2018.
usctrojans.com
Just watched a video on Ryan’s Board critiquing the USC O. I thought the board would find it interesting. As I lack the technical skills to link it, I will give a short summary. First, on O, Drake London is a beast. Assuming the OL can protect Kedon, London looks to have an AA year in 2021 Second, as I had suspected, GH is very much learning how to design a run game AND the SC OL sucks. First, on design, the video showed a play in the championship game against OR which was called to the left, where SC… Read more »
Many expect ASU to win the Pac-12 South in 2021. Rumors are swirling, however, and ASU has recently confirmed, that the NCAA is investigating major allegations (like paying players) directed at Sun Devil football. Former Trojan AA LB/’98 Butkus Award winner Chris Claiborne just left USC’s program after only one year as an offensive quality control asst and joined ASU as their LB coach. The timing is looking like it couldn’t have been worse. Chris Hawkins (’14-17 Trojan DB) spent the 2019 season as a grad asst at USC before he took the DB coach job with the Sun Devils… Read more »
Wow! I hope for Chris’ sake it is not true.
At the very least he is not involved in any way.
5 Star DE Mykel Williams commits to USC.
Four-star ’22 CB Jaeden Gould sets Father’s Day announcement between USC and PSU Brian Dohn (247Sports) — With two official visits done, Top247 CB Jaeden Gould (6-2, 190, #18 in country) is ready to be done with his recruitment. The Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic defender is already down to USC and PSU. “I’m committing on Sunday,” Gould disclosed as he prepares for a Father’s Day reveal at 6 p.m. Gould was at USC for an official visit from June 4-6. “I definitely had high expectations going out there and the visit really just blew me away,” he said after the trip. “The… Read more »
Not that I don’t want the stadium full, but fewer ticket sales may translate into a new HC if leadership has any brains at all. The jury is out on that one.
I’m planning to stand outside in Rialto September 4th to see if I can hear the booing when Helton waddles out of the tunnel. Honestly I do not like having fans boo their team, in fact I’ve only heard a smattering of boos throughout my life as a Trojan fan. I might have to waffle on my, “I’m not going,” stance. My niece has been awarded a scholarship to USC and will be attending in the fall. She was out in L. A. Looking for a place to stay while in school and we met her for dinner. She noted… Read more »
“Helton waddles.” Good one. Today was a very good day for USC football. It’s not every day the Trojans reel in a 5-star DE from Georgia over the rest of the recruiting world, including all the elites of the game today. I have no idea if this huge commit will stick. But I’ll take it for now. A bad season and Mykel Williams is probably gone. But for now, he quickly jacked up USC’s 7-member 2022 class up to #17 on 247Sports, with two five-stars, CB Domani Jackson, and SDE Williams. O-liners remain a huge challenge, however. USC now leads… Read more »
For the players I would like to see a full Colosseum, but hugs has to go.
I hate seeing 77k as full capacity.