JT Daniels — “I fell in love with coach Helton and his program, and USC is such a great area. It’s such a great spot for me to be at. I have that home feeling. I’m here to do my best and grow as a football player and as a person. And that’s all I care about. There’s no pressure for me to be some next great USC quarterback at all. That’s not my job. I don’t really care about that. I’m just excited to be a part of the team, and get to grow as a human being.”
Amon-Ra St. Brown — “I like playing on bigger stages. That’s part of the reason I came to Mater Dei. That’s one of the reasons I chose USC also…If you have these expectations to do well, and you don’t, then that’s the pressure you put on yourself. But if you come in with a positive mindset, I think whatever you make of it is gonna happen, so I don’t think there’s really any pressure.”
Thank goodness USC still has name recognition among top athletes in California. If you compared Helton’s staff with other top coaching staffs, it would fall way way down. Helton needs to bring in position coaches that will develop & discipline players. USC didn’t improved last year to win the PAC-12 championship. The PAC-12 level of competition came down to where USC was. Playing Notre Dame & Ohio St. was a true measuring stick of USC’s coaching.
Daniels sounds to me like he is referring to pressure from the USC program. Seems Helton is going to let him come along at his own pace, which is a good thing. Of course, his pace may be something we have not seen yet. The pressure comes from the media and the fan expectations.
These two were so great in high school that I am sure they didn’t feel pressure. College ball and playing before 80,000 people could be a different animal for these two. We shall see.
They both seem totally ready to me. Some of these kids that come out now are almost cut from a different competitive cloth than we saw years ago.
The new SuperPrep athlete is a different breed in this complicated social media world we live in. Such incredible focus, preparation and concentration on success, though Sam Darnold seemed to contradict that a little.
If Helton had a better coaching staff, Darnold would have stayed another year! I don’t need to go into details because you know what they are.
I can’t wait to see how these two perform. And it looks like the pieces are all coming together. They will give each other synergy. Thanks to having Pittman and Vaughens already established. I am expecting these two to have an easier time breaking in to the speed of the game at the D-1 level. He will have even more help because I truly believe we have a plethora of talented bodies at WR. And Carr & Co. are good receivers coming out of the backfield. I think Daniels has got Rosen’s accuracy and touch with Darnold’s leadership and much… Read more »
OL will really dictate how quickly the whole offense jells.
Petero — I think our entire 2018 outlook depends on a drastically improved OL. If it’s anything like last year, I feel sorry for whoever wins the QB battle.
We have shared that outlook , going back to 2017. I can’t say i feel sorry for the QB,
I think that will work out. There will be growing pains.
If it hadn’t been for Darnold’s adeptness at avoiding sacks and throwing on the run, the 30 sacks that were allowed would have been more like 40 or more.
As I will also feel sorry for the HC.
I disagree slightly. The issue is not how the OL performs; it is how the coaching staff adjusts to the actual performance level of the OL. If the OL is a 3, one does not run an offense predicated on an OL that is an 8. But, my guess is the disagreement is more semantic than actual. Coaching an O with a 3 level OL is a real challenge; look at UCLA – they got Rosen (a clear 10 QB) killed; the 2016 UCLA team was based on a run first O and it was a disaster as UCLA had… Read more »
Amen, brother. Defense will be fine. The OL improvement is the key to EVERYTHING.
The last qb/wr duo I can remember that came here at the same time was Haden & McKay, that turned out pretty well. These two have a long way to go to be thought of in the same way.
Yes , Haden and Mckay……what’s crazy is when you look up their yards…the game sure has changed.
I saw where in 1992 Curtis Conway caught 49 passes for @764 yds. He made first team all-American and was a first round pick. I’d say you’re right on the mark about how the game has changed.
They sure knew how to make a reception count…. Which again brings us back to OL.
Spring ball seems like a year ago the 2017 season 5 years ago. But during spring ball weren’t Helton and Drevno stressing run first,smash mouth offense ? If OL is up to it, with the 4 backs we have, the pass may go back to being desert.
I think they were working the run game in spring. If it all comes together SC will have a balanced attack, which will keep the defenses honest for the most part. I keep thinking if they have a 60% passer with the run capability good things will happen. But they have to establish themselves right out of the gate with UNLV.
I have a feeling that we are going to see these two hook up for a lot of touchdowns! I can’t wait. Fight On!✌️
No doubt. They really are quite a duo that could be very special. They’ve had amazing chemistry as a pair now for years, since before high school.