Commentary: Caleb Williams’ father would be wise not to turn USC QB into a modern Marinovich tale…
Bill Dwyre (LA Times) — The recent story in The Times about Caleb Williams (the building of an NIL empire), projected USC star QB, brought to mind words about history repeating itself. The most-used quote on that subject is from Harvard-educated Spanish author/philosopher George Santayana, who wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Williams transferred from Oklahoma to USC after last season. At Oklahoma, Williams took over for preseason Heisman candidate Spencer Rattler, and did well. His coach at Oklahoma, Lincoln Riley, jumped ship to take over at USC, and Williams followed.
There is little unusual about that. This is the age of transfer portals, glamour and greed in college football. What is out of the ordinary is the extent, as documented in The Times story, to which Williams’ father, Carl, has gone to build his 19-year-old into a brand. Not an athlete. Not a student. Not just a good person. A brand.
This branding is no longer illegal in the cesspool formerly known as college football. The days of Little Johnny starring on his high school football team, happily accepting a scholarship to go to school for free, and playing his heart out for Big State U in return, are long gone. There will be some who still do that, but if they are unable to “build their own brand,” we won’t hear much about them. Their consolation prize will be actually living the cliché that college coaches have foisted on us for decades. They will have gone to school and “built their character.” What a concept.
This situation came to pass when the NCAA, for years the ultimate greed conglomerate, was found to be illegally keeping its athletes from getting paid for use of their names. It is called NIL: name, image and likeness. If Little Johnny is a big enough star, he can have his picture taken with shoes, shirts, headphones and sports drinks — almost anything that is for sale. He will be endorsing them and the companies that make those products will pay him.
It would seem that the NCAA’s image of greed may have been addressed by shifting the greed to 18-and-19-year-olds.
Which brings us to Carl and Caleb Williams, and, in sort of a retrospective cautionary tale, to Marv and Todd Marinovich.
Marv Marinovich was the captain of USC’s 1962 national championship and ’63 winning Rose Bowl team. He was a down-in-the-dirt, rock ‘em sock ‘em lineman. He married the sister of Trojans star quarterback Craig Fertig, and Marv and Trudi had a son they named Todd. But to Marv, Todd wasn’t only a son, but a science project. Before Todd was a month old, Marv started stretching his hamstrings in his crib. Before he could walk, Marv had Todd lifting medicine balls. He was allowed to eat only healthy food, fruits and vegetables.
Later, after it had all fallen apart, after Todd had starred as a prep QB for two Orange County high schools, had gone on to USC and starred there for a year before finding drugs, rebelling and opting out of college for the pros, Sports Illustrated wrote that he had been “the first-ever, test-tube athlete,” that he had been “bred to be a superstar,” and that “all Marv wanted to do was to mold athletes, and Todd was his favorite piece of clay.”
Todd’s troubled college career morphed into a troubled pro career with the Raiders. Soon, there was no career at all, just trips to court and jail on various drug arrests. At one point, the folks running the jail in Irvine, so familiar with Todd’s comings and goings, greeted his most recent entrance by playing the theme from the 1970s hit TV show “Welcome Back, Kotter.”
Todd is 53 now. He works as an artist, and has considerable talent. Marv died in 2020, at 81. He had Alzheimer’s. His daughter, Traci, who has been quoted over the years as saying she was mostly an afterthought to Todd, took care of Marv in his later years, even though he usually didn’t have any idea who she was. “Todd wouldn’t have been able to know what to do [for his father],” she said in the Sports Illustrated article. “He wouldn’t know how to handle things like social security. He never had to do any of that.”
Which brings us back to Carl and Caleb Williams, although the situations are not parallel. Marv Marinovich was not directly seeking the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, although the letters “NFL” certainly had to be on his mind.
Carl Williams is not trying to create the next quarterback Adonis. More like the next signal-calling Warren Buffett. The thing that is comparable, however, is the possibility of paternal excess and the damage it can cause.
The recent Times article focused on Carl’s establishment of advisers and agents and marketing and investment firms for Caleb. His NIL stature might be worth seven figures. Maybe it is already. He is endorsing things such as headphones and men’s fingernail art. But he is also, through his father, seeking partnerships, equity positions, corporate stature. This can go two ways: a fine college career that morphs into a fine pro career and lifetime financial security; or a disintegration of it all, triggered by too much pressure.
LaVar Ball made two of his three sons from Chino Hills into current good NBA pros with great financial futures, and took along some of the deflected fame for himself to create and promote his businesses. As loud and obnoxious as he was along the way, LaVar’s pushy father-knew-best approach achieved the goals, at least for the moment and at least financially.
Perhaps Carl Williams can do likewise with his son, but with a little less noise and a little more sophistication. Also, with no damage to a football career, a Trojans football team and/or a USC education that can eventually pay even bigger dividends than monthly checks from the fingernail-painting company.
Parental pressure in high school and college sports is oft-abused and occasionally tragic.
One of the best quotes ever uttered on the subject was in tennis, a sport historically abundant in pushy parents. It was 1991, and Pam Shriver was being interviewed at Wimbledon about upcoming star Lindsay Davenport. “I have never met her parents,” Shriver said, “and I love them for it.”
History has lessons for Carl Williams. Don’t make your son your favorite piece of clay.
latimes.com
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Speaking of Todd Marinovich. He’s clearly got some talent as an artist. One of his most famous moments in football was the incredible 1990 Marinovich vs Maddox game, won 45-42 with Johnnie Morton’s beautiful 23-yd TD catch from Marinovich with 16 seconds to go at the Rose Bowl. But it was this picture, first printed in the Daily Bruin, that put Todd on the face of the USC/UCLA rivalry as much as any other, maybe even more than his insane TD throw to Morton, just before he was decked and on his back. Todd’s re-creation of himself giving the finger… Read more »
I wish Todd had played for another Head Coach besides Larry Smith who I never liked. Smith was a hard-nosed, do it my way type of coach. I’ll never forget the ’89 game against Ohio State where Todd was knocked out running the option. Todd was not an option QB and yet Smith ran his Offense come Hell or High Water. My Facebook friend and a great guy Shane Foley came in to relieve Todd and led USC to a touchdown on that drive. I don’t blame Todd for turning to drugs for an escape. His football career was troubled… Read more »
The 10 most impactful linebacker transfers of 2022 1. Shane Lee (#53 below), USC The particulars: Transfer from Alabama The skinny: Shane Lee (6-0, 245) certainly isn’t the most athletic linebacker on this list, but he’s an old-school thumper and his importance as a defensive leader cannot be overstated. All of the transfer attention for USC has been focused on the offense, but Lee’s addition comes at a position of need and his winning ways are important as the Trojans look to become nationally relevant again. Because of injuries, Lee was pressed into immediate action at Alabama as a true freshman in 2019;… Read more »
USC and the SEC
USC has a 22-11-1 record against SEC football teams and a winning percentage of .662, best by far of the Pac-12 schools in matchups against the SEC. Two other Pac-12 teams have winning records against the SEC – Stanford and UCLA. Cal is stuck on .500.
Alabama has the only winning record among SEC teams against the USC Trojans. ‘Bama has taken 6 out of 8 games from the Boys from Troy dating back to 1938.
https://secfootballonline.com/sec-vs-pac-12-football-record/?fbclid=IwAR07naYEUxyqIhUdC0A3kvb9953DoNjIM1VDT7VnYDjyLYJhlloSHWIO8Uw
https://twitter.com/i/status/1549912272377729025
Thank you Bohn for moving to the Big10! LR and the Big 10 are how SC got this guy. 4* safety from Cajun Country.
This should be an all-day dooooozy on Friday, July 29!
2022 PAC-12 FOOTBALL MEDIA DAY, LOS ANGELES (the land of brazen, cold-hearted defectors USC and UCLA).
JULY 29 ON PAC-12 NETWORK, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT from The Novo at L.A. LIVE.
Quite the mixed bag this year for the Pac12 media day to say the least. The excitement of new coaches has quickly been squashed by the potential conference break up or at best major changes.
Your post makes me wonder if USC would have even pursued this Big 10 move right now if Clay Helton was still the Trojan coach in June? I think so, based on USC’s intense dissatisfaction with the Pac-12 money split for years. But one of the reasons I like the move so much is because LR is now the Trojan coach. It’s just amazing how USC football has come together since OU lost to OKS, 37-33 on Nov. 27. Who would have ever thought that game between Big 12 rivals (Bedlam!) would have ever played such a massive role in… Read more »
I would think Bohn knew a year ago he was going to fire Helton. It was just a matter of when to pull the trigger. The move to the Big10 was also in the plan back then. Your post on Tackett shows the move is already paying off with recruiting. ’23 and ’24 recruiting will be huge for SC!
USC and Mike Bohn actually formally placed USC’s latest demands for more Pac-12 money before the rest of the Pac-12 schools in March or April, so USC was still trying very recently to give the Pac-12 a chance. USC’s increased money distribution request was overwhelmingly voted down by the Pac-12 10-2, with UCLA being the only other Pac-12 school that sided with the Trojans. The Pac-12 had plenty of blatant warnings through the years about USC’s perceived separateness from the rest of the conference. They just couldn’t believe USC would make such a drastic move. Bohn and Folt finally called… Read more »
With the mysterious Bru McCoy still ineligible at TENN, one wonders how much he will ever contribute to the Vols? If history is any indication, McCoy has an uphill climb in Knoxville. With USC’s long list of formidable WRs, led by Jordan Addison, Mario Williams, Tahj Washington and Gary Bryant, among others, frankly McCoy simply wasn’t needed. Not by a mile. For a while, McCoy jilted USC and left for TEXAS, where he quickly folded his tent before returning to USC, only to become sick with a prolonged and still unspecified illness while linking up with a female USC student… Read more »
I remember all the hype surrounding McCoy when he returned to USC from Texas. The unspecified illness (COVID?) is still a mystery and set him back. The photo here of him catching a deflected pass in the amazing comeback vs ASU is one of the few highlights he had as a Trojan. I remember him dropping a key pass in the PAC012 Championship vs Oregon. I just read that TENN had a boatload of sanctions levied against their program so it’s doubtful whether McCoy will be successful there if and when he becomes eligible.
I have not seen enough of Williams to comment, but I hope this isn’t a real thing. I remember Todd and how quickly he fell apart. It was sad seeing him play while on cocaine.