Why USC QB Jaxson Dart feels confident after spring football
Fresh off being named Gatorade’s National Player of the Year, the freshman is ready to compete and learn at USC
Adam Grosbard (OC Register) — Jaxson Dart thought he was preparing for a Pac-12 Network interview as he sat down for a Zoom call. The fresh-faced USC quarterback, back home in Utah for the summer, didn’t think much about it.
But when Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 pick of this year’s NFL draft, popped up on the screen, Dart began to suspect something was afoot.
Rather than an interview, Dart was informed by the new Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback that he had been named the Gatorade National High School Player of the Year.
His Corner Canyon High (Utah) teammates standing around him, Dart leaned back in disbelief before leaning forward and saying, “No way, man.”
Despite starting all four years of high school, first at Roy High and then Corner Canyon, Dart wasn’t considered an elite prospect entering his senior year. But his performance while leading the Chargers to an undefeated state championship changed that perception.
Dart threw for 4,691 yards and 67 TDs as a senior, completing 69.6% of his passes while allowing four picks. He also rushed for 1,195 yards and 12 scores. Dart’s 3.98 GPA and volunteer hours at a food bank and other local organizations were also a consideration in the selection process for the national honor.
Dart’s interaction with Lawrence was brief. But with his high school buddies standing behind him, Dart asked the former Clemson QB for advice about going to college and learning how to be “the guy,” a title that Dart will need to compete for whenever starter Kedon Slovis leaves for the NFL.
“For me, what’s been big is just to always be yourself, don’t try to meet any expectations that anyone puts on you,” Lawrence explained. “When you go to a new place, you’re gonna feel that pressure to do more and try to be something that you’re not. You just don’t have to do that. You can be yourself and just go to work.”
Dart, a true freshman, enrolled at USC in January and participated in spring football. He says he already had a certain comfort level with offensive coordinator Graham Harrell’s Air Raid offense due to its similarities to Corner Canyon’s system.But even with that advantage, Dart feels like playing in the spring camp was essential.
“I couldn’t imagine going in in the summer. I’d feel a little bit behind,” Dart said. “It for sure took me several weeks like I was stable and comfortable in the offense. But I feel like as time has gone on, I’ve gotten more in tune with my timing and the scheme and all that.”
At first, Dart felt a little tentative about the new stage. But soon his talent, with his arm and his feet, began to show.
After a few weeks, before the spring game midway through camp, Dart made a few plays in a red-zone situation and felt something click into place.
“That was a moment where I was like, ‘I feel like I can play with these guys now,’ ” Dart said.
He will likely need to wait to do so in a true game setting. Unlike high school, Dart will not start for USC as a freshman, barring an injury to Slovis. So being on the sidelines will be an adjustment for Dart.
He also knows Slovis, projected as a potential first-round pick in the 2022 draft, has a lot to teach him and fellow freshman QB Miller Moss for the time being.
“The things that I can learn and help grow my game is really important,” Dart said. “I would just say going into this year I’m gonna do my best to put myself in the best situation so when my number is called I’m able to do my job and help our team win.”
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Jon Wilner, who I think it probably the best Pac 12 reporter, has given his pre-season Pac 12 picks and he lines up with Stu Mandel and yours truly. He is picking the Trojans no better than 3rd – he said SC has a better chance at 4th rather than 1st. And that pick was prior to Toia leaving. He sees SC as weak on the interior DL, the OL, and interestingly at CB. In TX, COVID is not longer an issue. It is, for all practical purposes, gone. If CA is not there now, it will be shortly. Hence,… Read more »
Can’t wait to see Helton dance around this one. He always says he is the coach, but he never accepts any blame.
This is the worst thing to happen to USC football in a while. Anyone who wishes to dispute that, please pile on!
I think having Clay’s contract extended was the worst followed by the 2018 team and the 2019 recruiting class followed by the Helton hired coaches: Pendergast, Calloway, Martin, et al. How about that Gumbo O or the 2010? Or the 2020 running game? or having Toa as center?
Oops! Meant 2019- 2020 running game.
Ya, those are all bad…but I think Toia’s sudden defection is the worst single-player loss USC has had that I can remember. Carr’s leaving is like a gnat on a horse’s butt compared to this. This youngster had enormous potential based on everything I read and saw about him since he arrived. USC has absolutely no adequate backup for him in the interior DL. None. They don’t grow those types on trees. I see good teams running on USC, especially when it matters. This is just very discouraging to know that USC has team and serious individual player problems like… Read more »
No matter how it is spun, this is devastating, and even worse if Toia becomes a ruin.
One silver lining- it’s another nail in Helton’s coffin.
Helton’s got more nails in his coffin than Quentin Tarantino has ways to kill off someone violently.
I agree. Losing Toia is probably the single worst player loss, given the roster, that I can recall. But, as I posted earlier, it is sad that that SC’s roster is in this condition.
very interested to know the “why”. To make matters worse is he could end up at ucla or Utah. Although for his development Utah could be the best place for him.
not saying that this is the case with Toia, but how long until a school gets busted for talking to other teams players trying to get them into the portal?
@UtahTrojan The Trojans have to clean up their act if they don’t want to keep losing so many players. If other schools see USC as a weak target, they will find a hundred ways to raid the Trojan talent pool without getting caught, or proven guilty. USC doesn’t seem to generate much player loyalty these days. Maybe that’s true for all schools if you look hard, but that just means USC is no longer superior in yet another aspect of its program. IMO, if USC loses important players, they have no one to blame but themselves. I think it’s universally… Read more »
Starting to think my expectations for a 6-6 season are way too lofty.
You think USC’s pre-season ticket sales are going well? I don’t remember seeing a Trojan football fan base angrier than now. The football groups have all been disbanded. The team is viewed as fully mediocre and underachieving by most all the experts, talking heads, coaches and fans, both pro, and anti-USC. Even with coaches like Tollner and Hackett, I didn’t see the same vitriol directed to them as I do against Helton. With Helton, there is a truer sense of helplessness because of USC’s leadership at the very top, as well as the composition of the passive BOTs, and the… Read more »
With the Bush probation at least there was still hope. With Clay there is no hope. Only disbelief that he continues to find ways to drag the program further down each and every day.
I don’t think it’s that’s huge. A kid chose to leave, ok. Potential starter, ok again. But it’s certainly not the worst thing to happen to USC football in a while, unless that while is the last few weeks. Clay Helton is the worst. The defeat to Oregon is much worse for the program. Pili getting hurt is most likely worse. Slovis playing hurt was worse. Our O line problems are worse.
long list of things to fix. One kid with some potential transferring isn’t great, but it’s not the end of the world.
Which player who suddenly left USC at any time in the past compares with the loss of Jay Toia? That loss makes USC a lot weaker on the DL in my mind. I think Toia already looked like he was going to be a lot better than Pili, frankly (at least to me). Plus Pili just got hurt. He didn’t just suddenly ditch the program (a much worse sign). Since USC often gets manhandled in the trenches these days, and has to take injured and unproven ALA retreads to shore itself up, I definitely see the new hole left by… Read more »
Chris, If SC had not had an incompetent running the program for the last six years, you would be correct. But, I suggest you look at the interior DL recruiting from 2017 to the present. I am going to assume an elite interior DL is 4 or 5 star. Here is what SC has done under Clay: 2017 – 3 – Tufele, Pili, Marlon Tuipulotu – all three are gone: Pili to Injury and the other two to the NFL 2018 – 2 -Trout and Tremblay. I think Trout is out because of injury and Tremblay has transferred to TN… Read more »
Hufanga! Sure wish he were roaming the Trojan secondary in 2021. It’ll be very intriguing to see how USC’s DBs play this year. Hard for me to know what to expect.
Rumors abound that UCLA, which was all over Toia to become a Bruin before he decided on USC, could be a potential destination for him. Now that would be a brutally bad outcome!
Top 25 greatest days in college football history: Bush Push, Kick Six, New Year’s classics and chaotic Saturdays (Matt Brown, The Athletic): 1. Oct. 15, 2005: The Bush Push Resurgent Notre Dame hosted juggernaut USC at the height of its power in one of the rivalry’s most anticipated games. It surpassed even the highest of expectations, as USC, in pursuit of a third consecutive national championship, used a 61-yd pass from Matt Leinart to Dwayne Jarrett on fourth-and-9 to put it in position for Leinart’s improvised 1-yard winning TD in the final seconds, aided by Reggie Bush’s push. 5. Oct.… Read more »
Welcome to the Brave New World (or Portal). Toia had a change of heart for a possible variety of reasons: Did not like some of his teammates Wanted to play on a better team Was surprised he was not ‘The Man’ as he was in high school Looking for a better deal for himself Simply wanted a change of scenery Oh, and speaking of surprises, how could Mr. Dart have been surprised when he was awarded the player of the year honors when he had his teammates set up behind him, the Heisman Trophy winner waiting on the line for… Read more »
USC true freshman defensive tackle Jay Toia entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on Wednesday, USCFootball.com can confirm. Toia, a former four-star prospect, was a 2o21 early enrollee and shined in spring camp. A source noted that Toia is listed as David Toia in the Transfer Portal, believed to be his official name. If Toia does not return to the team it would be another huge blow to USC’s interior defensive line depth; the unit lost veteran senior Brandon Pili for the season to a torn Achilles in spring camp. Toia operated mainly with the first and second-team defensive line once Pili went down. Toia… Read more »
This is a real head scratcher Utah, I went to Rivals to read up on this kid thinking maybe he was homesick or something, but he’s from Simi Valley about an hour away. The odd thing is he’s listed as a defensive tackle but his highlights on Rivals show him on offense. So maybe Helton asked him to be an offensive tackle. I don’t know the kid, but this smacks of being hurt by someone’s mouth. We’ll have to wait and see if he put’s bindle stick on his shoulder and runs away from home. The transfer portal, in my… Read more »
He must be pretty unhappy about something at USC to suddenly and publicly bolt like this. It’s USC’s job to keep its best players in the program. If it can’t do that, it’s USC’s problem, not the players who feel they can do better elsewhere.
I sure hope Toia, who seemed like a future star to me, decides to somehow stay at USC. I don’t see how this surprise negative development can be sugarcoated.
As he had a real shot of starting next year and for the next three years, it makes zero sense from a football standpoint. Makes more sense that it was something else. Hope whatever his problem is that he finds a solution.
I am in favor of the kids having the ability to transfer. But the portal is crazy. Over 2000 players have entered the portal and there is no where close to 2000 spots available. Lots of these kids are getting bad advice. I wonder if we will ever hear why Toia decided to leave.
I’m sure it will leak out. Most things do. He retweeted it. I really believe this sets USC back with a potential DL problem. I just hate this news. Regardless of whether the portal is crazy or not, it’s reality, and USC uses it to their benefit all the time. If USC ends up losing this kid for good, I’m leaning more towards 7-5 than 8-4. Toia showed amazing promise and athletic ability at 6-3, 325 and was already a very substantial player at USC despite only just arriving on campus. Huge loss for the USC defense. Talk about coming… Read more »
Agreed that it is a position of need. The weakest positions on the 2021 team are OL,DL and ILB. The DL has suffered three losses so far this spring: Pili to injury; Tremblay and now Toia to transfer. To play Capt. Obvious, the combination of weak DL and ILB is going to present problems against teams that can run the ball.
USC’s DL group sure isn’t what it was three months ago. This loss is just a big body slam to USC.
Happy Memorial Day!
Aye, Captain, methinks you are correct. aarrghh!
This pisses me off.
Being of he same ancestry we get a lot of prejudice and bad shots.
A lot of too dumb to do things.
There should be an investigation to make sure he got a decent chance.
This happens a lot in those elite schools but those schools are not elite in morals.
If he had parents that were billionaires this would not have happened.
Usc50, His position coach is Polynesian. I cannot imagine that prejudice was an issue. Let’s see what happens. If I were to speculate, I would guess that the problem was he did not get along with his position coach and/or had issues with classes. Based on personal experience, SC Athletics is very diligent on class attendance and work. But, that is all speculation. It will take time. All I know it that he was one of the best players on the team in a position of great need.
I just got nudged closer to your long-standing 6-6 projection. I really expect the Trojan DL to noticeably suffer from this big-time loss. Possible injuries will become a scary factor. USC’s gonna have to spend 24 hours a day in the portal trying to fix this, and I doubt anything even close to as valuable of a player can be reeled in. 😡
When you have an incompetent run your program for six years, stuff like this is going to happen. How it is possible that an elite program’s success or failure turns on the whims of a true freshman DL? Yet, that is exactly where SC Football is at. Helton has either good luck or bad luck. In 2018, he had a run of bad luck (or more correctly, he did not get any lucky breaks); in 2020, he was incredibly lucky – he should have lost to ASU, AZ (a truly horrid team), and UCLA and ended up 2-3. The ASU… Read more »
Laguna Beach is truly beautiful today: 64 degrees, perfect shades of blue sky, and no wind. Throw in the singing birds (this place is a recognized bird sanctuary), a colorful hummingbird patiently positioning itself off to my left, and the early summer muffled road noise from PCH — and I’m counting my lucky stars.
But USC football just took a big blow. Where will the blame flow?
Jay Toai is now in the transfer portal. This makes no sense.
Anyone with inside info?
Bad news. I don’t get it either. 😢
With Dart we are talking about possibilities in the future. Slovis has already shown what he is capable of, and if we have some blocking and a little run game he will excel this coming season. I cannot fault Helton for his ability to find talent like Darnold, Slovis, and now Dart. To bad he cannot develop his players to elevated heights. I am sure with a 3.98 gpa Dart will graduate with a USC degree before he moves on at the end of his junior year. I look forward to seeing him play and hopefully he will get the… Read more »
One wonders what the competition was like in tiny-population Utah as compared to Southern California. Perhaps the kid was a big fish because he was in a small pond.
But his name ‘Dart’ should help him prance around, and it would be a refreshing change for SC not to have its usual statue at quarterback.
Dart seems to have a great attitude and it will be interesting to see how much playing time he will get in the Fall. Wonderful accomplishment for him to be named the Gatorade National Player of the Year and nice surprise to have Trevor Lawrence deliver the news.
I really hope USC’s play in 2021 puts Jaxson Dart in a position to get on the field for some meaningful minutes. I think he’ll be gone after the 2023 season if spring reports as well as his “game” performance in the Coliseum are any indicators of where this kid is headed.
USC recruiters deserve enormous credit for spotting Dart and reeling him in. Great recruiting on the part of Helton and staff, both in terms of timely evaluation and the execution of the best recruiting plan to get him into Trojan gear.
The last two USC Gatorade award winning QBs had a difficult time at USC. Hopefully Dart does better. Dart is somewhat mobile and no major injuries(?) so that is already a plus.
Please, who were the two National Gatorade POY award winners who came to USC and had trouble. We gots to know! 😎
Didn’t both JT Daniels and Max Browne win some Gatorade awards? I think it’s fair to state that both of them had difficulties playing football at USC.
@TommyTrojan Poor JT. How he ever survived for even a year at USC is a wonder with that low-grade OL he had blocking for him. But he’s obviously very talented, having a great experience at GA, and simply had no protection at USC. Unfortunately for Browne, he turned out not to be so talented, and also never very composed as USC’s QB. Also unfortunately for the shakey, unsure-of-himself Browne, he had the grave misfortune of starting his first game against that truck you see down the highway — ALA. Thank god for Sam Darnold, whom Gatorade probably never heard of… Read more »
We have Toa helping coach this OL group, which is the least talented SC OL since 2018. I am convinced that Kedon will go down early i the season. Jaxson will see a lot of the field next year.
Weirdly, I’m not worried about Slovis going down. He’s good, but he could be a lot better if he can figure out what seems to have bothered his play for a long time now.
I’d love to see Dart in a game, and watch as he rips off a 37-yd gain against pressure, and up the middle finding space before he sprints outside.
If Dart has at least the ability to escape the pocket that Sam Darnold had at SC, then that’s a good thing. In my opinion, we haven’t had a good “dual threat” QB since Rodney Peete.
I thought Darnold was a dual-threat guy. He sure could escape from trouble at USC as I remember him. He was your basic miracle man who also turned the ball over too much. So far, he’s also shown pretty good pocket evasiveness in the NFL, even though with the Jets, he had nothing to work with.
I think Darnold did very well for himself to get out of New York and into Carolina. He and Christian McCaffrey already seem to have developed a good bond.
Sounds like he has the right attitude
@UtahTrojan Sounds (and looks) like he has the right talent too. I’m not going out much on a limb here to suggest that Dart will be USC’s next All-America, high draft choice QB. ✌
I very much hope that he is, but he still needs some development to get there. We all know where gentlemen Clay stands on developing his players.
Darnold overcame Clay. Maybe Dart can do the same thing. Graham Harrell should be able to help him out. In the end, it’s the players who have to perform. I’m fully sold from what I’ve seen of Dart so far. Maybe I’m just desperate for something good that is USC football-related.
There are so many quality personal coaching out there. Slovis had Warner, Dart can find the same kind of help outside USC.