USC plans to shuffle offensive line in final weeks of spring football
The Trojans have had a steady first-team OL through three weeks, but plan some shuffling the next two
Adam Grosbard (OC Register) — Through the first three weeks of USC spring football, the Trojans’ offensive line rotations have mostly been stagnant.
Like last year, Jalen McKenzie has manned the first-team right tackle with Brett Neilon at center and Andrew Vorhees and Liam Jimmons at the two guard spots. The lone newcomer is Courtland Ford filling in Alijah Vera-Tucker’s old position at left tackle.
Behind the first team has been a collection of redshirt freshmen and some veterans like Justin Dedich and Liam Douglass. But rarely have the two teams intertwined.
According to new offensive line coach Clay McGuire, that’s been by design as he evaluates his new players. But with two weeks left in camp before summer, McGuire expects to employ more of a mix-and-match approach.
“We’ve got six practices to make it uncomfortable,” McGuire said Tuesday morning. “We’re going to flip-flop some guys, put some guys in different positions, and kind of reorder the lineup a little bit, just to figure out and see who our best 5-8 guys are.”
McGuire came to USC from Texas State with the hope that he would be more compatible with the Air Raid offense run by third-year coordinator Graham Harrell. McGuire was a coach at Texas Tech when Harrell was the Red Raiders’ quarterback and both served under Mike Leach at Washington State together.
The Trojans’ linemen feel like McGuire is helping them with techniques in the Air Raid. They have a different approach when they get into their pass blocking sets, and are having an easier time identifying changes to their run blocking schemes at the line of scrimmage.
“I think that’s helped tremendously to have a mentor like that that’s been in the offense for years and years,” Neilon said. “I think technique-wise, what we’re doing really fits this offense. And also how we’re identifying things. It’s really going to benefit us a lot.”
So far, the results have been shaky. The defensive line has frequently gotten the best of its offensive counterpart this spring, and the offensive line surrendered eight sacks in last weekend’s spring game.
But McGuire says he likes the position group’s current trajectory, and the players understand their importance to the team’s success in the fall.
“The offense goes as we go. We’re the thing that keeps it running,” McKenzie said. “That’s the biggest point of pressure we keep on ourselves, keeping our accountability to our teammates and doing our jobs within the offense and doing our jobs to the standards we hold ourselves to.”
__________
TrojanDailyBlog members — Always feel free to add information or topics to the TDB which don’t necessarily pertain to any particular moderator post or member comment.
Hello to all. I haven’t really been paying much attention to USC football lately. Perhaps, with the exception of the end of the season after USC lost for the 8th straight time to the Bruins in the late 90s, my interest in USC football has never been lower. Last season was such a joke. I’m sick of the false hype. I’m sick of Helton and everything about him. I am sick of the soft practices, coddling, cancelling of much needed practice for “racial justice” training, … quite frankly, the entire BS surrounding the program. It is dampening my love of… Read more »
If we are truly inside an ongoing, steady, and permanent decline of USC football, that is ridiculously sad and something I never thought would occur in my lifetime. Unfortunately, I too no longer expect USC to win big games against really good teams. We actually don’t have many of those type of games, playing in the weak Pac-12 with our bad bowl alliances. But when USC does run across an ALA, OHIO ST, ND, (or even IOWA), I truly don’t expect the Trojans to come out winners there any longer. You know that saying, “This too shall pass.” Maybe that’s… Read more »
Sure hope so, Allen, but if it does it will catch me by surprise!
It will be really interesting to see what USC’s attendance is in 2021. CFB seems to be possibly in decline (you think?), with the exception of some groups of programs that are basically just dominating the sport. I’m also interested in how NIL considerations affect fans, as well as the inside of programs themselves. Uncertainty rules the day, except the USC OL continues to take heat as always. Me? I’m looking forward to the NFL Draft. I love that event. I’m especially interested to see where Talanoa Hufanga, USCs best safety in 20 years, goes. Troy Polamalu (only 5-10, 207)… Read more »
USC’s Song Girls project a glamorous ideal; 10 women describe a different, toxic reality
Who knew? A Rough Look At Lori Nelson; Mean Girls
Allen, for those of us that aren’t subscribers to the Times can you post the article? Thanks.
Only USC, UF, MICH, and MICH ST have had a player picked in every NFL Draft since the start of the common draft era
twimg.com
I must say UF and MSU surprises me some. USC and Michigan not t all.
Significant Changes Coming to Fall Camps After February Concussion Study College sports leaders are poised to make an adjustment between the lines: Preseason camp is getting a facelift. In response to results from a five-year concussion study released earlier this spring, an NCAA legislative committee is deeply exploring ways to make the annual August camp a safer place, officials told Sports Illustrated in interviews this week. The Football Oversight Committee (FOC), college football’s highest policy-making group, plans to present recommendations soon that will significantly change one of football’s most grueling traditions. Committee members are considering a reduction of full-padded camp practices (from… Read more »
In the surface this seems like it would be a good change for us as everyone will have less contact at practice. But it will make technique and coaching critical. Those staffs who are better at hitting all of the fine points will jump above those who are not. I certainly don’t think we fall into the category of a really well coached team.
It must make Clay Helton feel vindicated, wouldn’t you say?
Or at least happy. It’s impossible to press for more physical practices, as USC fans have been doing for years — when the NCAA won’t even allow it.
The chickafication of our culture continues unabated. Take a true manly sport of combat, teamwork, strategy; soften it up until it won’t matter if you are big or small, man or she-man, everyone will play college football.😡
Why not require the use of the exterior padded helmets at all practices? The Catholic High School I help out as a member of their medical staff has their players use them. It seems to be a big help. You can remove the padding for game days.
Great Idea! Hopefully commonsense will prevail.
I think USC’s search for a new women’s basketball coach should be very interesting to watch and a definite sign of things to come for Trojan athletics. Bohn went out of his way to address the search for a “championship-caliber coach.” He also said, “The future of our women’s basketball program is very promising, and we are committed to providing the necessary resources to restore the illustrious tradition of excellence of the Women of Troy. With our historically strong brand, new and improved facilities, and a talented roster of returners and highly-ranked incoming recruiting class…” Let’s see who Bohn reels in… Read more »
Linda Sharp is in her 70s, so she’s probably not a candidate. 🙂
Wiki — In 1976, USC hired Linda Sharp (also coached at Mater Dei) as an assistant coach for its women’s basketball program; Sharp was a part-time assistant at USC while still coaching at Mater Dei. After one year, USC promoted Sharp to head coach. In twelve seasons from 1977 to 1989, Sharp accumulated a 271-99 won-loss record. Turning around a program that won only five games in 1976–77, USC won 21 games in Sharp’s second season as head coach in 1978–79. Sharp led USC to back-to-back NCAA national championships in 1983 and 1984. For USC’s 1984 national title, Sharp earned WCAA, Wade Trophy, and Sporting News Coach… Read more »
Folt will pay mucho for this new hire, because women’s sports.
I wonder. I’d really like to see USC actually try to be superior in women’s basketball, like in the old days. Since we don’t even play softball, it would be nice to re-establish the Lady Trojans in hoops IMO. I suspect many couldn’t care less, however.
But since Trakh seems pushed out, maybe Bohn feels some pressure in this area.
Great news! Mark Trakh Retires As USC Women’s Basketball Head Coach Trakh posted a 65-50 record over the past four seasons (2018-21), his second stint at USC. LOS ANGELES — USC women’s basketball head coach Mark Trakh, who guided the Women of Troy the past four seasons, announced today (April 21) that he is retiring. This was Trakh’s second stint as USC’s head coach. He is the second-winningest women’s basketball coach in USC history behind Linda Sharp, with a 155-114 record. “This is a perfect time for a transition in the Trojan basketball program,” said Trakh. “I can’t imagine a more optimal… Read more »
Our line is clearly our weakest position group but there is some hope. Our defensive line is our best position group (IMO) and it looks like we’ve turned a corner in regard to practices. Our O line should be better prepared by going against our D line going full tilt in practice. Spring game didn’t really inspire confidence.
I watched the entire spring practice game and the O-line was absolutely horrible. Sure, there’s hope. Thank goodness. It springs eternal in spring for every CFB team, and SJS isn’t until Sept. 4. In the meantime, we are forced to make excuses for how the substandard USC OL looks every single year. No, we Trojan fans don’t expect miracles. We’d just like to see a USC OL that didn’t get its QB roughed up and hurt every year. We’ve already lost Mo Hasan for the year. JT Daniels is now flourishing at GA after getting his block knocked off trying… Read more »
I am certainly tired of it as well. But I think the biggest reason for our struggles is twofold
our practices are changing. The D Coaches simply won’t allow softness any longer. Not sure what we do about GH not wanting or caring to run the football and be physical.
I’m not sold that the USC football culture has really changed yet. Helton’s still the coach. USC still can’t run the ball or protect the QB. Last time we played a real game, we lost and our QB got mangled. I’ve been hearing the so-called “USC football culture change” was supposed to happen for years. As far as I’m concerned, it’s still supposed to happen and I’ll believe it when I see it. I’ve been sold this bill of goods too many times before to let a spring practice or a friendly Helton media trick me again. When USC starts… Read more »
Glad to see you are not drinking too much of Kool Aid. The 2021 SC team is NOT going to be good. It will go as far are Jaxson Dart can carry it
Dart just might have to save USC football. But I’ve only seen him once. Since he was SO MUCH better than Moss, it makes me wonder about all those earlier spring press reports which refused to point out this glaring difference between the two at this stage. As I’ve been saying here today, I’ll believe my eyes, but not my ears, when it comes to Trojan football.
Clay is stubborn and will play Kedon, even if Kedon is injured (which he appears to be). I think 4 games in 2021 for Kedon is about right. GH’s offense will work with a mobile QB. Kedon made it work his frosh year with three NFL starting WRs (Pittman, Amon Ra, and London) and a NFL back up (Vaughns). That receiving corp was probably the best in the nation that year. I really think Kedon was hurt most of last year.
I am not naive or even optimistic, but reporting suggests that OLine changes could be in the offing. We saw what the line did last year with Vera-Tucker , and it wasn’t good. Average would be an over statement. Based on those results I don’t think any player on the Line should be safe. I would rather roll the dice and see what a different group of players could do. It is possible they could do worse, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Everybody, and I mean everybody can see that the Line is a glaring weakness. It is time… Read more »
At least the entire nation knows USC still can’t run the ball, hasn’t been able to for years (especially when it matters) and that the Trojan O-line is the weak link on the team. I’d say that now is a perfect time and place for USC to finally begin fixing the problem. Will they? Nobody really knows. But now is a great opportunity for USC to finally take the bull by the horns and fix the problem. A lot of things have to happen for that to occur. It’s obviously not an easy problem to rectify, as USC’s history since… Read more »
The last two Helton OLs had talent on them. This one is the least talented OL of the Helton era. I still do not see a change coming until 2022.
Part of that falls on GH and his system. Almost everyone can predict the running plays. If the back is on the left, we run right and vice versa. That stupid fast tempo thing we did last year was even more of a tell. If we went really fast, we were going to run and everyone knew it and knew where. The backers and ends didn’t even have to think about it. They flowed right to the ball. Our QB NEVER keeps it, so the read option is stupid. Our running schemes are so broken.
Allen, I take your word for it. Still think this group can win 9 games? What we do know is Clay is incapable of fixing it. GH is most likely incapable of fixing it next seaon and the new OL coach walked into a disaster. I read the comments of the OL coach on his players at the WeAreSC board (old Gary P) and they were laughable. He sounded like Clay. I think Kedon would be far better served by not playing for SC next year. The only SC OL I have seen which has compared to the last 4… Read more »
Wow. I had forgotten that day when Hobbi got exposed as never ready for prime time. I felt so sorry for him. This is not what you want to be feeling when you are rooting for your favorite team.
I am convinced Matt got hurt that game.
JT has much more arm talent than Kedon. He makes throws Kedon just can’t make.
I’m happy that JT landed well at GA. He gave it his all at USC, but injuries cut him off at the pass. Hopefully, if Slovis gets hurt again, Dart can step in as well for him as Slovis did for JT.
USC, aka QB and WR U, is making a habit of relying on true frosh QBs to lead the team lately.
He is also playing for an elite coach, behind an elite OL with a solid running game. And, he is now in an elite O scheme. JT noted how much better the scheme and coaching was at GA. It was not sour grapes. He was just matter of fact. SC is simply not elite on O. Third rate OL, incompetent HC and simplistic O scheme.
Dawg Nation — Kirby Smart and Todd Monken were reasons JT Daniels chose the Bulldogs, and Monken’s coaching has helped him improve his game: “I’ve definitely learned a lot under Coach Monken. I never saw the game or understood it the way he does until I started talking to him. There were a lot of similarities in the way that we thought but coming from a pure progression Air Raid, and it was a little different from my freshman year at USC, to how we do it here. “It’s really interesting to see how NFL, true passing concepts are taught… Read more »
As you wrote earlier, Clay thinks he is an elite O coach (and he is clearly not) and that is a large part of the problem. To return to my analogy, we have a mediocre high school math teacher heading the math dept at MIT.
USC has a very favorable 2021 schedule, except having to play ND in South Bend, which I chalk up under Helton as an auto-loss.
ASU in Tempe is obviously an issue. But as I’ve said here recently, I now think USC can take UCLA in the Coliseum. I give it to the Trojans 60/40 on that one.
Even assuming USC loses to UCLA, which is entirely possible, that’s only three losses. Who else do you pencil in as a loss for USC outside of ND, ASU and UCLA?
Anybody with a better coached team. Ok, I know, that is everyone that we play against.
Clear losses: ASU, ND and UCLA
One loss: SJS or BYU (do not know which)
Two more losses: do not know which two- a guess would be Utah and Cal.
I’ve been saying 9-3 since the end of last season. Losses to ND, ASU and a random one. I think the fist game will set the tone. It’s interesting that the original game scheduled was UC Davis and Bohn was able to get SJS. I remember when we played the likes of Alabama, Oklahoma, Ohio State, etc. early in the season. The worst first game loss in the games I attended in the Coliseum was to Memphis State. Without “Googling”, I think it was 1991.
LSU for Slovis? Wouldn’t blame him based on what you just said, RJJ….
If Kedon were your kid, would you want him to play behind this OL? Last two years, Kedon has had a first round NFL OL talent playing LT. This year he gets a 3 star High School OL playing as a true sophomore, who has never played the LT position at this level, and played a couple of games last year as an OG. What you can count on is that Ford will get the opponent’s best pass rusher every down. As Chris states, the O scheme is simplistic and predictable, with only four running plays. Kedon is going to… Read more »
I think USC has totally proven that having one good LT on your team does not make a good O-line. That leaves four other nobodies for the opposing defense to push around, or slide past.
I also think Slovis will get hurt again in 2021. Playing QB at USC is simply a dangerous sport nowadays.
Clay Helton appears on yet another ‘Hot Seat’ list, this time by CBS: Clay Helton, USC Helton has been on the hot seat for the last three offseasons, so it should come as no surprise that he finds himself listed here. The Trojans have become an afterthought on the national stage at best, a laughing stock at worst. But here’s the thing — an argument can be made that they shouldn’t be thought of in that manner. Remember, USC entered championship weekend last year with an unblemished record before losing to Oregon, which actually finished second in the Pac-12 North.… Read more »
Here’s another Hot Seat List: Jim Harbaugh is #1, Helton #2, Brohm #3, Frost #4 and Leach #5. There’s 30 total. Chip Kelly, the newest losing UCLA coach is only #26. They must not care about football in Westweird.
https://www.coacheshotseat.com/
Not under chairman foltie mao’s rules….
Ryan Kartje (LA Times) — In light of the guilty verdict in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the USC football team opted to postpone its spring practice Tuesday and dedicate its afternoon session to discussing racial injustice as a team. “While we realize there is much work that needs to be done, it is important not to push the conversation to a later date as our Los Angeles community has witnessed injustices for years,” the team wrote in a statement. “We will continue to work with our university and local communities to use our platform to promote positive change.” USC’s next spring practice… Read more »
Murder 2 for what should have been manslaughter. Plus, Auntie Maxine, the original “crazy as an outhouse rat” character, openly threatening the jurors to convict or else!
Do we live in a beautiful country or what?
When something as important as offensive line play is so bad you fire the coach, the next step is to find someone better as a replacement. Currently USC has become the the lowest bidder type of hiring company. I do not see much improvement coming on the line with our new coach. It’s as if Clay hired someone he could beat in a checkers tournament. I always hope for the best, but these days if you bleed Cardinal and Gold you’ve probably ruptured your bladder. I would have more confidence with a coach with a proven record over a guy… Read more »