Adam Grosbard (OC Register) — The USC football and men’s water polo programs were cleared to return to workouts on Tuesday following a nearly two-week pause due to positive COVID-19 tests in the two teams.
In the last 11 days, USC conducted three rounds of COVID-19 testing among student-athletes participating in workouts and had no new positive test results.
The two teams paused workouts on Aug. 26 due to eight positive COVID-19 tests across the rosters that were traced back to off-campus spread around the USC community.
The pause was extended to after Labor Day after one additional positive test last week, but now the teams can return to their socially distant workouts held outside in compliance with Los Angeles County health guidelines.
__________
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.
Today has made me feel especially sad for all the USC players, and even our coaches, for having to sit back powerlessly and watch college football go on without them through no fault of their own. They’re penalized for playing in Calif and in the Pac-12. We’ve all heard that life isn’t fair before. In the grand scheme of things of course, a lost college football season may mean nothing to many of us. But to these players, who have worked so hard to prepare and with super limited shelf lives as football players, this has got to really hurt.… Read more »
Allen this circus for 2020 football season has taken a toll on the fans too. I know speaking for myself how empty this season is starting with no Trojan football, it is just hard to take.
Steveg, to be honest, have we had Trojan football since Sam graduated? I do not know what to call what Clay has put on the field, but it is more like Utah State football than Trojan football.
Revenue will not bounce back quickly either IMHO. And when it comes to cash, no school will escape the 2020 damage it will suffer quickly — particularly the private institutions.
But hey Allen, here’s a brilliant way to lessen the negative PR damage, raise tuition 3.5% and teach courses online in the process. What a great management decision. 👎
Sounds like a ripoff to me. Hate to see it.
I know of lifelong donors to the University who have pledged to NEVER give another dime to the school until leadership changes are made in the President’s Office and the BOT’s…. That may be the only way to get anyone’s attention in University Park.
Tommy, I think you are right on. Most SC fans are going to remember this for some time. Madame President Mao will face the bottom line of loss of income support (not that she cares that much). I wonder what ESPN and Fox are doing re payments to the Pac? My guess is they are simply not paying them. How about the sponsor to UCLA? I think they were paying 13 million a year. Think they are paying? Think of all the infrastructure at USC that was built around football. That is now sitting fallow. The income loss must be… Read more »
I spent yesterday at home working on business related things on my computer. Every hour or so, I was treated to catcalls from my wife and daughter (graduates of GA Tech and GA Southern, respectively—both winners yesterday) about when the USC game was on, what channel, etc. 2020 is gonna be uncomfortable at my house. SC has become a P*ssy school in a P*ssy league thanks to poor leadership at every level. At least our AD is trying to step-up, but he is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic right now….
I still think the best statement was made by someone on this board. The Pac did not shoot itself in the foot by deciding not to play – it amputated a leg. My guess is the Big 10 reverses course and starts playing in a couple of weeks (ND assured that result I think – the fact the Irish are playing is a clear sign that the Big 10 Presidents were simply wrong in their assessment – a point they will never admit). I really do not know what the Pac will do.
Pete Thamel — If the Big Ten is to return, sources made it clear to Yahoo Sports that they’d have to present a distinctly different picture medically than when they decided to postpone the season nearly six weeks ago. The league’s presidents and chancellors voted to postpone 11-3 at that time. The biggest medical difference available today compared to Aug. 11, when the Big Ten decided to postpone the season, is mainstream availability of daily rapid testing. So far, the Pac-12 and Big 12 have announced partnerships to provide the testing for their schools. President Donald Trump spoke to Big… Read more »
Let’s hope the federal government stays out of it.
I view this as a political dance. The decision not to play was based primarily, IMO, on politics, not the health of the players. The Big 10 Presidents can NEVER admit that. Thus, a dance. The academic bureaucracies inside the Big 10 overwhelmingly detest Trump and his supporters, who happen to want to play. So, the Presidents must dance. My guess is that they will reverse their decision based on “new facts The simple truth is they look foolish with ND playing and Mich and tOSU sitting out.
Watching Brian Kelly on the sidelines wearing a mask just made me think how coaches are always going to great lengths to hide what they are saying anyway. So the mask-wearing actually kind of suits them just fine.
50 years ago today, Sam “Bam” Cunningham and the Trojans totally brutalized the Tide, 42-21, and changed the game, and football in the South, in the process. I was a freshman at USC at the time. Hard to believe USC still only went 6-4-1 that season, and somehow got rolled by 6-5 UCLA under Tommy Prothro, 45-20.
Maybe someone should remind Folt, Caruso and Helton that USC football stands for excellence and historical significance even when it did not field superior teams — and not the lesser product the Trojans have fielded lately. Does Carol Folt even know this?
Hi Allen, I was thinking about that game last night. It was the beginning of my Junior year at SC. We really ripped the south a new one that night. It IS hard to believe we were only 6-4-1. Our football team changed the way football players were recruited that night. 50 years later the south is still very biased and racial but Sam Cunningham and the Trojans at least gave thousands of deserving athletes an opportunity for higher education and starting point to the NFL and other professional opportunities that did not exist for non whites in the south… Read more »
The racial bias of which you speak, i do not see; and I have lived here for 30 years now. The division of which you speak is a left-right political divide. DMcD, you probably won’t like to hear this, but the principals of MLK (Atlanta his home town and final resting place) have been bastardized by those who followed him. Sad to say, this included his immediate family. The use of his name to keep the race-division going has frankly been an embarrassment to Atlanta. The reason the King Family and the close “entourage” (Ralph David Abernathy and John Lewis,… Read more »
ATL DDS, I have lived in southwest Florida since October 2015. So having lived and still living in the south my family has personally experienced racial bias on a first hand basis. My wife is from south America and so is her Mother who live with me and they are both US Citizens. My wife and I have experienced the culture of the southern people and the Northerners who live here full time and part time. Having “wet back” comments thrown at guests and family who have the ability to speak Spanish as well as English in public at our… Read more »
Well I am sorry for your experiences in SW Florida. My comments about Atlanta stand. I spoke up because the continued stereotypes of the South pain me. We look at a person here not at the groups that the Dems continue to push as a point of division….
Oh, hell no! Of course the little Maoist doesn’t know this fact about the history of the school that (regretfully) employs her.
Brian Kelly, the ND coach since 2010, has been extended through 2024 as the Irish head coach.
Kelly has definitely had his way with USC. He’s 7-3 against the Trojans.
Good To See
WR Robert Woods (first-time) and Jets QB Sam Darnold (repeat) have been designated as captains for the Rams and the Jets.
The other Ram captains as voted on by the players are:
DL Aaron Donald
DL Michael Brockers
S John Johnson
OL Andrew Whitworth
QB Jared Goff
WR Robert Woods
WR Cooper Kupp
P Johnny Hekker
Jets Captains:
QB Sam Darnold
OT George Fant
NT Steve McLendon
S Marcus Maye
S Matthias Farley
Bruce Feldman (Big Noon Kickoff) said this morning that the Big Ten presidents could re-decide to play in a vote as early as tomorrow. “There’s more optimism now on the Big Ten front than there’s been in a long time.” October is their aim date.
Allen, I know you think the Pac will follow. I remain skeptical. Perhaps Merton Hanks can work a miracle, but it is quite a challenge. They would have to get a variance from both the CA state and the local CA authorities to do so. Right now, it is illegal for SC, UCLA, Cal and Stanford to have a full team practice. Silly positions, but I view CA politicians as mindless ideologues. Speaking of idelogues, would Cal even be able to field a team? I assume that a huge chunk of that team would simply boycott absent their demands being… Read more »
How are the Rams and Chargers holding full-scale practices if the Pac-12 can’t? Don’t the CA authorities have jurisdiction over the NFL teams? I think they do. As far as follow-the-leader goes, the Pac-12 has gone lock-step with the Big Ten every step of the way. Now that the Pac-12 has a big testing gig set up, why wouldn’t they step up and play — so long as the Big Ten does? If the Pac-12 decides to be the only Power Five conference to sit out the entire season, I don’t see how it could even play in the winter… Read more »
Great point Allen about the Rams, Chargers, even the 49ers. If they can go why can’t the colleges. Not fun watching Clemson/Wake Forest in what looks like Standard definition. Not sure if it is my channel or what.
I watched a couple of upsets that were good games; Arkansas St went on the road to beat Kansas St, 35-31 and Georgia Tech beat Florida St on the their home field, 16-13.
Loved to see the late fade of the ‘Noles. ✌
I’ve seen some absolutely amazing programming today detailing the horror and bravery brought about by 9/11 and its long, forever-lasting aftermath. Pardon me for feeling amazingly patriotic on this, the 19th anniversary of that painful, confusing day, resulting in the loss of so many innocent lives. So many quotes and thoughts could be used in remembrance. Here’s a short one: “One of the worst days in America’s history saw some of the bravest acts in America’s history. We’ll always honor the heroes of 9/11. And here at this hallowed place, we pledge that we will never forget their sacrifice.” —President George… Read more »
Never need to excuse yourself for being patriotic, Allen. Certainly not when I am around. Fight On and God Bless America
Yesterday hit me harder than I thought it was going to. So much awesome American bravery and sacrifice from so many to protect the hard-won ideals and opportunities I hope I never take for granted.
And today seems to me like the real beginning of college football. “Football is truly back” for me today. I sure wish USC was playing, but respect the Pac-12’s decision to hold off, even though it’s actually looking more and more like the conference the Pac-12 mimicked, the Big Ten, may resume play in October.
Best statement I have heard about today”s world is what we need to do is be like we were on Sept. 12th.
NAVY coach Ken Niumatalolo after his team was absolutely crushed 55-3 by a much better-prepared (they actually hit each other in practice) BYU team: “As the first few plays happened, I was like ‘Yikes!’ We were moving at two different speeds,” Niumatalolo said of BYU and Navy. “They looked like they were playing a game. We looked like we were playing our first scrimmage. They were a team you could tell had been playing and practicing normal, we looked like a team having its first live interaction.” Niumatalolo used the analogy of baking a cake and not using some of… Read more »
And Niumatalolo was actually on my final list of six I would have settled for 3 years or so ago. Wow, being a faux-AD isn’t that easy Allen. 😏
Indeed, it’s not a job for the inexperienced, meek, arrogant or short-sighted. You’re better qualified than many! 😀
His only real problem is not his coaching so much as it is his system he uses. i think Navy will wake up for their next game.
Just read a survey online. Who knows how valid it is. Claims the sports industry has taken a huge hit in public perception- the largest of any industry fell from a 45% positive to a 30% positive with the 15% shifting to negative. I know I will never watch the NBA again for any reason. Baseball is now a close second. Doubt I will ever watch it again. I used to watch the NBA playoffs and at least two baseball games a week. Never again. I will also never purchase Nike again. Not that they care! Evidently, I am not… Read more »
RJJ, you aren’t alone, still a lot of us rednecks (lol) still hanging on. I have officially given up on professional sports also.
Outkick.com — Now, Nebraska’s attorney general Douglas J. Peterson wrote a very ominous letter to Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren. Peterson stated that the conference does not appear to have the proper registration to operate as a non-profit in Nebraska, asked the Big Ten to either prove that it is registered or explain why it is not, and requested documents of the bylaws and for evidence that the bylaws were followed in postponing the season. The letter also asks for documentation of all of the medical information that the Big Ten relied upon in making its decision. The attorney general… Read more »
Love it. Nebraska is pushing back big time. You can see that tOSU is also pushing back. Harbaugh also joined in. The decision to push back May force the Big 10 to change, particularly as the evidence of heart inflammation is disappearing. Notice the huge difference in the “woke” Pac. Crickets here. Marches and lawsuits in the Big Ten. If you were looking for a career in the NFL and wanted serious football culture, would you stay in the Pac? I would not.
I think the Pac-12 is in serious trouble. It’s the quintessential “reactive” league, always waiting on others to make the call (except for the Pac-12 Network, still unsupported by any financial partners because of Larry Scott’s flopperooni position.
If the Big Ten doesn’t wait until winter/spring to play, neither can the Pac-12. Interesting stuff indeed. Gonna be a wild ride to the end of 2020, that’s for sure. Woo hoo!
Allen, as I recall both of us agreed that collegiate football on the West Coast was in trouble. The Pac is now in really bad shape no matter what the Big Ten does. I think Oregon has lost 7 starters:”; SC has lost two; that I know of, UCLA has lost one; AZ has also lost a ton. And, this ignores the social justice warriors at Cal and how many others they can convince. I totally agree, the Pac is in serious trouble. The problem is I think most of the Pac Presidents view this as a favorable outcome, including… Read more »
@TrojanRJJ As you know, I’ve never felt that the Pac-12 presidents, as a whole, have wanted to actually de-emphasize college football and lower the conference’s overall competitiveness. I’ll still need a little more proof to go that far. It’s just too mind-boggling and negative for me to grasp, especially for USC, with all its amazing heritage.
Once Folt has to face USC alumni and it’s declining athletic monetary situation after further-reduced ticket sales and Trojan fan apathy, I’ll be keen to see how she and the BOTs finally respond.
Maybe the presidents don’t have an actual agenda to de-emphasize football. However, it seems a too big of a portion of the schools in this conference feel all they have to do is put a team on the field to play a game, whether it can beat anyone or not. The level of play in this conference shows it is inferior to the other Power 5 conferences with one maybe two schools trying to build championship level winners. You could argue the other conferences have maybe 2 or 3-schools trying to win big also. But the drop off in competitive… Read more »
@Jamaica Underlying this all, is the simple fact that college football is just not as important in the West as it is in other parts of the country. People do a lot of other things out here. The enthusiasm is surely lacking compared to many other more rabid CFB hotspots in the nation. Even many years ago, probably over 20, a recruiting coordinator from the SEC came to my home and I drove him around town and the beach. He laughingly said, “If I lived here, I don’t know how much I would care about football, really.” That kind of… Read more »
And yet….. California, because of its living attraction, has produced for decades, a top 2/3 recruiting base for most all sports not just football. The opportunity to build a successful program with more top athletes available close by makes it easier to produce a winning program cuts the difficulty in half if you take aim at that resource. California high school football continues to produce an over abundance of college bound players If Clay Helton could do just one thing at a high enough level, that of recruiting the high end of football recruits in his backyard, all he would… Read more »
@Jamaica One area where things have definitely changed out west is the the lower number of superior OLs and DLs produced in the west. That’s a big-time deficiency, especially when its your QBs who get hammered because they aren’t protected properly and don’t have the benefit of balanced attacks. This has obviously hurt teams out here and the other conferences are also taking advantage by plucking prime prospects (Centennial’s super DE/DL Korey Foreman may bolt too) away. USC always used to get these 5-star guys in much greater numbers. Gentleman Clay simply doesn’t have the clout or pedigree to beat… Read more »
I was not as clear as I should have been. I do not think the Pac Presidents wish to de-emphasize football. They are simply neither nurturing it nor protecting it. At the same time, they are strongly supporting, encouraging, nuturing and protecting cultures that are adverse to it. That is simply not happening at a place like ND. It is half now at the ND/Duke game. The ND administration treasures its football heritage and legacy and both nurtures and protects them. That is simply not happening at SC (which has a legacy and heritage equal to or better than ND)… Read more »
@TrojanRJJ IMO, not nurturing or protecting their football programs is the exact same thing as de-emphasizing football. Language semantics. If the Pac-12 ever truly moves in that direction, which I still don’t think has occurred, at least not in places like ORE and UW or ASU, USC will have no choice but to leave the conference. And if Folt truly allows USC football to go down the tubes, I can’t wait to see what her world would be like as the insanely vilified USC president who ruined the football program that owned west coast football for 100 years. USC would… Read more »
Sure wish someone in CA would do the same, but our AG is about as out of it as you can get being so extreme leftist.
I don’t get it. Two things that ever happened to Nebraska was having the NORAD due to the State’s central location for SAC operations and, being invited to join the Big Ten. And the invitation was mostly due to Husker football which is pretty much all that University has notoriously succeeded at. Their academic rating is not that good. Now the program wants to grab their ball and go home to pout if they can’t play football. It isn’t about what they want, it is about them being a member of a conference that is trying to do the right… Read more »
Jam — I think other schools in the Big Ten, not just NEB, would disagree with your position. In any case, the Big Ten needs to be fully transparent and totally accountable for what they decided and exactly why and when. Once that happens, and it hasn’t happened yet, NEB won’t have anything to bark about, absent some unexpected revelations.
In the meantime, the Rams are taking on the Cowboys this Sunday at the amazing Sofi Stadium. Just why is that, if it’s so unhealthy to play ball?
NFL ratings: Initial results show decline for K.C.-Houston kickoff game Yahoo.com — The initial wave of NFL ratings for Thursday night’s season kickoff have arrived, and the preliminary numbers are down for the NFL. However, the event was the most-watched sporting event since the Super Bowl, and only the second show since the Super Bowl to exceed 20 million viewers. (The Academy Awards in February averaged 23.9 million.) According to Deadline, the Kansas City-Houston game initially rated a 5.2 among adults 18-49, the key demographic for advertisers, and boasted a preliminary total of 16.4 million viewers. At the moment — ratings are adjusted upward… Read more »
I ran across this somewhere and found it interesting about amazing coach Bill Snyder: “Snyder’s method is so complex, it’s simple: Find something to be better at and then do it better than anybody. “He came up with his ’16 Goals For Success’ that are just as applicable to life as they are to football. They start with Commitment and Unselfishness, going through Self-Discipline and Great Effort, and finishing with Leadership and Responsibility. “His methods boil down to three key categories: hire good assistants and let them coach, adapt to the talents of your roster, and work harder than anybody…”… Read more »
It seems to me a sign of a great coach that can adapt their system to the maximize the talents of their players. It never seemed to make sense to try to force players to try to do something they can’t.
I just read an article that the German study showing a high incidence of heart inflammation tied to COVID 19 was simply wrong and has been withdrawn. Common sense would indicate that such a correlation does not exist. If COVID actually caused heart inflammation, we would have seen a much higher incidence in the many folks who actually contracted it.
Are you equating common sense and the world of academia? 😁✌
Academia and Common Sense: those concepts go together like Military and Intelligence or Jumbo and Shrimp….
Seems way to soon to be able to know the full story about this myocarditis. How many get it, how long does it last, how many have permanent damage. The prudent thing would be to monitor high level athletes and for other post Wuhan with cardiac symptoms to avoid strenuous exercise for awhile. Good research takes time.
OL Alijah Vera-Tucker announced today that he is opting out of the coming college football season to declare for the NFL Draft.
Per our discussion below, if a kid is at SC for an NFL career AND the kid has the potential for such a career AND it eligible to leave for the NFL this spring, playing for SC this year (assuming SC plays at all) would be insane. The two top prospects have already left. I think 6 or 7 have opted out of Oregon as well. Playing the Pac in 2020 for those kids is simply irrational. If a kid is in a conference that is actually playing, then it makes sense to play and improve your stock for the… Read more »
Allen, just thank the Trojan Gods that we are very deep at the O-line position and have outstanding coaching on that side of the line.
Oh wait, that’s Alabama I’m thinking about. Never mind!!! 😟
You actually had me there for a second TT. Thanks for the chuckle!
The Rams have signed CB Jalen Ramsey to the largest contract a DB has ever received. Ramsey has signed a five year deal worth up to $105 million, according NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The deal includes $71.2 million in total guarantees. Ramsey came out of Brentwood Acad (TN) and was rated by both Scout and Rivals as a five-star recruit and one of the truly elite prospects in his class. He originally committed to USC, but eventually signed with FSU. On May 24, 2013, in his final HS track meet, Ramsey shattered the Tennessee state record and long jumped 25′ 3.25″. He also had personal bests… Read more »
Was this guy another Helton miss? Sounds like an incredible athlete.
Can’t Blame Helton For This One per Bleacher Report. In 2013 Helton was the PGC/QB coach before being promoted to OC by Lane Kiffin. Ramsey really left the Trojans at the alter here: Feb 5, 2013 — In what has been a rough patch for USC’s 2013 football recruiting class, you can add another cruel blow. According to Scout.com’s Chad Simmons, 5-star cornerback Jalen Ramsey has rescinded in his verbal pledge to the Trojans and instead will sign with Florida State. Scout has confirmed that Ramsey called USC and de-committed on Monday night and, in doing so, leaves USC with… Read more »
Thanks for the history lesson. I remember the guy’s name,didn’t realize it was so long ago….
Among the 1,352 Covid tests USC athletics conducted between mid-June and Friday, only 17 were positive.
There will be lots of workouts, but no football till after the election (virus) and the civil unrest after Trump wins.
Could be right on both fronts steveg. I have a hunch some coaches are purposely holding back test results to hide the positive cases that would cause a public outcry to stop the practices & games. You are not going to please everyone on this matter. Either way you will get blasted by those on the other side of the fence.
Lane Kiffin on physical practices at Ole Miss with reduced numbers at practice. “I guess in a way I’ve kind of had a little bit of practice…the sanctions at USC our numbers were so far down. I think I made a mistake that year after that really good year there even though our numbers were really, really low because of the sanctions and only being able to sign 15 guys. We didn’t tackle. We didn’t do the same practice formats and we went out and played really poorly that year,” related Kiffin. (at Ole Miss) “We’ve tackled like we normally… Read more »
Good post Golden Trojan and so so true. However, Kiffin never got orders from Pat Haden to just “baby sit” the team like Nikias wanted Helton to do? And I don’t believe Kif could have stomached following that kind if order if he was given it. I have to believe even Max Nikias would have found another HC for the football team if he cared about winning games & championships. No one could be that clueless could they?.Kif keeps bringing up his days at USC enough to where you sometimes wonder if he would jump at that gig if offered… Read more »
Depending on how Kiffin does at Miss., I would kinda like to see him back at SC. Coach O came back to SC through Ole Miss.
In this Sh**storm of a year, 2020 could bring anything to the door of reality. Kiffy returning to SC would be small potatoes compared to the political pandemic we have been forced to endure….
And the good news ATL (cough; cough) is that we still have 56 more days until it’s over — assuming, of course, that when the votes are all counted there’s no challenge to the outcome. 🙏
There are radical groups out there that are planning a response to any voting outcome that doesn’t include a landslide for Biden of delay, riot, delay, riot until they get the outcome they want. See Orange County Congressional Elections in 2018. Mail The Vote is a transparent attempt by the left to cause more shenanigans on a national level as what happened in OC 2 years ago.
Jamaica, you may be on to something! Kif does or did have a home in Manhattan Beach I believe. And so does or did Sark. Knowing who is the AD in our man Bohn, he might entertain that in the near future. In retrospect, Kiffin had the deck stacked against him with our limitations, which were not of his doing. Maybe he has matured enough to handle a job like USC now. I do want to see this defensive coaching group have the opportunity to show what our team can do. We know we have a potent offense with the… Read more »
USC hasn’t had a good offensive line in many years now and the sentiment seems to be overwhelmingly that Drevno and Helton are not the guys to fix that problem. There’s nothing that either has ever done in their coaching careers to suggest they can fix that weak part of the Trojan team. ORE continues to blatantly out-recruit USC for big-time OL preps, year after year, in the one area that USC needs the most immediate and long-term improvement. It’s a problem. Strange to think that for so many years USC used to be such a huge target destination for… Read more »
Allen, it is a bad break for USC football that Helton would ignore the obvious you point out. How he would turn his back from one of the most storied balanced offenses in all of CFB and gets away with recruiting 3-star linemen expecting them to just protect the QB who throws the ball 98% of the time. But then he goes further into disbelief bringing in a OL coach who has zero experience with this Air Raid offense and it immediately shows so blatantly how poorly it is all managed. Its like Helton never cares to lay out a… Read more »
@Jamaica You forget that I am a huge Graham Harrell fan. I think the Air Raid could work fantastic at USC — but we need a superior OL coach, who can also recruit OLs like nobodies business, to give the offense the running game threat and pass pro ability to become consistently strong against even the best. I don’t think it’s Drevno’s lack of experience that is the problem. He’s just a mediocre coach who can’t bring in the 4/5-star types that USC used to load up on. That’s Helton’s fault, because he hired him. I guess Drevno was the… Read more »
But this year we lost the top 3 in-state receivers – Troy Franklin, Beau Collins and Kyron Ware Hudson to other teams. So how can we expect to stay an elite passing team if we lose the top receivers in our immediate area? There is a real recruiting problem on the offensive side of the ball. As we lose some past offensive line recruits from the team, they are replaced with 3 star athletes. The offense could be a shambles in another year or two if things dont get better. If Harrell is such a gem, why dont the best… Read more »
@gametv I’ll always like Graham Harrell more than you. That’s just the way it’s always gonna be. IMO, it’s not his primary job to recruit. OC Norm Chow wasn’t a good recruiter at all for the Trojans. Despite his big name, it was Ed O, Pete Carroll and Lane Kiffin who brought in most all the recruits. Chow oversaw the offense, called plays for awhile, and made changes that Carroll insisted on. The OL coach should be responsible for signing the prep OLs and the WR coach should attract the WRs. The HC should close the deals, if necessary. As… Read more »
No Allen I didn’t forget about your support of GH & his offense. But I responded to your post on Drevno & Helton preventing this offense from executing better. When GH came aboard, I took him at his word he would run the ball. He hasn’t or he doesn’t run it enough to keep all the pressure off the QB. Steve Spurrier’s Fun”n”gun offense is the closest passing offense to Air Raid that won a nattie. He ran the ball some 20-30% of the game. GH runs maybe 5% at the most and puts so much danger on the QB… Read more »
@Jamaica USC didn’t have a good enough OL to run the ball in Harrell’s first year, regardless of what he would have liked to do or what he told the public. That much was obvious to me.
The OL could barely pass protect either. Daniels got crushed immediately in game 1 within minutes, and Slovis has already had two concussions and was knocked around repeatedly.
Following up with your post here, I think if the Air Raid has any chance of becoming an offense that can get a team like USC to the playoff and win, you have to have a running component worthy enough to offset what the defense is scheming on. Right now, when you play the Trojan offense, you simply gameplan two priorities: getting to the QB to knock him out and physically punishing the WRs like meat on a hook to where the Receiver starts worrying about the next big hit & gang tackle after his legs rather than getting open… Read more »
USC’s Air Raid would be just fine against anyone in the country — if we had superior offensive line talent and coaching. Unfortunately, the USC football program has lost its running game mojo and this started many years before Graham Harrell became the OC. With unimpressive Drevno as the OL coach, it’s unreasonable to expect Harrell to radically fix USC’s running game in just one single year, especially when our RBs are only average outside of Markese Stepp, who unfortunately missed much of the 2019 season with injury. USC’s experiment with the Air Raid is only one season old. I’m… Read more »
Clay said that he made the decision to move to the air raid offense after the Notre Dame game two years ago. Clay did use a quick passing offense, with JT at the helm, and USC actually played really well in the first half and kept the game fairly close. So Clay went all-in on the air raid offensive concept. But the lesson that Clay should have learned was that we performed better with an air raid offense because our offensive line was performing so poorly. It is the only offense that is suited to a weak team. He should… Read more »
@gametv “Clay said that he made the decision to move to the air raid offense after the Notre Dame game two years ago.” I never believed Clay when he said the above. He never makes quick decisions. He just slogs along, usually with old, ineffective assts until someone forces him to do something. I think Clay actually rehearses speaking with the press and constantly goes over what he is going to say more than he spends time doing what he should be doing to actually win games. He fills his head with all kinds of meaningless statistical stuff to cover… Read more »
Allen, I know you love GH AND I agree (a) he is (i) the most talented coach on the staff, (ii) has a significant upside, and (b) his spread O is a light years upgrade from Tee Martin, Clay and the “gumbo” O. But, he is also (d) young and learning. Thus, Clay’s incompetence is both a blessing and a curse. A competent HC would be mentoring GH. NO CHANCE Clay is capable of that!. So, GH is learning on the job. I view the OL issues as part of GH’s learning curve. I think that when Orlando took the… Read more »
@TrojanRJJ I think Harrell does have some on the staff who are basically there for him, but I don’t have their names in mind. I just remember thinking at one time awhile ago that GH had taken care of himself. As far as Drevno goes, I’m simply perplexed that even Helton would want to keep a guy who can’t recruit or coach that well. Just another mystery within USC football these days. I think 2020 would have been a pretty strong USC season, especially with Tufele aboard. But lately, most news out of Trojan football either seems to be non-existent,… Read more »
TrojanRJJ – You and I think identical on this. I think that Harrell is one of the best QB coaches in all of college football. But he doesnt have a strong head coach to learn how to be a full OC. So we have a high-wire act for an offensive plan. It is just too dependent upon perfection and super quick-release from the QB. He will be a perfect fit at a college that cant recruit top players and is happy to win 9 games a year. But USC does have the ability to get top talent (once we remove… Read more »
I agree with you and Allen on Harrell. But I think for total staff excellence, we may just have it on the other side of the ball as well. Time will tell, but I’m loving what I’ve heard up to this point in time.
Now, if they practice as “smash-mouth” as they claim they will, the O-line will out of self-defense get tougher — or bleed a whole lot on the practice field. Then we’ll see how focused on running the ball Harrell will become. One can only hope.
I also like both Orlando and Snyder a lot, while others remain skeptical of Orlando since he was fired by Tom Herman. Herman’s the one I’m more skeptical of, frankly.
It may not be saying much, but the mere fact that Pendergast and Baxter are gone is a total godsend. Who knows how much better last year’s team would have been with the current defensive and special teams staff? All speculation, sadly enough. Woulda, coulda, shoulda…
I am in agreement with you about Orlando. Getting fired by Herman was the greatest thing that ever happened to Orlando. Herman has not, and I don’t think he ever will reach the hype he got when hired by Texas.
Herman’s been a big disappointment so far, in the real big-time as a HC. I suppose he could still turn it around. The pressure’s surely on.
I really wanted him to be USC’s coach for awhile. Maybe we dodged a bullet, which is nice because USC hasn’t seemed to dodge very many since the NCAA decided to take the Trojans down.