This is obviously old news to everyone but USC announced it will play Alabama in 2020 at AT&T Stadium. Alabama is getting $6 million. USC’s pay out is not announced but probably in the $4-5 million range. To speculate on this game now would probably be foolish. Will Clay Helton be the coach in 2020? Will Nick Saban even be at Alabama then? About the … Continue reading USC-Alabama Make It Official

Continue reading USC Question Of The Day

For the past couple years, people at USC have told me that former assistant coach Todd McNair was offered a settlement by the NCAA of between $5-10 million. They said his lawyers turned it down because they were confident he would get much more ($27 million). 200 USC professors have signed a letter demanding school president Max Nikias step down. “He has lost the moral … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Tuesday Notes

The Todd McNair case is finally over. The jury sided with the NCAA today, as it voted 9-3 that the NCAA did not make false statements against McNair. This is going to be a shocking verdict to USC fans and you will see incredible outrage from the USC Internet media crowd, who have been foaming at the mouth over the McNair case for years. They … Continue reading Jury Sides With NCAA In Todd McNair Case

Athlon’s preseason Top 25 is out and USC is ranked No. 21. Seems reasonable. But maybe the more important part is the teams ranked ahead of the Trojans: Texas is No. 20; Stanford is No.18; Notre Dame is No. 15 and Washington is No. 8. Meanwhile, USC has opened as a 27-point favorites over UNLV per BetOnline sportsbook. Buy your tickets for that game now! Continue reading USC Ranked No. 21 By Athlon

May is turning out to be a busy recruiting month. Mater Dei running back Sean Dollars (pictured) and cornerback Jeremiah Criddell committed to Oregon on Sunday. This only caught my attention because Dollars drew quite a bit of interest from USC internet sites, which means the Trojans were interested. But Dollars and Criddell are four-star recruits, so maybe I will hear from the recruiting analysts … Continue reading Morning Buzz: USC Keeps Making May Recruiting Interesting

May is apparently the month of three stars. Kedon Slovis, a three-star quarterback from Scottsdale, Ariz., committed to USC today. Slovis (6-2, 186) also received offers from Hawaii, North Carolina State, New Mexico State, Oregon State, San Jose State, SMU, Arizona State, Indiana, Vanderbilt and UC Davis. Slovis will be a year behind JT Daniels. Maybe he figures he will redshirt and sit two seasons … Continue reading Three-Star QB Commits To USC

Alabama’s freshman phenom QB, Tua Tagovailoa, who led the Crimson Tide to the national title game, said he considered transferring to USC: “I called my dad and asked him if my offer to the University of Southern California was still available. “I wanted to leave. I told my dad I wanted to go to a school where I thought it’d be easier for me and wouldn’t challenge me … Continue reading Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa Considered Transferring To USC

Alabama is due to receive $6 million to play USC again at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sept. 5, 2020, according to a copy of the Crimson Tide contract. The amount USC will be paid is unknown at this time. Alabama will be the home team and USC the visiting team (again). Broadcast rights will be assigned to the SEC, which means CBS or … Continue reading USC-Alabama Game In 2020 Appears Set

Here’s an over/under for USC and many other schools from BetOnline.ag. USC is only 7.5. Must be the schedule and quarterback situation. That is probably going to shock some people.   Continue reading Morning Buzz: USC Over/Under Is Lower Than You Think

USC coach Clay Helton made $2.6 million in 2016. Duke coach David Cutcliffe made $2.54 million. Duke women’s basketball coach Joanne P. McCallie made $1.35 million. When USC fired women’s basketball coach Cynthia Cooper, it reportedly offered less than $400,000 to her replacements. There was a time when USC was the gold standard for paying coaches. Pete Carroll made $4.4 million in 2006. Monte Kiffin made … Continue reading When Did USC Take A Backseat To Duke?

Some Wednesday morning notes: Remember when last year’s Washington-Stanford game got bumped to Fox Sports 2 because truck racing ran too long? That was a major embarrassment for the Pac-12 because many in Seattle do not even get Fox Sports 2. Well, from now on, when a game gets bumped, it will go to Fox Business Channel, which is available in more homes. I would … Continue reading Wednesday Notes

The jury at Todd McNair’s trial told the judge they are deadlocked, 8-4. You need 9 votes to reach a verdict. The jury did not say which way it was leaning. The judge asked them to resume deliberations tomorrow. “I got the impression there was more than general disagreement,” Judge Frederick Shaller said. “I would like to give it the best shot possible.” How will … Continue reading Todd McNair Jury Is Currently Deadlocked

Former Rams coach Chuck Knox died Saturday at age 86. Here’s a story with a USC connection. One day, when John McKay was coaching at USC, he told his staff they were going to Julie’s restaurant to have a few drinks with Chuck Knox and the Rams staff. The coaching staffs had a drinking contest in a private room, which was won by the USC … Continue reading Time For A Chuck Knox-John McKay Story

Former USC wide receiver Jalen Greene announced last month he would transfer to Illinois. But he will instead transfer to Utah State, according to 247Sports. This move made more sense when I first heard it but mainly because I thought Greene might play quarterback at Utah State. However, he is still expected to be a wide receiver. The biggest thing, of course, is getting on … Continue reading Jalen Greene Now Going To Utah State

One thing I’m really tired of hearing every day is how “blessed” a recruit is to be offered a scholarship by a university. It makes me wonder what would happen if all these players actually committed right now? USC offered 155 recruits for its Class of 2018. That’s 155 offers for around 25 scholarships. UConn coach Randy Edsall recently noted some recruits get offered a … Continue reading Some Scholarship Offers More Equal Than Others

When linebacker Stanley Taufoou of Grace Brethren committed yesterday, it led to some fan criticism because he is a three-star prospect. Recruiting rankings can often be proven wrong. See Ricky Town (overrated) or Russell Wilson (underrated) for that. But here is the problem that has nothing to do with whether people should be worried about USC taking three-star recruits: It’s not a bad thing unless … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: The Downside Of Taking A Three-Star Recruit

For some fans, the only way to know what USC athletic director Lynn Swann thinks comes from the “State of Troy” interview on the USC website. “Each month, we sit down with USC athletic director Lynn Swann to get his take on the hot topics around Heritage Hall,” the articles state. Well, Swann hasn’t done a State of Troy interview since January. He hasn’t addressed … Continue reading What Is On Lynn Swann’s Mind?

Long-time USC athletic trainer Jack Ward, who was head trainer for 39 years (1959-1997), died on May 6. He was 89. He was inducted into USC’s Hall of Fame in 1999 and served as trainer emeritus from 1998-2003. Ward worked with seven USC head football coaches, six national championship football teams and 10 College World Series-winning baseball teams. He is survived by his wife, Linda. Continue reading Long-Time USC Trainer Jack Ward Dies

Ranking teams can be tricky enough but Athlon is ranking every quarterback in the nation. USC must have been one of the hardest since JT Daniels is expected to start without enrolling at USC until next month. Daniels is ranked No. 67 out of 130. That’s called taking the middle road. And frankly, how can anyone really rank Daniels right now? It’s all guesswork. Here’s … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Tuesday Notes

Someone on twitter tried to say that when Jim Harbaugh said Pete Carroll would be leaving after the season, it confirmed Todd McNair’s testimony last week. “He’s only got one more year, though. He’ll be there one more year,” Harbaugh said. “That’s what I’ve heard. I heard it inside the staff.” Only one problem: Harbaugh said that in 2007. McNair said Carroll made his exit … Continue reading Pete Carroll Leaving For NFL Followup

Harry How/Getty Images Cal tailback Tre Watson announced he will transfer to Texas, where he will be eligible next season. That means Watson, who gained 33 yards and caught a 22-yard TD pass in 2016 vs. USC, will face the Trojans again on Sept. 15. Continue reading USC Gets To Face Same Tailback At Two Schools

Former USC coach Lane Kiffin is again defending his tenure with the Trojans in an interview with ESPN.com. “Now, I know the facts of USC, when you lose 30 scholarships … going 28-15 with those types of sanctions, people don’t do that,” Kiffin said. “Look at those types of penalties and what usually happens to programs — look at Miami, getting blown out every week. … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Monday Notes

USC linebacker Jack Del Rio sacks Oklahoma quarterback Kelly Phelps during the Trojans’ 12-0 victory over the Sooners in 1982. Linebacker Riki Gray had 13 tackles while safety Joey Browner had 10. Continue reading USC Picture Of The Day

I’m not hanging on every word of the Todd McNair trial because I don’t think a $50 million judgement in his favor will erase the sting of NCAA sanctions. Money for an assistant coach doesn’t do that for me. But I want to address something McNair said on the witness stand last week. McNair said USC coach Pete Carroll planned to leave well before the … Continue reading Did Pete Carroll Plot USC Departure A Year In Advance?

Incoming freshman @jtdaniels06 is doing everything in his power to put himself in USC’s QB competition once he arrives. #FightOn pic.twitter.com/O8F5zix48h — USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) May 3, 2018 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js USC has already produced a video with JT Daniels. He is still in high school. And has not graduated. Or been officially reclassified by the NCAA. But USC’s already promoting him. Of course. Will he have … Continue reading The JT Daniels Hype Machine In Full Gear

The NCAA is going to enforce some new rules regarding uniforms, which you can see below. Now look at the above photo of USC players against UCLA last season and see how many would be in violation. Most have their knees uncovered. One is wearing a T-shirt below the jersey. Fortunately for USC, the NCAA did not address whether you need to wear tights or … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Uniforms Must Be Uniform Next Season

ESPN’s post-spring Top 25 poll is out and USC is ranked No. 17. It seems like the polls are settling USC into the 15-20 range. Washington is ranked No. 6; Stanford is No. 14 and Oregon is No. 24. The Ducks were unranked previously but the addition of wide receiver Tabari Hines probably helped. Continue reading USC Ranked No. 17 In ESPN Poll

Sam Darnold is going to wear No. 14 with the New York Jets. Maybe that is to be expected. But unlike many players, I can guarantee Darnold did not demand to wear No. 14. When he arrived at USC, he did not make any demands for a jersey number, which is different than many recruits. Just think of all the numbers USC has worn by … Continue reading Sam Darnold Keeps No. 14

Why did Cleveland take Baker Mayfield over Sam Darnold? Here’s what Browns vice president of player personnel Alonzo Highsmith said according to the Canton Respository. Continue reading Why Cleveland Didn’t Take Sam Darnold

USC had a lot of players decide to return for their senior seasons, whether because of injury (Porter Gustin) or subpar seasons (Iman Marshall, Chuma Edoga) or not being projected where they wanted to be drafted (Cameron Smith, Marvell Tell). Tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe could fall into two categories (injury, subpar season). But in this 2019 mock draft from Bleacher Report, USC does not have anyone … Continue reading USC Might Not Have 2019 First-Round Pick But Does It Matter?