Former USC wide receiver Randal Grimes said he was going to transfer to Minnesota. But today on Instagram, Grimes said he will instead transfer to UNLV. Grimes is from Las Vegas. Continue reading Randal Grimes Changes Mind And Goes To UNLV

I’m old enough to remember Pete Carroll telling me that he called Urban Meyer at Florida to try and schedule a home-and-home series back in the glory days. Meyer declined. Carroll also tried to get Oklahoma to play a home-and-home series but the Sooners said no. Now USC wants to play FCS teams. Drum roll for the excuse brigade: USC plays a 9-game Pac-12 schedule! … Continue reading Remember When USC Called Florida?

Imagine how unattractive USC’s schedule would have been last year under the preferred format it now wants: Since it needs seven home games, you take away Texas and add UC Davis. Then you realize USC skips Washington and Oregon. As it turned out, Stumblebum Helton wouldn’t have even been able to navigate that schedule to a CFP appearance, which is the strategy of administrator Steve … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Goodbye Texas, Hello UC Davis!

Being a USC athletic director is a chummy club. The last three were well-known former football players. So they all must have gotten along, right? When Mike Garrett was USC athletic director, he told a head coach, “Pat Haden is gunning for my job.” Haden, who was on the Board of Trustees at the time, eventually succeeded Garrett when he was fired by Max Nikias.  … Continue reading USC Afternoon Notes

USC baseball coach Dan Hubbs got ejected in the second inning of last night’s game vs. UC Irvine and should have three games left in his Trojan career. But don’t get your hopes up that USC will hire a big-time replacement. Since Lynn Swann is the direct supervisor for the golf programs (one of his few hands-on duties), what did he do when Andrea Gaston … Continue reading Will USC Spend Money Next Week?

Here’s a virtual video that gives you a better idea about the obstructed-view seats USC claims it will not sell for football games. Continue reading A Video Look At Coliseum Obstructed Seats

A recurring theme with USC is a lack of accountability. Lynn Swann has operated without oversight for three years. Clay Helton has been allowed to let the football program become a loose ship with little or no discipline in that same period. I won’t even get into Max Nikias or some of the other problems. But this ties back to Monday’s news about USC possibly … Continue reading Morning Buzz: Little Things Help Define USC

“I’m sort of proud that we haven’t scheduled an FCS. But you never say ‘never.’ — Steve Lopes, USC senior associate athletic director, in 2011 to the Oregonian Continue reading USC Quote Of The Night

Someone asked me today if the USC-Notre Dame rivalry is safe now that adminstrators might try and schedule FCS teams for the first time. They were joking but nothing USC does surprises me. I could see some spokesperson saying, “Modern demands make it difficult to play Notre Dame every season.” But here is the real problem: USC has done a horrible job scheduling in recent … Continue reading USC’s Not Great At Football Scheduling

In the history of college football, there are only three schools that never played an FCS opponent: USC, UCLA and Notre Dame. But look at this comment in the the Athletic from Steve Lopes, USC senior associate athletic director. “If you start looking at the teams that are available, it’s very limited,” Lopes said. “We’re looking at schools that might not even be FBS, which … Continue reading Is USC About To Destroy Another Tradition?

Some people inside Heritage Hall insist USC athletic director Lynn Swann will be out as soon as June. This might be wishful thinking but it definitely is something making the rounds within the athletic dept. The idea is new president Carol Folt would want to hire a new A.D. when she starts in July. At the moment, I don’t know if it is true. But … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Is Lynn Swann On Borrowed Time?

I did an interview with Mark Rogers where I discussed the state of the USC football, Clay Helton and Lynn Swann’s salaries, who the coaches want to start at QB and more . . . Continue reading Talking USC Football

Penn State QB Tommy Stevens announced this morning he would transfer to Mississippi State. Stevens was strongly considering Illinois, so if that scared off Matt Fink, it is no longer an issue. Now I previously noted Illinois still has three quarterbacks and it still might not be the best destination. But it looks a lot better without Stevens, who recently scored an invitation to be … Continue reading Illinois Just Became More Attractive For Matt Fink

JT Daniels is one of 25 college quarterbacks selected to be a counselor at the Manning Passing Academy this summer. Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence is also a counselor. Maybe Lawrence can teach Daniels something about living up to the hype. USC wide receivers coach Keary Colbert was in Honolulu on Wednesday recruiting. Linebackers coach Johnny Nansen and defensive backs coach Greg Burns were at a … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: JT Daniels Gets Summer Job

The Pac-12 championship will still be on a Friday at 5 p.m. at Levi’s Stadium. But it will be on ABC instead of ESPN this season. That’s a larger audience. Which may not be good news depending on the product. But moving to a Big 3 Network is what passes as a good item in the Pac-12 these days. Continue reading Pac-12 Title Game Moves To ABC

This is Section 122B at the new Coliseum, which is near midfield behind the USC bench. And those green dots are all the available seats in that section for donors to purchase. Now a few things to note: These seats require a $5,000 initial payment toward an annual contribution of $10,000 There is also a $3,000 seat fee payable over four years That said, the … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Here’s How Many Seats Are Available

I’m going to have more on this tomorrow, but this simulated view is for tickets that currently available at the Coliseum. It’s for a seat that requires joining a booster club and paying a seat fee, but it is available. Continue reading Some Pretty Good USC Tickets Are Available

Clay Helton took Clancy Pendergast off the recruiting road in January and told him to cut down the size of the defensive playbook, according to Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports. “The package you have is brilliant, but it’s a lot,” Helton reportedly told Pendergast. I don’t doubt Helton made Pendergast simplify the defense. But why did Helton say he pulled Pendergast off the road to … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Clay Helton Taking Charge!

Fox announced at its advertiser upfronts today that its best college football game of the day next season will begin at 9 a.m. (PT). Upfronts are where network executives and talent meet with major advertisers and the media. So what does this mean? It means Fox does not consider any Pac-12 games to be its best game of the day (big surprise). And it means … Continue reading Fox Doesn’t Look Thrilled With Pac-12

Would Lynn Swann be able to conduct a coaching search any better than the Lakers? It’s a legitimate question for an athletic director who acts like he knows everything but has no practical experience. Lakers fans seem to have similar feelings about Kurt Rambis, who took too much time and ended up with Frank Vogel. Who would USC’s Frank Vogel be? Or are they already … Continue reading Sunday Buzz: USC-Lakers Comparisons Used To Be Good

USC band director Art Bartner had an interesting comment Thursday at the athletic graduation ceremony. “I had to fight with (senior associate athletic director)  Steve Lopes to get the band to the (women’s water polo national championship),” Bartner said. Kind of weak that USC still resists sending the band all the way to Stanford for an NCAA championship event. Bartner said Lopes and Lynn Swann … Continue reading If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column