I’m pretty sure USC didn’t know who Texas baseball assistant Troy Tulowitzki was before the coaching search. But USC likes splashy hires. Remember when Michael Cooper was hired as women’s basketball coach. At one time, Mike Garrett wanted to hire as the men’s basketball coach. It was almost like USC used college baseball web sites to conduct its search. The key for Tulowitzki will be … Continue reading If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column

Arch Manning, the No. 1-ranked QB and No. 1-ranked player in the nation, committed to Texas today. It’s a big commitment for under-fire coach Steve Sarkisian. It also shows Manning was not turned off by the fact highly publicized QB Quinn Ewers is a redshirt freshman. Manning also considered Georgia and Alabama. Texas will have the two top-ranked quarterbacks in their classes (Ewers and Manning). … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Steve Sarkisian Lands Top Recruit

Kade Eldridge, a three-star tight end/defensive end from Lynden, Wash., has committed to USC. Eldridge held offers from Oregon, Washington and Michigan. Eldridge plays for Lynden Christian, a small Division 1A school in the rural town near the Canadian border. He was athletic enough to play running back after injuries hit the team. Surprised USC took another three-star? Quite a flurry of them recently, eh? … Continue reading USC Adds Another Three-Star

Do we have some movement in the on-going Caleb Williams jersey number drama? Wide receiver Michael Jackson, who wears the No. 13 that Williams wants, announced an NIL deal yesterday. The illustration of Jackson (below) shows him wearing No. 9. USC does not have an offensive player wearing No. 9 on its roster so it is available. Now the question is how much did Williams … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Has A Jersey Dilemma Been Resolved?

Brandon Inniss, a five-star wide receiver who committed to Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma, decided today to commit to Ohio State. He had listed USC in his final six schools. Wide receivers are fairly easy to recruit, as USC repeatedly demonstrates. But Riley did try hard to convince Inniss to follow him to USC. Like I always say, focus on the linemen. Continue reading Five-Star Prospect Picks Ohio State Over USC

WINNERS Jordan Addison Talk about powerful. He wasn’t even a USC student in the spring but is now wearing Carson Palmer’s No. 3. Player power! USC recruiting weekend At least four commitments from the biggest recruiting weekend of the Lincoln Riley Era. Suzanne Nora Johnson The first female chair of the USC Board of Trustees will fill the considerable shoes of Rick Caruso. How long … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Winners And Losers Of The Week

“He promised to work his tail off” . . . for ONE SEASON and then go pro. The torch has been passed… Palmer 🤝 Addison 3️⃣🔥 #FightOn✌️ pic.twitter.com/1oTOgJm3Mp — USC Football (@USC_FB) June 20, 2022 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Continue reading Carson Palmer On Number Unretirement

About a dozen members of the 1972 USC team attended the Salute to Troy for a 50th anniversary recognition of the 12-0 team. That’s a poor showing for what is arguably the best team in USC history. I spoke to a few players who didn’t go and got a common response: The cost of the tickets was an issue especially for those bringing family members … Continue reading A 50th Anniversary Celebration Fizzles

The first of the commitments from the weekend has gone public: Three-star offensive tackle Amos Talalele announced he is committed to USC. Talalele committed to Cal two weeks ago but has now switched to USC, which shows that USC can still dominate Cal. It also shows USC is still taking three-star linemen. Continue reading Three-Star Lineman Flips To USC

Since jersey numbers was a big topic over the weekend, let me just update everyone that quarterback Caleb Williams has still not made a deal with wide receiver Michael Jackson to wear the No. 13. Lincoln Riley told Williams it was his responsibility to get Jackson to relinquish the number. The season-opener is Sept. 3 so Williams has about 10 weeks to reach an agreement. … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: What’s Latest On Caleb Williams’ Jersey Number?

While the Salute to Troy took place at Cromwell Field last night, the crazier scene was at the Coliseum. That’s where the recruits and families visiting this weekend were as they did the requisite photo shoots for Instagram, etc. Some of the recruits have probably done 10 photo shoots at USC but that’s the game these days. USC had former players Marcus Allen, Willie McGinest, … Continue reading Recruiting Weekend At Coliseum

The news at Saturday night’s Salute to Troy was that wide receiver Jordan Addison will wear No. 3, which was retired after Carson Palmer won the Heisman Trophy. Mike Bohn said Palmer gave permission for Addison to wear No. 3. But that’s really irrelevant. USC needs to decide if a number is retired or not — no exceptions. But it can’t because all it does … Continue reading Sunday Buzz: USC Breaks Tradition . . . Again

Is USC going to get a commitment this weekend? It has six players ranked No. 1 at their respective positions and seven five-star prospects. I’m sure the fanboys will let us know ASAP. I mentioned John Parkinson designed seven buildings at USC, including the student union below. This is considered the best example of Italian Renaissance architecture on the USC campus. But who designed the … Continue reading USC Saturday Notes: A Big Weekend Continues

Dogs, food and perhaps the greatest USC football team of all time. That’s a pretty good trifecta of subjects for this week’s notes column. It will be hard not to be hungry after reading the Restaurants of the Week section today. Spencer Harris, director of player personnel at USC, is going to work for BLVD/Stay Doubted. He was probably best known to fans as the … Continue reading If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column

I finally found someone going to Salute to Troy! A donor called me after reading my post yesterday. “I don’t want to go but I got a call from the athletic dept. asking me to buy tickets,” the donor said. “They twisted my arm but now I can say no the next time they call to ask for something that will probably be more expensive.” … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Go Now, Don’t Pay Later

USC announced a partnership to create NIL opportunities for student-athletes with a company called Stay Doubted. It’s not exactly a new venture because Stay Doubted and BLVD Studios (which already is part of USC) are both run by the creative agency, J1S. Michael Jones, the founder of J1S, is also the CEO of Stay Doubted. Sounds like a good deal for J1S. The NIL opportunities … Continue reading USC Has New NIL Company To Help Athletes

Is anyone going to the Salute to Troy this weekend? I haven’t talked to anyone who is going, which surprises me, especially with all the buzz around Lincoln Riley. Some people have told me they definitely aren’t going, a residue of a frustration with USC football the past few seasons. I have to say USC hasn’t done a lot to promote it. USC sent out … Continue reading Anyone Going To Salute To Troy?

Since USC took a three-star lineman this week, let’s look at the line prospects who are visiting this weekend: Four-star OT Lucas Simmons of Clearwater, Fla. Four-star OT/DE Terrance Green of Cypress, Texas. Four-star OT Francis Mauigoa of Brandenton, Fla. The question will be whether these prospects want to play in an Air Raid offense and will bypass schools that are closer to home (Alabama, … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: What Linemen Visit This Weekend?

Is Fox analyst Joel Klatt less bullish on USC? In February, he said USC was a “darkhorse pick” for the College Football Playoff. USC has since added more transfers, including wide receiver Jordan Addison, but today Klatt did not list USC among his top 9 teams. But he did include Utah. So USC went from darkhorse College Football Playoff team to not winning the Pac-12. … Continue reading Fox Analyst Less Bullish On USC

USC received a commitment Monday night from offensive tackle Tobias Raymond of Ventura High School. He is a Class of 2023 prospect. If you don’t like the three-star ranking from 247Sports, Rivals gives Raymond zero stars. He held offers from Arizona, Cal, Colorado State, Nevada, Oregon State, San Diego State, Washington State and Fresno State. Now maybe Lincoln Riley considers Raymond a hidden gem who … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: A Commitment From A . . . Three-Star Lineman

WINNERS Rick Caruso The election-eve L.A. Times poll had him at 32 percent but he ended up with 42 percent of the vote and advanced to the November general election. Karen Bass She got 38 percent of the vote to ensure a USC-flavored general election for Mayor of Los Angeles. Reggie Bush He’s back on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame. Will … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Winners And Losers Of Week

Jack Del Rio has made headlines all week. It’s caused an ugly incident I never heard about to resurface regarding a fight Del Rio got into with former Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Otis Taylor. The scene was the 1987 NFL Player Strike. Del Rio was playing for the Chiefs and picketing with teammates at Arrowhead Stadium. Taylor, who was a scout for the Chiefs … Continue reading The Friday USC Column Supplement

It’s obviously important who USC hires as baseball coach. But if you look at the Texas schools, they have bigger coaching staffs and more resources than USC. That will have to change if USC wants to become nationally prominent again no matter who gets hired. Maybe USC can use some of that money it offered Brandon Sosna, who turned down a raise to go to … Continue reading If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column

Brandon Sosna, the right-hand man to Mike Bohn since Bohn arrived at USC, has left to become the Detroit Lions’ Senior Director of Football Administration. The unanimous response of the media is that Sosna’s departure is a “big loss” for USC. That’s because if Sosna was adept at anything, it was cultivating the media and selectively leaking information. Every move he made at USC was … Continue reading Thursday Buzz: Brandon Sosna Leaves USC

Remember last week I wrote about a USC jersey worn by O.J. Simpson in a photoshoot being up for auction? The jersey sold for $25,726. That’s not bad considering Simpson never wore it in a game. A game-worn Simpson jersey is worth $150,00-$200,000. Continue reading O.J. Simpson Jersey Sold At Auction

The Sporting News put out its ranking of all 131 college football coaches. Here’s the Pac-12: 7. Riley, USC 10. Whittingham, Utah 31. Shaw, Stanford 34. Edwards, ASU 38. Kelly, UCLA 48. Lanning, Oregon 54. Smith, OSU 60. Wilcox, Cal 61. DeBoer, UW 68. Dorrell, Colorado 69. Fisch, Arizona 77. Dickert, WSU REACTION: I don’t know what Herm Edwards did at ASU to be so … Continue reading Let’s Look At Pac-12 Coaching Rankings

Lincoln Riley did an interview with Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports and said he can turn USC into the best team in the nation . . . eventually. “I’ve walked into four playoffs, and I’ve never had better than maybe the third-best roster [of the four teams],” Riley said. “Every other year, we were four of four. We had really good rosters, but they weren’t … Continue reading Lincoln Riley Believes USC Can Have Best Roster

The 2023 ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame has been released and the USC candidates remain unchanged: tailback Reggie Bush, offensive lineman Jeff Bregel and safety Mark Carrier. It remains a mystery how USC linebacker Chris Claiborne, who won the Butkus Award, is not on the ballot. And the problem with putting Bush on the ballot so early is he sucks up all … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: A Familiar Omission . . . Again