I’ve written a few stories lately about Calabasas five-star wide receiver Johnny Wilson and four-star wide receiver Jermaine Burton, who are not really considering USC.
So I checked in this week with a long-time recruiting analyst to find out exactly what is going on with these guys and USC?
“USC is not going at them hard and everyone else is,” the analyst said. “They are late on a lot of guys.”
Sigh.
This stuff really mystifies me. It is inexcusable. Good recruits in USC’s backyard are being ignored? Even worse, Calabasas is coached by USC legend Chris Claiborne. His offensive coordinator is former USC receiver Curtis Conway and he just hired former USC wide receiver Travis Hannah as quarterbacks coach.
USC loves to recruit and sign every receiver who has a star next to his name but ignores some highly recruited guys who would probably go with just a little bit of love. Seems really weird when you consider USC has also lost some receivers since the season ended.
Remember all this is going on as Lynn Swann told boosters this week that Clay Helton “recruits extraordinarily.”
This is why Ed Orgeron is happily sweeping into Southern California and stealing recruits who normally would go to USC.
- John Wayne was in the news this week after a controversial 1971 interview with Playboy resurfaced. It’s a good excuse for me to tell a Wayne story from USC’s 1966 trip to play Texas. According to a USC athletic dept. official, Wayne walked into a bar in Austin and a Southern California sports writer, who was drunk, yelled out, “F— you, Duke.” Wayne allegedly walked up to the writer and decked him.
And here are some good stories from Wayne’s appearance at that USC-Texas game.
- USC interim president Wanda Austin told KTLA on Thursday there was “no chance” she would become permanent president.
- Wasn’t former UCLA defensive lineman Jaelan Phillips supposed to transfer to USC? He is going to Miami.
- USC forward Bennie Boatwright moved into third-place Thursday night on USC’s all-time list for career 3-pointers with 221, moving ahead of former point guard Brandon Granville (218).
- Former USC kicker Joe Houston has been hired at Alabama as a special teams quality control coach.
- USC’s athletic dept. has a great way of monitoring situations without ever taking action. Like with Clay Helton, for example. Here is another example: The Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes is the official resort of USC athletics. Last October, eight female employees came forward with cases of sexual harassment, assault or misconduct.
“(We) will continue to monitor (the resort) closely,” the athletic dept. said in a statement to the Daily Trojan. “We have a zero tolerance policy for that kind of behavior on our campuses and require the same commitment from our partners.”
Typical non-statement statement from USC.
InsideUSC with Scott Wolf 
Wayne’s racist views were well known years before he died, and his 1971 interview already caused a stir when it did the rounds a few years ago. In an age of instant internet access to virtually everything, nothing is kept hidden for long. The only difference, if you want to call it that, is that those of Wayne’s generation had no problem publicly airing their racist laundry as opposed to the cowards who hide behind coded language today. And, I might add, “The Duke’s” views in no way prevented Orange County from naming an airport after him.
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Best item in there is your noting “USC interim president Wanda Austin told KTLA on Thursday there was “no chance” she would become permanent president.” No prominent individuals ever state a career move (in or out) to a news outlet unless it is true….good riddance to her.
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Rusoviet: A little transparency with the media about her career path, but when it comes to opening up with stakeholders relative to the dean’s that got canned at SC, virtually no transparency whatsoever…
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Another double like button!
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To quote the ‘PMS’ show “….double up! Uhn Uhn!”
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Double like button!
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That’s because Wanda is shadowed by Nikias who unbelievably is still living in the presidential mansion. Only at USC do you get fired (Nikias/Haden) and you get to continue to work behind the curtain.
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I don’t know what prompted Wanda Austin to not leave her hat in the ring in terms of being president of SC. My guess is she is cognizant that the situation at SC isn’t a trainwreck waiting to happen, the mothafu..ka is already here…Furthermore, I know that if she wanted to vie for the job, that black hair of hers would quickly be transformed into a sea of grey that I believe some women don’t care to have as a part of their physical persona. Now that she got that message out of the way, she can go down to Julie’s and have a cold one…And, Morton Schapiro has one less presidential candidate to compete with…
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Until USC finds an experienced AD and not a figurehead to fund raise, we are stuck in mediocrity. Saw Swann on TV at game last night. Laughing it up courtside. I would too knowing how foolish USC is to pay him so much money for what he does.
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Hey Pac12: Should Swann get the axe down the line, I don’t think his sorry ass will be laughing that much…
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USC’s athletic dept. has a great way of monitoring situations without ever taking action. Like with Clay Helton, for example. Here is another example: The Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes is the official resort of USC athletics. Last October, eight female employees came forward with cases of sexual harassment, assault or misconduct.
“(We) will continue to monitor (the resort) closely,” the athletic dept. said in a statement to the Daily Trojan. “We have a zero tolerance policy for that kind of behavior on our campuses and require the same commitment from our partners.”
What in tarnations is Wolf talking about? Is he insinuating that either coaches, alumni, boosters, students, or anyone else associated with SC accosted eight females? If that is the case, which I am not sure on, then the owner of the club plus whoever accosted the ladies are in trouble and not SC. SC is a an education center and it cannot accost anyone. Only the people that are associated with the university, if that, can.
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As far as Ed Orgeron recruiting, why not? We aren’t doing anything extraordinary. I spoke to the mother of one of Ed’s conquests (see what I did there?) and asked her why her son was going to LSU. She said that USC took it for granted that her son would be a Trojan. “They really didn’t do much to recruit him,” she said.
As long as I have worked with her, I have known she was USC alumni and she had a pennant from the school hanging in the center of her office until recently. When I spoke to her yesterday she was wearing LSU colors. She also indicated that the pipeline from her son’s school (MD) has closed up.
So who’s doing the recruiting?
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The Errand Boy keeps recruiting all these WR’s while neglecting the need to recruit players along the offensive front whose job it is to keep the QB upright in order to be able to complete passes.
Then again most of the Errand Boys pass plays are quick outs, passes that rarely if ever travel more than 10 yards vertically, with the exception of when J.T. Daniels just heaves the ball downfield for his hail mary, up for grabs, desperation throws.
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…and it will only get worse under the “Air Raid”…lots of gaudy yet meaningless numbers racked up against over matched (or under coached) opponents…lots of ineptitude and impotence against better opponents…all the while circling the drain further away from the direction the program needs to be steered towards…1982-2002 was a desert with occasional desserts…but this feels like accelerating towards rock bottom…
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Don’t be so sure that this “air raid” offense will be able to put up gaudy numbers. The Errand Boy hasn’t addressed the offensive line issues, Trojan receivers when pressed at the line of scrimmage haven’t shown any ability or the physicality necessary to beat such pressure and J.T. Daniels isn’t as mobile as was hoped he would be in order to roll out, avoid pressure and be astute enough outside the pocket to make plays.
With the lack of development along the offensive line the Trojans would be better off having Sears start at QB.
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Absolutely agree – against credible opposition gaudy numbers will be in short supply…and with the 2019 schedule changes, that means few and far between…everyone (except maybe the program sycophants) saw enough in the one appearance against ASU to know Sears is a better choice to play (largely based on escapability – a, if not the, premium trait playing behind such a woefully coached line, both in terms of technique and conditioning, but also the scheme/playcalling)…the whole Air Raid hype is just a distraction from the fundamental failings of the program/regime…a shame for the kids stuck playing at this time (just like many of those kids in the above “desert” period)…
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What I saw and liked from Sears was his ability to make adjustments and improvise on his own. He just couldn’t overcome the horrendous play calling of Tee Martin and or the Errand Boy.
Sears mobility would be a huge asset for the team, unfortunately the Errand Boy is too stupid to realize that.
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What I liked most was the leadership demonstrated (the obvious way the other players rallied around him during that game, and that he didn’t let the moment overwhelm him), the judgment exercised (didn’t force balls – something that was a chronic problem with Daniels that one suspects will flare again as soon as better opposition takes away the easy throws), and what at least I, in my inexpert opinion, see as the proper presence (and perhaps this is in part due to the circumstances, yet regardless, no unseemly chirping at fans or cluelessness about the fact that a historic trainwreck was in progress that couldn’t be disposed of by resort to excuses).
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Sears took some shots in that game, he’s a tough kid. He looked poised outside the pocket and his accuracy improved as the game went on. No one knows how well a player will perform in a game until that player gets actual game time experience.
Some players can overcome lousy coaching, Darnold was an example if that, J T. Daniels didn’t appear to be able to as he really didn’t show any signs of real progression as the season went on.
Sears from the second the game started vs ASU, you could tell that he knew he was going to have to create some opportunities and plays on his own, it just took him about a half to say, “Screw it, if I keep doing exactly as the Errand Boy wants, we’re going to get killed”.
There were plenty of plays where protection broke down and Sears knew it would even before the snap and he was able to turn norhing into something.
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Excellent summation (and I have the same opinion)…very reminiscent of what Sam did in the comeback against Penn. State…and no parent politicking in the press, no press (besides the WolfMizer, which we all know how to filter) aiding and abetting with soft propaganda (which is still being promulgated – guess access is really that important?)…one suspects that only injury will get him on the field again though…it’s beyond laudable that he has stayed to compete, but he really should transfer…never thought I would feel that way about the program, but the current regime in my estimation is an imposter so doesn’t deserve any mindless allegiance…
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I’m not worried at all.
As long as we have Bru McCoy we’ll be fine Ooooooooops!
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The Errand Boy does not allow for the QB to even consider the audible. Most likely due to the fact that the idiot himself doesn’t know how to read defenses in order to be able to teach his QB that necessary aspect of the game.
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But sure loves all that standing around while ostensibly operating “at tempo”…amazing that the Kiff/Sark/Clay troika, all supposedly offensive/QB coach types, hasn’t been able to get USC to execute a sans-Darnold hurry-up series in a decade…
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All three of those clowns, Kiffin, Sarkisian and Errand Boy had depleted rosters and they were all stupid enough to make the hurry up offense the priority. Playing at such a frantic pace requires that a team be able to have the necessary depth for substitution along both sides of the ball. And those Three Stooges couldn’t figure out why players were running out of gas. As if it was rocket science.
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Also true, only there never was a hurry up, except when Sam did it on his own…even when trailing in games, no sense of urgency, no uptick in snap rate, no dialing up clock-conserving plays…just the same aimless standing around…since PC departed (can almost pinpoint it to the game-winning drive in Columbus), no semblance of an ability to go up-tempo…bottom feeder teams do it routinely, but with NFL-caliber talent in abundance, no such number know under Hugs…
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