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Graduate Transfer Visits USC

Drew Richmond, an offensive tackle from Tennessee, is visiting USC this weekend. He entered the NCAA transfer portal in January.

Tennessee’s offensive line was a mess last season so maybe that is why Richmond transferred. How bad was it?

The offensive line was ranked last in the nation (130th) in “stuff rate,” which measures the percentage of carries by running backs that are stopped at or before the line of scrimmage. The Vols’ offensive line also ranked 127th in “line yards per carry” and “standard downs line yards per carry.”

 

16 thoughts on “Graduate Transfer Visits USC”

  1. I heard he’s been here since Thursday when he watched practice. He was the third ranked tackle in the nation when he came out of high school. If he was real good he might’ve gone pro, or was told he needed to redeem himself. Texas is after him too.

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      1. According to Adam Maya, Hufanga broke his collarbone again. Wow, there seems to be a trend. Between he and Pola-Mao that makes four times doesn’t it?

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      2. Damn! Such a terrible development for such a talented player. Guys can be great, great athletes but, can at the same time, lack the bone density to play college football. Hufanga might be one of those guys (he’s certainly got the ‘great athlete’ part covered).

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      3. Per VolQuest, history sounds straight outta USC:

        “After a redshirt season in 2015, Richmond started at left tackle during his redshirt freshman and sophomore seasons at Tennessee. The arrival of new head coach Jeremy Pruitt saw Richmond flip to the right side and start at right tackle in all 12 games this past season. During his time, he saw three different offensive line coaches. In his first two seasons, Don Mahoney coached the Vol offensive line, Walt Wells followed Mahoney and then he was coached by current offensive line boss, Will Friend this past season.

        Richmond has never quite lived up to the hype that surrounded his recruitment coming out of Memphis University School. The one time Ole Miss commitment flipped to Tennessee on national signing day in 2015. A class that signed five offensive lineman in 2015 currently only has one man left in Chance Hall.”

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      4. Pudly —With the right coaching, this guy could still be the star everyone expected him to be coming out of high school (I think ESPN rated him a 5 star talent).
        #WillHeGetThatKindOfCoachingAtUSC?Maybe,Yes

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  2. Luckily, as far as I know, USC is not bringing in the entire Tennessee O-Line or their position coach. They’re bringing in Drew Richmond — variously rated as either a 4 or 5 star lineman coming out of high school.
    He’s be a HUGE get for Drevno and USC.

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    1. It would sure add to the depth we lack. There’s been talk of a pac12 receiver who may transfer too. Hopefully we get a safety to replace Bubba. Just don’t see one that good available.

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      1. Yeah —thanks to title nine misinterpretation —probably by someone under federal indictment —-we’re a little thin at safety.

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      3. Thanks so much, Pudly. Listened to it (& hope everybody listens to it). Heard what I expected, too. Although Katz is too polite to just come out and say it, the battle between our d-line coach and our o-line coach is a no contest —with the d-line overpowering the o-line consistently. I heard our new d-line coach yelling at his former d-line, “there are no nice guys on d-line. We’re not about being nice.” He’ll give the d-line the swagger they missed last year. I’m pissed at Helton who I know you (somewhat) respect. He’s putting our quarterbacks in harms way AGAIN this year because he didn’t have the balls to replace the (admittedly) more than adequate Drevno with a super Air Raid O-Line coach. Helton seems so dense on the importance of getting a mean, tough and nasty o-line coach that it relieves me of having to wonder whether he’s second rate or not.
        And please don’t get me started on how dumb it’s gonna be for Helton NOT to start Markese Stepp at tailback. He’ll get better and better and he won’t get hurt half way through the Stanford game.
        Great 20 minutes of inside football! Thanks again!

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      4. Mike, I respect the title. Don’t need to go any farther.
        But I will say, the defensive line is much more experienced and so should be winning these early battles. Not that I’m predicting it will change, but three of the offensive linemen will be newly designated starters. Now the attitude thingy, that is the real issue. Can they be mean enough, tough enough and smart enough?

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      5. Absolutely, we need big bodies with experience. This guy was great coming out of high school but apparently did not live up to expectations. However, he is big and a 22 game starter. We will take him.

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      6. Those kids he played against were bigger and tougher than most he’ll see in the pac12. Even if he doesn’t start he is good solid depth for the line.

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  3. Doesn’t matter if he’s an all-american. He proves needed depth, and if he contributes as a rotational player as both guard and tackle, then USC’s offense line will be better off with him than it would without him.

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  4. so he left a trash offensive line in Tenn to see another trash one from USC. i guess the lesser of two evils in his case!

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