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Morning Buzz: USC Can Be A Tough Place To Leave

USC accepted only 11 percent of the 66,000-plus applicants this year.

But while it can be a tough place to get into, it seems almost impossible to leave.

Max Nikias was president but resigned. So now he is President Emeritus at USC. I’ve heard he has a new office at the Tutor Campus Center.

Wanda Austin replaced Nikias as interim president. When new president Carol Folt replaces her, Austin can go back to being on the Board of Trustees.

So USC is going to have three people on campus in July who held/hold the title of university president.

This is why some criticize the Board of Trustees for being too big with 57 voting members. Some people never seem to leave.

Does owning a yacht qualify someone to be a trustee? Rick Caruso owns a $100 million yacht as everyone knows now after Lori Loughlin‘s daughter spent a part of spring break on it. Ron Tutor, whose name adorns the Tutor Campus Center, sold his yacht in 2014 and it is currently valued at $125 million.

  • Here are the admission acceptance rates since 2014:

2014 17.8

2015: 17.5 percent

2016: 16.5 percent

2017: 16 percent

2018: 13 percent

2019: 11 percent

41 thoughts on “Morning Buzz: USC Can Be A Tough Place To Leave”

  1. I’d say Kliff Kingsbury certainly has his priorities focused on winning over in Phoenix as reported by yahoo this morning:
    —————————————————————————————————————–
    “Kliff Kingsbury either cares about the psyche of his team, or simply needs time to see his (alleged) woman. Either way, the man’s a genius.

    Kingsbury, the new coach of the Arizona Cardinals, said on Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings that he will give his team “cell phone breaks” during player meetings throughout the season. The 39-year-old said he had a similar practice at Texas Tech (maybe that explains his 35-40 career record) and plans on installing it in the desert. From ESPN:

    “They’re itching to get to those things,” Kingsbury said.

    Kingsbury will let the players break for their phones every 20 or 30 minutes — what he called a “good run” — right around the time he usually starts seeing players lose interest.

    “You start to see kind of hands twitching and legs shaking, and you know they need to get that social media fix, so we’ll let them hop over there and then get back in the meeting and refocus,” Kingsbury said.”
    —————————————————————————————————————————–
    Has a superhot girlfriend but I’d say USC dodged a bullet in having this guy ‘move on’. AZ Cardinals are in that other ‘basket’ of skillset – NYJ, JAC, HOU DET and CLE…no idea what to do next but boy cell phone breaks are a start huh?

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  3. The obvious comment here is that underachieving coaches and or administrators cannot get fired for trying. They all hang around at USC because nobody wants them.

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  4. Wolf, you seemed to have made a career by hanging around USC. Most journalists ( I say that tongue and cheek with you ) would have advanced their career in some way after being a blogger for over @ 10 years. Greater aspirations, doing something more challenging, making more $. Yet here you are, unable to leave this blog which produces 4-5 mundane National Enquirer posts a day ( 95% which are negative toward USC). So before you talk about others leaving, take a good look in the mirror and that sweatshirt.

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    1. 🚪 in your rear….take your boys with you…we can settle it, if you’re such a tough guy…USC seems full of cowards like you, that’s the problem…success in your controlled, privileged atmospheres have given you a false sense of your abilities in open waters…is the Wolfman perfect? No…but, he does the work that provides one of the most sacred American values…a speech platform, FOR FREE! You use his time of service against him, completely missing that many of us consider that a badge of honor, just for showing up all these years and doing his thing and putting up with bad actors like you…what kind of guy comes to another person’s house and does nothing but complain about the host? A disrespectful, ignorant one….USC dentistry, bravo to all. After that, you’re kinda confused about your neighborhood.

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      1. Revelation 21:8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

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      3. “Wolf provides a forum for free speech” which you police and attack those that exercise that very same free speech?? Really? Who made you the spokesperson for either wolf or God. You’re no more than a common hypocrite both religiously and as a proponent of free speech.
        Pharisee.

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      4. Nevertheless, this is the final exam. You will be forced at that time, if you don’t begin to recognize your limitations in this life. This is fair warning, so on that day, you will say, But Lord, I never knew..He will say, I sent you a man to bare witness to you, but you would not hear…

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      6. I respect your spirituality, but I would appreciate keeping religious criticisms of others outside of this blog. Thanks in advance.

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  5. SCooter,

    Why is SC accepting less students over the years? Is it because kids are turning down SC, because they could spend $59k for tuition and see better results, because SC is like Helton and wait until the last week to offer a spot? Go find out.

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      1. Pudly76,

        In Economics, it is what the market will bear. But knowing SC going Politically Correct with the pencil neck geeks that are running the show, it is how much can they be bought for. Corruption at its finest.

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  6. Yes, they are targeting the entering class to be the same size, and thus are accepting fewer of those applying.

    Let’s see if they do achieve the targeted class size, or if it is smaller than expected.

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  7. I’m not throwing in with any particular person or taking on any particular person —that’s not what this is about —but I have to say I don’t understand the attacks on Wolf. Yes, he does take a lot of cheap shots at USC —but he obviously does it to stimulate conversation. He was also right about Max Browne, Sam Darnold, Sark and Helton before anyone else [I kinda wish he didn’t contribute to Kiffin’s downfall, though]. All in all, Scott provides a great forum for the exchange of ideas —sometimes he’s pulling in hundreds of comments a day. Check out the other USC sites if that number doesn’t impress you. And it’s obviously a labor of love for the guy cuz all he gets in return every day of the week is a great deal of very personal criticism. I really like the crew on this site —great assortment of bad asses and good minds —but we don’t need to trash Scott to have a good time.

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    1. MG, thanks – there is lots of good material on Scottie’s site posted by so many. I always appreciate learning from others who post here.

      That said, there are some days (such as yesterday, when IMHO the blog and the posts really went south) that I would prefer that Scottie either bring some new material, or just not rehash old material just for the sake of posting.

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      1. 67 —I get exactly what you’re saying here. I never worry about anybody’s feelings on this site —we’ve got a pretty tough crew and they can handle the give and take. And, for the same reason, I don’t worry about Scott’s feelings —he can take it as well as give it out. I only worry that some morning Scott is gonna get up to see a half dozen personal attacks and say “oh, fuck it.” And I, for one, would miss the guy.

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      2. MG – absolutely. Hopefully Scottie is getting enough out of this (including ad revenue) that he continues.

        Totally separate topic – do you recall the poster from when the blog was on the newspaper website – his name might have been Ed something? His posts were very funny in a nonlinear sort of way. He would often sign off “SMDH”. Would love to get him back here.

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      3. 67 — I loved that guy’s stuff too. Isn’t he the one who came up with the classic line about Rosen pulling his vagina muscle in practice?

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      5. We used to call him Bobblehead Ed. And that vagina pull was as classic as it got… he was banned from the ruin site if I remember right. As funny and teasing as he could be with us (I loved the passive aggressive and almost backhanded criticism of some of his posts), he destroyed the ruins and was especially creative with his posts on rosen and mora.

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      7. Bingo! Ed Garret! Thanks! I kept thinking of the old SNL character Ed Grimley, and not just because of the name similarity.

        Ed Garrett is one in a million! Ed, come on back, wherever you are!

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    2. I agree with most of what you say, however, I am not so sure his remarks are solely to stimulate conversation. Wolf has had a negative vibe forever and we all know that is fact. His comment around leaving USC certainly pertains to him IMO. I still think if he had any real talent, he would be elsewhere doing something. As for a labor of love, he doesn’t know he is taking criticism cause he never reads his blog or the comments – if you can believe that.

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      1. I hear you, M. L. And, yes, there’s a lot of (mostly impish) vitriol in Scott’s stuff. I just don’t want to see him decide to take his Daily News pension or buy out and go live on the coast of Sicily like a bunch of my other friends have done.
        Note: I do think —just for a change of pace — it would be good to hear Scott say “good show” if USC kicks the living shit outta Fresno State on August 31st. (I’m now of the opinion that the ONLY way that doesn’t happen is if Clancy screws up big time —I know the offense will do their job).
        #YouNeverCanTellAboutClancy’sDefense

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      2. If I wanted happy news I’d go to WeAreSC. I’d rather hear the unvarnished truth of what really has been dragging SC down the last decade than be surprised at all these headlines and failures since Pete left.

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    3. Michael, do you really think that criticism is ungrounded? Can you name one source of scott’s regarding comments made by other coaches about whoever’s his target du hour? Isn’t this part of his schtik? We don’t even need to go into spelling or grammar.
      Can’t one enjoy the blog and simultaneously critique the blogger? And I wonder at the end of each day, does scottie bask in the knowledge of the fact that “they may hate me or love me but they can’t stay away”?

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      1. I get the feeling you’re right (about Scott getting a kick out of most of the mean stuff written about him. He knows it goes with the territory. But, contrary to rumor, he is human and every once in a while he must get fed up. I just don’t want to see him get TOO fed up.
        And, yeah, no question Scott smilingly puts his best thoughts into other “people’s” mouths. [But he only does that, as a rule, when he’s pretty sure that there COULD be sources to corroborate his opinion —he just doesn’t know where they are]…….
        #21stCenturyJournalism

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      2. Guys – Wolf has said for years that he does not read the comments on the blog. Are we sure his feelings are getting hurt? Hard to believe he does not read the comments.

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    5. being disagreeable in a civil way is something that seems to have disappeared from most levels of society…I appreciate constructive criticism which is by its very nature of a negative tone.

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    6. Those other sites have their ‘in situ’ regents that ‘monitor’ any criticism they deem ‘unwarranted’ i.e. something they don’t agree with. They also have their ‘clique’ of ‘buds’ – reminds one of those clowns tailgating out on the north side of the Coliseum that have ‘parked’ in their ‘spot’ for ‘decades’.

      Most galling is their ‘shield wall’ they put up on one they ‘favor’ – no criticism is permitted until the ‘chosen few’ have their convocation ‘off site’ to ‘decide’ what ‘tact’ to take on and on…

      This site is exceptional because it is a free fire zone and Scott wisely puts up a new topic 3 – 4 times a day thus limiting the number of replies unlike ‘yahoo’ or such

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  8. Michael G.,

    I agree with you. SCooter does a good job, but it is the negativity that he only writes about that gets the blood going. he could write something positive once in awhile. He also writes something and you wonder what he is trying to say without any evidence. But I do enjoy this blog and the people who write here.

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  9. For all you sunshine pumpers that like to criticize Scott Wolf because he tells it like it is when it comes to USC and it’s athletic dept., if you don’t like what’s being written, why visit this site?

    There are plenty of USC sites where you clowns can tell each other what a wonderful a head coach you think Clay Helton is. Go stroke yourselves and praise Helton all you want on those sites. You can all sing Kumbaya and brown nose Helton all you want, this isn’t the place for it, this site deals with reality when it comes to USC, the clusterfuck it has become and those responsible for making it happen.

    T

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    2. Point taken
      but Wolfie is not perfect or always right,although he has a perfect right to express his opinion,which is part perception,part emotion,part fact.
      I like some things he states and some I do not agree with…how’bout you?

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  10. Pingback: Breaking: USC Admnistrator Michael Quick Retiring – InsideUSC with Scott Wolf

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