FOOTBALL

An Insecure USC Coach Buries A QB

Here is an example of what happens when you have a village idiot as football coach: Last season, he thought so little of Jack Sears that he made Sears the No. 3 QB.

No one expected Sears to beat out JT Daniels last season. But to make Sears No. 3 was a real sign of ignorance. Sears then went out and had the most dynamic QB performance of the season against Arizona State when Clay Helton had no choice but to play him.

So what is Sears’ reward? He has now dropped to No. 4 on the depth chart.

Helton doesn’t just want Sears to sit. He wants to bury him. He has to feel threatened by a quarterback who is popular with his teammates.

When several team captains went to Helton after the ASU game and asked for Sears to start, it must have really shaken up Helton, who is an insecure man at his core. So Sears must pay a price.

45 thoughts on “An Insecure USC Coach Buries A QB”

  3. Please LORD, Remove Mr. Helton from ALL head coach responsibilities at USC, he appears to have had his or JDaniels’ “feelings hurt” somehow by this VERY CAPABLE AND HIGHLY EFFECTIVE QB, ONE MR. JACK SEARS… I PERSONALLY WITNESSED this young man’s EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE in last year’s ARIZONA game. He, much like SAM DARNOLD, (when DARNOLD was here), CLEARLY STOOD OUT as the BEST QB for USC… but this “head coach” for WHATEVER reason, REFUSES to acknowledge this young man’s natural QB ABILITIES and LEADERSHIP SKILLS… the Players CLEARLY BELIEVE IN HIM, (SEARS), because they put WINNING FIRST, (unlike the head coach who appears to only talk about such), such a petty and immature, (evidently spiteful?) person SHOULD NOT be making the final decisions concerning this once proud football program, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! PLEASE REMOVE AND REPLACE him LORD GOD, for both the kid’s and the USC FAN’S sake, IN JESUS GLORIOUS Name!!! -Percy C. Payne, 8/21/19.

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  4. Seems like this is more about Slovis being very talented, than about Sears being buried.

    Take Slovis out of the equation – would anything be very different if Fink was #2 and Sears #3 as last year? Sears would still be last.

    Put Slovis back in, and change the rankings of Fink and Sears. Would anything be very different if Sears was #3 and Fink was #4? Sears still probably would not play.

    Helton (and Harrell) rank Sears behind Fink.

    Helton (and Harrell) rank both those guys behind Slovis, the new kid.

    Perhaps Slovis will turn out to be the best out of all 4.

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      1. I would trust Harrell’s judgement over Helton. Assuming Harrell’s ranking is the same. If not, would like to know where they differ.

        The problem is that none of the four right now may be very good. Maybe Slovis will be in the future. Harrell seems particularly positive about Slovis.

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    4. LOL!

      Bozo67 acts as though Helton and Abba Zabba Harrell held a legitimate QB competition.

      J.T. Daniels was always going to be the starter, Helton has no intention of playing the best QB.

      Jack Sears had the best numbers/stats day in and day out of all the Trojan QB’s.

      Helton has the idiots that are running the USC social media message boards and Tunnel Vision saying that Sears had made bad throws, missing wide open receivers, which is bullshit. Of course Sears had some incomplete passes, so did Daniels, Fink and Slovis.

      How is Jack Sears #4 on the depth chart when the stats show that after every practice he had the most completions, highest pass completion percentage and as many TD’s as any of the other QB’s. Sears threw one INT…J.T. Daniels threw 8 INT’s!

      And Sears wasn’t handed the first team offense to practice with, Helton had J.T. Daniels practicing with the first team.

      There were practices when Slovis couldn’t hit the side of a barn and was picked off multiple times. Slovis is a good QB, but there’s no way in hell he’s better than Jack Sears.

      Petros Papadakis is exactly right, Helton is a fraud, he’s running a sham football program and he’s made himself and USC a laughingstock.

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  5. Here is the Jack Sears stat line against ASU. Keep in mind a WR also dropped a wide open TD pass or Jack would have had 3 TD’s. IMHO Jack Should have started the next game against a (2-10) Oregon St game but Clay Helton pumped the breaks on that as Scott indicated.

    USC Passing

    C/ATT YDS TD INT QBR
    J. Sears 20/28 235 2 0 61.7

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  6. I must have watched an entirely different game. I saw a QB who couldn’t move the ball in the first half and fumbled twice. A guy who got a cheap touchdown in garbage time. A guy who was so dynamic that the best pass of the game was thrown by a wide receiver. Just because you say it was dynamic doesn’t make it so.

    JT is better, has been and will be.

    Also, Scott calling anyone insecure is hilarious. Doesn’t he have some cheerleaders to creep out by asking for a selfie with them?

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    2. UC Davis scored 3 times as many points against Stanford than Helton and J.T. Daniels could muster.

      J.T. Daniels hit his ceiling against lowly Oregon St.. the only win in his last 6 starts.

      So Daniels goes 1 – 5 the last 6 games, throws 8 INT’s in 6 days of Fall practice, he has Helton coddling him every practice giving him the 1st string offense to work with everyday, has an entire year of starting under his belt and Daniels still couldn’t legitimately beat out the other three QB’s.

      That’s straight out fucking pathetic!

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  7. Like most of us, I get tired of SW negativity. Hell, he was criticizing Caesar (Carroll) when the program was top 4 year after year. But SW was telling us that Darnold was the best QB out there and Gomer starts Browne. And the eyeballs were telling everyone that Darnold should have started all along. So if SW says Sears is better than JT, then I believe SW over Helton. The other point I want to make is that part of the”culture change” Gomer was going to be in charge of Discipline and allow his assistants more autonomy. It looks like Gomer has meddled in the offense again.

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    1. ‘Parkway’ you craftily avoided the two sides – Wolf is a jerk but he’s not always wrong and, as you noted, Scott was right when it mattered per assessing quarterbacks – well done and i say that sincerely!

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    2. Well said, calabasas —might I add one more point? Scott is right —the head coach is insecure. Helton obviously gives off many of the classic signs of “the little man in charge.” Benching people who don’t know how to kiss up and playing people who do. But that doesn’t mean he made the wrong call on QB. The previous QB coaches who worked with Sears said they, too, worried about his knowledge of the playbook and his practice ethic. There’s more to being QB than throwing the ball —and, apparently, everybody who ever coached the guy agrees that Sears has talent but also has “want to” problems. This doesn’t mean that J. T. is THE answer —it just means he’s the go to guy as of today. Things can always change —-and, in the meantime, Slovis will only be getting bigger and better.

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  8. The only Dumb one in all of this, is Jack Sears for sticking around, because the writing was on the wall that Clay Helton wasn’t going to play him . Maybe he’s not confidence enough to transfer to another program to compete. So if you don’t believe in your own skills, then don’t expect your coach to . Helton’s ignorance is screaming, so I don’t understand why Finks didn’t get the hint either. Sears, and Finks should quit the team immediately, and focus on their future, and screw Helton at the same time

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    1. He’ll get a USC degree and still be able to play somewhere, for a real coach, for 2 years. Or he can bide his time until the 3 QB’s ahead of his get hurt because Gomer Bozo recruits shitty OL, he might play by game 2 or 3 !

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  9. What we are all waiting for is Fox Sports – this is the best group ever in tv broadcasting. Leinart has decent insight and Bush is no slouch ‘but’ the two biggest stars are:
    Urban Meyer and Brady Quinn….the former because of his success (a bit sleazy? yes) at UT, FL and OH St with two schools NC’s to show for it matching Sabin’s (LSU and AL). He knows what he’s looking at…. remember that photo of Meyers shaking Helton’s hand with that look of ‘you’re who and you coach what team?’ before the 2017 Cotton Bowl.

    When USC begins to implode Bush and Leinart have to choose ‘mother’ over ‘reality’ – understand Meyers is looking for a new job no matter what he says and he’d love nothing more than to get 3 NC’s at 3 different programs.

    Quinn is the real diamond in the rough….his ‘in-game’ analysis is unbelievable – he really knows how to dissect a completed play but also to state what’s going to happen next.

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    1. Oh, Alv —did you ever hit the bulls eye on the Helton/Meyer photo. That one photo says more than all the criticism on this blog put together. Meyer was trying to be respectful ….but he just couldn’t hide what he was feeling inside: “How on earth did this prize clown get placed in charge of a USC football team?”

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  10. When the divine day comes when the outrageously incompetent, unctuously camp, nauseously injudicious Clay Helton is given a richly deserved permanent detachment from his current position, this most most illustrious example of the Peter Principle finally will be free to become an active member in one of the most entertaining, if not iconic groups in America. And I’m talking about Howard Stern’s rollicking Wack Pack, as Calamitous Clay would fit right in with the laugh-inducing likes of Beetlejuice, High Pitch Erik, Fred the Elephant Boy, Jeff the Drunk, Medicated Pete, Sour Shoes, Tan Mom, Jeff the Vomit Guy, the immortal Melrose Larry Green, etc., etc., etc.

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    1. Hey ‘Doug-E’ welcome back….yeah your preaching to the choir here…w.o. a doubt the worst head coach of any of the top 65 teams (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12 plus ‘the princess’) in the entire country.

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  11. I don’t understand how everyone is so sure who the starter should be. I’ve seen the same games everyone else has and I’m not sure who should be starting. The reason I’m okay with JT starting is because he has the better arm and he strikes me as being smarter than Sears. I’m concerned about his pocket presence, especially behind a weak O-line, but with this receiver group and the new offense, I have to believe we’re going to be able to get a step on guys and get the ball out faster. As far as Fink goes, I gotta respect anyone who has earned a football scholarship to USC, but I’ve never seen anything from him that leads me to believe he should be starting at USC. He never looked good in pads to my eye and he never proved my eye wrong. What I mean by this is that I’ve never seen someone with Fink’s physique turn out to be a player. I’m sure people will scoff at this, but if you compete enough, your eyes recognize things that your mouth can’t explain. Sizing people up on sight is just something that you do and you can be wrong, but I’m confident in this call. I just don’t see a guy with game of any sort when I look at Fink. Physically, he strikes me as a guy who would compete in the high jump on the track team because he isn’t naturally talented and/or gifted and/or athletic enough to do anything else. It seems like he should just be happy to be there. If everyone else was gone, Bryce Young would beat him out next year. There would be nothing about him that I would fear stepping on a field, track or basketball court. I hate to tear him down, but he doesn’t have it and never will IMO. If you’re a QB at USC, your expectation should be to play in the NFL and Fink is not NFL material. I’ve only seen HS tape on Slovis, but I like what I saw and he probably has the highest ceiling of all of them.

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    1. Clay —Without sounding too much like Mister Blackwell, I’ve always been a fan of the “sight test” (& I agree with you that Fink doesn’t look like a guy who should be playing quarterback). Now, what does the sight test tell you about J. T.?

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      3. What I haven’t seen is how much he’s grown if at all. Beyond that, I mentioned earlier in the year that his passes have some polish to them. There’s something special about the ball he throws. He doesn’t have a gun but his arm has some class. What I see is a guy that will get over (if he gets over) on 3 things: his arm, his eyes and his head. He’s got the arm to do what needs to be done in this offense and with these skill players. All he has to do is put it where and when guys need it so they can get it and go. For all the deep passing I’m hearing about, I’d rather see a high number of RAC yards and a completion percentage north of 60%. I think efficiency should be his focus as the sexy numbers will take care of themselves. I’m not looking for Tom Brady, but Brady has made a pretty good living on his arm, eyes, head and little else. If JT can just see the field (instead of the rush) and clear/calm his head, he can access and realize whatever he already has in his arm and he does have something.

        My sort of superstitious fear about JT is a Marinovichian one. It’s stupid, but with the very involved dad pouring resources, influence and desire into it him his whole life…IDK. That is how some pro athletes are made, but it’s also how some burnouts are made. I hope JT appreciates this opportunity and it’s something he truly wants. I know at least a couple of guys who truly wanted it. Anyway, this is all from the fumes of last year and from 30,000 feet. The season can’t start soon enough and we’ll have more to go off of once it does. Thanks for the question and sorry it took me so long to get back. Be cool…

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  12. The entire posting of Slovis as the #2QB is specifically b/c they are protecting the commitment of Bryce Young in the 2020 class. Fink may or may not stick around in case some lucky (for him) garbage time happens but he is irrelevant, especially after bailing for the portal. However.. making Sears or Slovis the #1 will probably force Bryce to open up his recruitment in a heartbeat.

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  13. “Sears then went out and had the most dynamic QB performance of the season against Arizona State when Clay Helton had no choice but to play him.”

    Uhhh, ok. Sears threw for 235 yards and ran for 10 yards, in a LOSS against Arizona St. Wowsers, what a dynamic performance. Daniels looked like ass half the year and still had 6 Games where he threw for more yards than Sears did in his loss, including 349 yards against the best team they played all year, Notre Dame.

    349 yards in a close loss to a Playoff team is a lot more dynamic that 253 yards in a loss to Arizona St.

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    2. You failed to mention that USC was WINNING until Tyler Vaughns dropped a sure TD pass from Sears that would have given SC a two score lead over the ASU Scum Devils. That drop forced the Trojans to punt ,and the special teams, not Sears, gave up a 95 yard kickoff return for a touchdown for the Scummies who took a 31-28 lead. Daniels then led the Trojans down to the Scummie 20 yard line. On 4th and one, instead of kicking the tying 37 yard field goal, Hugs ordered a run and Aca’Cedric Ware was stuffed for no gain. Later in the 4th quarter the SC defense gave up a 45 yard run by the quarterback on 3rd and one allowing the Scummies to run out the clock. Please tell me how that was Sears fault.

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      2. He threw for 235 yards and rushed for 10 yards. They lost the game. I didn’t fail to mention anything relevant in regards to the claim he had “the most dynamic performance all season. ” There wasn’t anything dynamic about that performance.

        You fail to mention they literally trailed the entire game. You also failed to mention one of the TD passes was thrown by Tyler Vaughns, not Sears. The claim was ridiculous as always. Sears played one half of decent football all year and Scott Wolf thinks he’s Sam Darnold 2.0.

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    3. Sears did it in a little more than 1 half. Knowing that it was his first start and that Troy had an inadequate run game, ASU made Sears have to beat them and then built a big lead. Sears not only brought the team back, but should have potentially iced the game when Vaughns dropped a gimme TD. You cant teach what Sears has and EVERYONE can see that he has something that Daniels doesnt have, or hasnt shown in a game.
      I hope Daniels drastically improves, he was, after all a true Freshman last year, but this was a political, gutless move by Helton and Jack never had a chance.

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    4. “They have a nice, little team,.” Robert Horry on the New Jersey (at the time) Nets before facing them in the NBA Finals. The Nets posed a very little threat to the Lake Show that year.
      Similarly, USC, in large part because of the ineptitude of Clay Helton (and lack of HT adjustments) posed a very little threat to the Domers last year; Daniels had some “nice, little stats”, but never posed a threat. The Domers knew this. The point is, Daniels’ 300+ yard performance was , though good for a Freshman, bloated, inflated and not as substantive as Sears’ performance against ASU. I give Daniels’ some credit for what he did against ND, but don’t you think Sears would have invoked more fear and posed more of threat to their playoff aspirations than Daniels?

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  15. If I were Bryce Young, I would open up my USC commitment if for nothing else to get some leverage and not let Helton make behind the scene promises to Daniels and Slovis.

    Harrell has a lot to learn. This is the wild PAC-12 with the refs that let the losing team back into the game. So having a running QB is more important than at North Texas State. The losing formula at SC in recent years is to have a wooden, drop back QB.

    Last year I stopped watching SC games at a sports bar with dinner or lunch. I just listened on the radio.

    This year I will just catch the final score after the games are over and catch a couple of websites to find out what happened.

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