FOOTBALL

Morning Buzz: Southern California Used To A USC Fortress

USC wasn’t very good in 1996-97, going 12-11 in those two seasons.

But the Trojans still landed two big quarterbacks from Southern California after the 1997 season: Carson Palmer from Santa Margarita and Jason Thomas from Dominguez.

So what does it say when two of the nation’s best (D.J. Uiagalelei, Bryce Young) are headed to Clemson and Alabama?

Clay Helton‘s coaching speciality is the quarterback position. Graham Harrell is supposed to be a quarterback whisperer.

Again, for the USC apologists who will say Young didn’t want to compete, he made his decision BEFORE JT Daniels got hurt or Kedon Slovis played a single snap.

Young was the poster child of USC’s recruiting class but even he didn’t want to be part of the drama and uncertainty. If Upland linebacker Justin Flowe announces for Clemson, the five players in California (Uiagalelei, Flowe, Elias Ricks, Kendall Milton, Young) will be committed to SEC schools.

USC used to gobble up these players. But who wants to be part of the Helton era where victories tend to be sloppy in a half-filled stadium?

It can quickly change . . . with a new coach.

  • I’m a big fan of USC president Carol Folt. Who wouldn’t be when she fired Lynn Swann?

But I did a double-take when I read in an L.A. Times story said Folt is currently living in a house in Santa Monica with a listed rent of $35,000 a month. USC is paying the rent.

Folt said the president’s mansion in San Marino is undergoing a “seismic evaluation.”

51 thoughts on “Morning Buzz: Southern California Used To A USC Fortress”

  1. $35K a month (420K a year), yikes, that’s just plain rude, unadulterated, conspicuous Clown U consumption.

    The only family I know that couldn’t make it on that kind of monthly stipend is Reggie Bush’s family.

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    2. First — a factual rebuttal. Folt’s rent is not $35,000 a month. It’s been said to be much closer to $34,000 a month (if you’re rounding off to the nearest thousand). Second — Folt deserves every dime being put into her rent (even if the rent is, arguably, a little closer to $35,000 when rounding off to the nearest thousand) for all the things she’s done for USC (in the one week since her inauguration). It’s kind of like giving Obama the Nobel Peace Prize after 2 months in office —- the recognition is of preparatory efficacy.
      Finally, Bryce Young is an idiot. Saban wanted to take him away from USC —he doesn’t plan to use him at Alabama.
      #HaveFunWithSaban,Bryce

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      1. MG,
        You are right on the money re: Satan
        Bryce young is just a pawn. No one in the SEC likes anyone in California. OK, maybe one person. California is a foreign country to the southeastern U.S. Only you don’t need a passport. But for some reason the ‘grass is always greener’.

        CAL had a 5* from Georgia name of Demetrius Robertson. Freshman AA at CAL. Very good student. Homesick for the humidity for some reason. Portals out to Georgia. Barely played in two years. First & only time he touches the ball-72yd reverse & outran everyone. Never played rest of the season. Went from a 1-2 round draft pick down to 6-8th round now. Just kept getting lame excuses as to why he wasn’t on the field by coaching staff. I’m sure he never got those excuses when they were hussling him.

        #FucinCaliforniaCommiesFromBerkeley
        #SECHospitality
        #SatanWillMakeSureYoungTaughtHumility

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Bryce going to play for sark?.?.? Priceless. Sark ended up or will end up with both Tua and Bryce, a couple guys he recruited since they were kids. Too funny.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Cal75 –Let’s forget about football players for a moment…..even California INSTRUCTORS at Alabama and Auburn are treated like crap….
        #PoorBryceIsGonnaLearnTheHardWay…

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      4. MG- (You know I was lurking in the weeds) Who wasn’t an i@#%t at 17 or 18? His handlers/adviser, now they are a different story. They’re supposed to be the grown- ups. They’re supposed to be able to help set him up for the distant future, and not just the immediate future. They’re looking for the big paycheck and will- sadly- probably be the ones that drag him down. Who cares though! I wish him the best.

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  2. SC is a private school and she’s not living off the taxpayers’ dime. She can live wherever she wants and the school can put her up wherever they want. Non-story. How about some insight into the next AD instead? Heard about any potential candidates?

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      2. Not sure. It depends on the pics he starts posting. If the pics are of “Helton With Mouth Open” or “Baxter’s Gut” style then we know the blogger creeped her out.

        #WhatWasTheNameOfTheOregonCheerleaderTheBloggerKeptWritingAboutInATotallyCreepyWay?

        Liked by 2 people

  4. To be honest I believe USC is looking beyond stars and hype and recruiting unheralded talent. (or I hope tis is the case) But USC has mishandled so many over hyped players and the transfer road to hell isn’t helping, so why not go elsewhere? The thing is, everyone including Clay Helton will be surprised if Helton is still employed with the university after 1/1/20. So the kid is taking a big gamble.
    I would say Alabama has made a better offer ($$$) but that’s catty and I’ll leave that to others. Owns are your reading this?

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  5. Hate all you want rah rah’s, but the Wolfman is right, these kids would be coming to USC if they actually had a real coach, same for ucla.

    But the fact that they don’t want to play in the PAC 12 for any school speaks volumes about the conference as a whole, they are not players on the big stage, not one school.

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      4. And as far as PAC 12 players on NFL rosters, in 2018 the SEC led with 335, the PAC 12 was a dismal 4th at 210, behind the Big 10 and the mighty ACC, talk about pathetic. USC was 7th with 32 players, oh how the mighty have fallen under Gomer

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      6. You must be born again…said Jesus to Nicodemus….you may find it here, John 3:3……Jesus answered and said to him, MOST ASSUREDLY, I say to you, “unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

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      9. You may find it here, Phillipians 2:10-11……..that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in heaven, and those on earth, and those under the earth. and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.,,.,

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  6. Scott,
    I find it ironic that you are relentless on this coaching staff and their continued mistakes, yet you fail to proofread.

    Please explain what USC fortress that California is used to.

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      4. You may find it here, 1st Peter 5:8…..Be sober, be vigilant ; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour……

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  8. Let’s face it, USC will never be what they used to be under Clay Helton, because he’s not a national championship type of coach . He’s the Steve Lavin of College football, he’ll win some games in a weak conference, but will never take you where the fans want to be. So the only way the Trojans will dominate the recruiting grounds of California again, will be to fire Helton, and hire someone with direction, and experience.

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  10. Frankly Bryce Young is really small at 5 11 185 lbs and he sees that SC has 2 quarterbacks who are good in the Air Raid system that will be there for 3 years so his chance of playing are minimal. So Im not surprised that he left to Alabama where he has a legitimate place to start behind a strong o-line.

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  11. Dan Weber is not being nice to Helton regarding the loss of Bryce Young.
    He insinuates the Young loss may be the straw that breaks the Camels (Helton’s) back. Win or lose, the cynicism is universal regarding Helton.

    Yes, the kids played instinctively to their talent level and won, they didn’t the week before…why? Will they play again to that winning level this week…who knows?
    I picked Utah to win based on rankings and SC’s previous week at BYU…and I was just as surprised as everyone else that SC pulled out a win with a third string QB. Maybe the Fight On spirit carried the day !

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    1. This is Gomer’s MO, play like they should one week, look lost the next. Gomer’s record on the road is awful so we’ll see how he stands after the next two games.

      I’m not concerned over losing the MD miget, what concerns me is the other top kids leaving, one’s who were thought to be SC locks, that says it all, they don’t believe in Gomer, his football philosophy or his ability to develop players for the NFL and I’m sure the other schools are pounding this home to them, hire Meyer and all of this stops.

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    2. factor13 —Serious question: What will you say if Helton wins 2 out of 3 against Washington, Notre Dame and Oregon?…..
      #…..[AsssumingHe’sCoachingForTheLastTwo]……

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      2. Michael, serious answer:
        Taking the basis of you question, winning 2 out of 3. That would be a 66 win percentage, as you phrase the question “What would you say”
        I would say, Helton beat the odds, reason being, at the present time we are projected as underdogs in all three games, so he gets a temporary pass.
        What else I will say is regardless of a 2 out of 3 wins in four weeks, Helton will not become a more intelligent or proficient Coach, pure luck and effort by the players.
        Now let’s take this a little further and forecast our season at a 66 percentile, that would give us a 7-5 season, not very appealing is it ?
        Because his luck won’t last for the whole season.

        Now to your hash tag musings; We as a school have exhausted our ability for spontaneous mid season Coach firings…it has raised eyebrows in the Coaching Fraternity, it’s not a good optics for the Athletic Department and
        Helton has to finish the season, no matter the results.
        New AD…different story, “do what you have to do!”

        Smart money always follows the sports books, it’s detached and based on statistics, not obsessive emotional connection.

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      4. I doubt it MG.

        UDUB will abuse bozo FB Sat. to make a rankings statement. It’s major bozo bummer that UDUB is fully aware of Fink’s ability.

        ND’s loss to Georgia was ugly and unimpressive. Look for ND to take it out on the visiting Clownster’s.

        Oregon at the Crumbling Mausoleum could be a toss-up, but Ore U should be favored to make the bozos day miserable.

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