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Morning Buzz: USC Coaching Candidates Lists

I mentioned Monday that Mike Bohn should be compiling two lists for the USC job, so I put together what I think his list will look like initially.

I’m including some people I think Bohn might consider, like Luke Fickell, that would normally not be on the list.

Dream list

  1. Urban Meyer (Fox Sports)
  2. James Franklin (Penn State)
  3. Bob Stoops (XFL)
  4. Brent Venables (Clemson defensive coordinator)

Secondary list

  1. Matt Campbell (Iowa State)
  2. Matt Rhule (Baylor)
  3. Mike Norvell (Memphis)
  4. Bryan Harsin (Boise State)
  5. Dave Aranda (LSU defensive coordinator)
  6. Luke Fickell, (Cincinnati)
  7. Kyle Whittingham (Utah)

I think you could justify putting Campbell on the first list because he has done more with less at Toledo (10-2 in 2015) and Iowa State (one point losses to Iowa/Oklahoma, win over Texas this season).

Can you imagine what he might do with USC’s talent?

51 thoughts on “Morning Buzz: USC Coaching Candidates Lists”

  1. I can tell you what we don’t want, and that’s Bob Stoops, and any overrated Boise State coach, who ends up being average once they leave the state of Idaho. Urban Myer , James Franklin, and Matt Rhule have had success at multiple schools, so Mike Bohn can’t go wrong with either one of the three.

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    1. Franklin had kids raping women at Vandy, he supposedly tried to have a victim not come forward, he shouldn’t be allowed on campus but he gets a pass because he’s black

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  2. No to Venables, Aranda or anyone else who hasn’t been a head coach. Do we really want someone learning on the job again? As good as they are as coordinators, there’s nothing to indicate they’d be successful head coaches.

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    3. A few DEFENSIVELY minded coaches are enjoying success:
      CEO–Ed Orgeron!
      Kirby Smart
      Kyle Whit. (BTW–I can’t see him leaving his fiefdom in Snow Capped Utah)
      I would add Mario Cristobal–who was an O-lineman in his days.

      I believe Coach Pete Carroll was a “defensive” genius first and foremost.
      He brought in Norm Chow, and the rest is history.

      So, I ‘d consider Dave Aranda or Venables.
      Recruit all the 5 star badass defenders in So Cal, Nevada and Utah.
      Build a juggernaut, smashmouth, opportunistic defense (and O-line)….
      and the offense will take care of itself.

      That was Saban’s strategy, I think.

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  4. If we can’t get Urban, then I say we take the same Brinks truck to Ruhle, but we better get moving as this list will get really short, really quickly.

    I’m comfortable knowing that our fall back is Luke Fickell. He’s certainly not a home run like Meyer, but so much better than our current coach.

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    1. I agree Matt Rhule is the man. He immediately set up a recruiting network in Texas and he is not even from there. He is an upcoming proven head coach who has turned around two programs. He knows how to play with the big boys.

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  5. The up-and-comers are always a gamble. Look at Herman. Lots of talk about him over the years but Texas is flailing. We need a proven HEAD coach. One that’s done it at multiple stops and with success. Two words: Urban Meyer. Put up the cash and resources and everything else will fall into place: Recruiting, stadium filling up, buzz among students, and more revenue for the rest of athletics.

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    1. Agree on the Herrmann point, THOUGH his teams play brutal/physical football. His recruiting class for 2020 is prodigious. I think UT got a little “full of themselves” after their bowl victory vs UGA on New Years day.
      UT has had a brutal schedule this year. I think that they will be back to a top 15 program soon, and recruiting kids from Texas to come to California will be tough.

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  6. Urban, James Franklin and Bob Stoops have had HC tenures with domestic violence and rape incidents. If folks do not want Urban, then the other two get disqualified for the same reasons.

    Del Rio is still working behind the scenes to get his name into consideration and he won’t need as much convincing as any of the other guys on the list because he wants the job. He’s more of a candidate than some folks realize.

    Of all the guys with CA connections, Del Rio is a much better candidate than Tedford, Whittingham has his detractors at Troy (not to mention he might get a pay bump at Utah if this season turns out well) and Aranda has never been a HC anywhere which might not be the way to go this time around.

    #MyNumberOneIsUrban;MyNumberTwoIsDelRio

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  8. Alot of the candidates might balk at taking the USC job because the word is that USC is a raging dumpster fire right now. Not the best place to land at at the moment.

    #IfUSCWasTurnedDownBy10AthleticDirectorsBeforeBohn,WhatDoesThatTellYouAboutHowTheRestOfTheCountryViewsWorkingAtUSC?

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  9. Finally, we have an AD who is a professional AD. Who will actually put time into his job. Who won’t pick a Sarkisian or a Helton, or extend a Helton.

    Hopeful Mike Bohn will undo the damage done by Haden, Swann, and the guy who hired them, Nikias.

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  10. No to the Memphis dude. That is where Helton came from. No to Stoops. he can’t win the big one. No to Franklin, he lost to Helton.

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    2. I think Franklin was just getting started on the rebuilding phase himself when PS lost the Rose Bowl to Sam D. I’m not sure Franklin would take the USC job–might be a step backwards.

      No (also) to the Memphis dude.
      No to Stoops. I think his last few years he was the figurehead and Lincoln Riley was running the show (offense at least).

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  11. Hopefully that change will be sooner than later. I can’t imagine any of these coaches not jumping at the chance of coaching at USC. With USC’s talent and still attractive due to its rich football tradition I still believe USC would be a great place for a coach and future success.

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    3. My opinion for an cost estimate would be around $17 mil per year for a few years and then down to $12 mil after Helton’s buyout is done. The $17 mil is for helton, the new coach and the assistants. After helton is done being bought out, then around $6-7 mil for the head coach and the rest for the assitants. SC cannot go cheap this time. They just got $260 million from a donor. Spend it on upgrading the coaching staffs and facilities.

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      1. They should think of this as an investment, because $$ will skyrocket if they get the right coach and SC returns to being a top 5 program.

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      2. That donor did not give the money to the athletic dept. it will go to research. There are multiple reports of boosters committing to Heltons but out and 9 mil a year for UM. That leaves plenty in athletic depot budget to get the assistants he wants.

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      3. LMAO! Thinking that $260M can be spent anyway they like! Those type of donations are generally restricted for specific purposes. Clueless!

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  14. Matt Campbell would do very well with the talent he could recruit to USC. No thanks, on Urban Liar. Fans may want him, but many of us alumni don’t.

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  15. Scott Wolf and a number of people who um, like men, seem to be infatuated with the Rapist Enabler that LOST TO USC and HAS NEVER EVEN WON A DIVISION TITLE. James Franklin hasn’t ever won anything, anywhere. He didn’t win on a lower level. He only went to a Rose Bowl because the bowl wasn’t hosting Big 10 conference champions or division champions that year.

    It’s not like he lacked talent. He took serial rapist, kids with rap sheets, etc. as JC transfers at Vanderbilt, hence the rape spree. Does anyone think that won’t come back to bite us as soon as one of the 120 men on the team or staff has an allegation???

    Go find your bf somewhere else Scott and co. We’re looking for a winning fb coach.

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    1. Agreed – Franklin is not the guy. There is a lot of coaching talent out there, and even if SC can’t hire Meyer, they can still hire a very good coach with good assistants and make SC a top program immediately, given the talent level.

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  16. Also, Pete Carroll and every other USC coach had players or staff that had domestic violence or even rape issues come up. So does every candidate. And I’m not drawing the equivalent between rape and domestic violence rape is obviously another level usually… And there is a difference between and employee and their off campus life and a student athlete being allowed to play for a team– try firing an employee on 3rd hand hearsay as a boss especially after the police clears them…

    The difference with Franklin is not just that it was multiple players running a train on a blacked out girl, i.e. GROUP RAPE, on campus, with a video… but that after he was told about it, saw a video, and then called the victim and witness to try to intimidate them (as they saw it) or as he put it, investigate it.

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  17. Meyer. Whittingham, Harsin, Fickell, Venables (fingers crossed he really knows that offense and can get someone bc Clemson is not just D), the Pirate (the man can coach, and he can coach multiple offenses if he has the talent, hell he’ll pull out a TE and FB if the talent is there). Here’s a pick: Josh Daniels, we know what SC can do with an old school smash mouth offense and a QB under center with a great WC passing game. The man gets a chance to not just jump ship and fail at an NFL team, or wait forever for his boss to die or quit. Mariucci tried to get the job before but we went w ClaySarKiffin, that guy is a good coach (no one wins in Detroit) and he’s got a media friendly and student friendly type of vibe, coached at SC and Cal, he’s been a college and NFL head coach, and he’s too young to retire anytime soon, too old to use it as a stepping stone.

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    1. I thought about McDaniels a few months back, also.
      He was young when hired as HC by the Denver Broncos, and his youth was his undoing. Started out 6-0, including beating his old boss, Belicheck, in week 5. Finished out 5 and 17 and was fired before the end of his second year.

      Did he learn his lessons from his Broncos fiasco, and is he ready to be HC again?

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  18. Urban or Cristobal.

    If we don’t get Urban, then N.D. will and all that “high morality” will lead to a trail of tears like the Lou Holtz days.

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    1. ONLY if he gets the admissions dept to lower their requirements the way Lou did. (Once he left, they went right back up.)

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  19. Matt Campbell the best aside from Meyer – IA St has been a perennial zero before he got there. Ruhle has/had the advantage of a private school and Ruhle arrived 2 years after Briles dismissal i.e. pipeline was full.

    The best is a 40 yr old guy who has been through it at a public university at a no name school

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    1. Spot on with everything rusoviet, except the Matt Campbell choice.
      He’s had some epic upsets, but does he win every game in which his team is superior? I dunno. Just asking.

      I think Rhule could be a touch over-rated. Nice rebuild at Temple–perhaps the competition was not fierce? Nice “rebuild “at Baylor, but their 9-0 record this year was built against poor competition. Lucked out vs Rice, Texas Tech, and TCU. Luck ran out vs a well-coached OU.

      I do like your idea:
      “The best is a 40 yr old guy who has been through it at a public university at a no name school.” Some dislike James Franklin, but he nearly fills your bill (a lil over 40, but successful at a private school–WF–and successful at a public school. A tarnished record at WF, but everyone at PSU has forgiven him)

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  20. I’d like to see Kris Richard get a look. I’m not saying to check him out just bc he’s a former USC player and assistant–I’d love to see the legion of boom attitude at USC. He knows the importance of building a competitive culture. He’s a defensive guy with NFL cred from Carson. Think he might be able to recruit? Follow the PC path, coach D, change the team culture, let the best OC guru you can find run the O, and recruit like hell. Frankly, I’m ok letting Harrell stay as OC. He’s learning on the job, but let’s not let him train at USC and then go on to do things elsewhere. Richard is on the cusp of a head gig somewhere in the next few years. Laugh at me if you want, but I’m just saying to give him a look and really ask around. Urban is the only sure thing on the list of usual suspects. Not happening. Just expand the list of possibilities.

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  21. Pingback: USC Morning Buzz: Multiple Reports Say Dave Aranda Staying At Baylor – InsideUSC with Scott Wolf

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