It’s a pretty simple proposition: Is Mike Bohn going to perform a cowardly act today with Clay Helton?
- Does he act like he is at USC or does he act like he was at Colorado?
- Does he trash the goodwill he earned his first month on the job or essentially become Lynn Swann 2.0?
- I hear he was furiously lobbied by a senior administrator this week to retain Helton. Why would he care?
- Did he completely strike out pursuing big-name coaches?
- Keep asking yourself why Bohn waited this long if he actually brings Helton back?
Oh it’s going to be an ugly morning for Bohn if he announces
Clay being retained. I can’t imagine what he is going to hear everywhere he goes . It’s going to be a long offseason for him
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Like the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
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And not the one starring Errol Flynn, gt…..
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So wrong, GT22!!!!!!
Little Bighorn was an ambush, by a clever, smart, resourceful and strategic opponent vs an overwhelming but arrogant force.
Shit. Maybe you’re right after all!
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2 additional elaborations..
1) We are perhaps reliving the Twilight Zone episode based on (disaster lingering on to haunt the future)…
2) What was the joke about why the ground was so white at the LBH? Also not an inapt visual for our so-called leadership…
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The “announcement”? Bohn will say whatever he’s told to say — I only hope question and answer is permitted.
#IfAllWeGetIsAPressReleaseThingsAreWayWorseThanWeGuessed….
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this is the letter I received from Mike Bohn after sending him an email asking him to replace Helton. Probably written by his secretary or a form letter they developed to respond to the inquiries. “Focused on strategic enhancements” says it all/
Thank you for sharing your candid thoughts. We appreciate your passion and support of USC Athletics.
We are committed to ensuring that our football program competes at the highest level. We are focused on strategic enhancements that will fuel competitiveness, player development and results.
Our student-athletes are deserving of our collective, unequivocal support. Loyal Trojans like you are the foundation as they strive to fight on to victory!
Mike
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Dude, you don’t even pick USC TO WIN FOOTBALL GAMES…lol…
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M. L.
Feel free to delete the “Probably” before the words “written by his secretary.”
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Michael Link, yes, “Strategic Enhancements” says it all.
I am guessing he is operating under many more constraints from Folt and others than he had anticipated when he took the job.
We’ll see what comes of this, but it smells like the SC admin is still run by incompetents, just different names and faces.
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Stephen or should I say weird one. Would you pick USC to beat Oregon? I said USC would be 7-5 this year. I call as I see them.
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Always, you degenerative ingrate….your chompers are showing…your regular disrespectful behavior, in Scott’s house, indicates low life status, elsewhere. You’re so courageous, why don’t you sign your name to it, K”Linkster”….
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And, it wasn’t just Oregon, how about the Utah game lol lol…How’d that work for you? you’re more into your intellect and reputation, rather than USC winning…stop pretending you’re all that…no one would listen to Benedict, nor should they…
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Stephen – I am quite sure you are some worthless troll scum like Ted or Bucket. I was on a NCAA championship team at USC. How about you? My Trojan boba fides are good. You are internet troll probably voting Bernie Sanders. You may kiss my ass!
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Maya at SI confirms Hugs is staying!https://www.si.com/college/usc/football/report-usc-keeping-helton/
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Sleeping with the enemy, even on your occasions, makes you a double agent. What does America do, with even part time traitors? They’re thrown in the K”Link”. Lol…I’m more inclined, just get in front of them, and let them feel me, lol.,.you are, what you are by your own displays…An unruly mut….
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Old man, gone bad….too full of himself, to be any use, in these proceedings…That dude sitting next to me in the picture is a Hall of Famer, along with, what I consider a few other Hall of Famers, like Mark McGwire and Jack Del Rio, so, I know what good men look like, you’re not it, no matter what you did, once upon a time…
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When it was North versus South, would the North take you back, after spending a night in the South’s camp? No…you’ve disgraced yourself, just like Helton has with his low standards and lack of vision…it’s one thing to talk about them, it’s quite another to implement them. That’s why so many want him to leave ASAP, because he, like you, have had your chances….
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Stephen- you are fucking NUTS. You must have taken the steroids McGuire did and got permanent brain damage. And he ain’t in the HOF.
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He should be. Wolfy, get this man an airport runway room, along with a milk crate, and an in flight series, “Homeland“, reject….
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Folks we’re not out of the woods yet! There are some and heritage Hall that are advocating for the firing of the fine coach clay helton. We need to be vigilant and keep praying that Mike bohn will not waver and do the right thing!
#dotherightthing #keepClay
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Stand down! This is not “care league football.” Nor, is it grotesque “church league.“ It’s one of, if not the biggest stages in college football…God, you say? I pray more than you, and most, ask him. Not only that, I proclaim his deity here, regularly. Who you? Clay has earned a sacking, not more time. Including his current position, he’s been here for more than 10 years, well apportioned, and, he’s been found short! Now, flee from us…there’s life after USC, take it with grace, not false Trojan pride…
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Put this on Caruso – he’s the puppet master with the BOT – he’s the one who backed up that former temp ‘pres’ who sacked the head of the USC Business School – he’s the one who ‘directed’ the board to agree to Folt and he moved to both diownsize the BOT as well as mandated vacating upon reaching a specific age.
This going to be a massive ‘blank’ if this moron Helton is retained.
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And our next Mayor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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ROME BURNS WHILE NERO FIDDLES!!
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And according to some (albeit disreputable) counts, actually set the blaze…our brain trust is clearly a bunch of self-immolating pyros…
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At the end of the day we need to know why, problem is we won’t get that info. My guess? He coaches one more year, USC saves $20M and MaYBe Urban Meyer is willing to revisit the position. If that was the case…I’d be fine.
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If I were Meyer I would want nothing to do with the clown show at USC
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Good…we don’t need Urban Meyer, if it’s that big a chore…stop sniveling after him, Budda!!!
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That’s been my theory all along, BK.
Look at OSU fanbase vs USC. We struggle to seat 50,000 vs our rival.
OSU goes into their opponent’s Big House vs 105,000 rapid fans and spanks their rival.
You walk the streets of Budapest in your OSU sweater, and a fellow grad shouts out the OSU fight song from across the piazza.
I suspect UM has an EGO, but he’s smart enough to stay away from this shitshow. Ms. UM bought a house in the Southbay cuz having a second home is easily within their budget. I suspect she kinda’ liked the warmth of Florida. I hear Columbus sux in the Winter.
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USC is a far bigger international brand than Ohio St. Always has been…
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Just over 25% of USCs graduate and undergraduate student population of 48, 500, is foreign….Ohio State’s is 6,563…approximately 1/2 of what USC’s is…that’s been going on for decades and decades…
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Stephen:
I agree with you on some parts.
There’s a 60 minutes episode from years ago on the international OSU following. With 50,000 undergrads and 20,000+ graduating annually from the #54 school in America, they do present “numbers.” The episode outlines how the alumni support each other away from Columbus and the USA.
Yes, we are happy to have graduated from the #15-22 school in the Country–even if our numbers are smaller.
That said, wear your USC swag everywhere you go.
That’s what my OSU, Iowa, and Husker fans do (even if their school is academically inferior).
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Never beg or bend too far, for a hire…that’s a bad foundation, even though Urban is top shelf…
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60 minutes? Lol…
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Do yourself a favor, actually look at the numbers, rather than listening to them…the numbers I quote are up to date…
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Even Meyer would prefer U. C. Davis to Alabama……
MeyerInteriorMonologue:”LetHeltonTakeTheHitFromSaban”
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I couldn’t take the torture of waiting for updates so I went out dancing last night but on the way home I dared to flip on the radio and Jason Smith and Mike Harmon were playing circus music and then talked about USC for the next 20 minutes!
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Agree. If I was Bohn, either get the Home Run Hire (Meyer, Stoops, Belichick LOL) or sit tight for a year. Are any of the other candidates mentioned (Campbell, Franklin) really 100% sure bets to get SC back to immediate National Title Contention? If not, then you are looking at a $25/mil Buyout and possibly flipping another 8-9 win coach in two years. It may take some time & patience to undo all the crap Haden caused.
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Hey, Clay! It’s time for you to end it! I’d say the vast majority of fans want you to leave. Why stay? What are you holding on to? These are not jobs of need…you’re not suffering for money, if so, you’re a bad steward. We see it, why don’t you? You’re not from here, you probably didn’t earn the job, in the first place. What’s your deal? Stop the bull. Don’t allow cowardly personal church defenders, who don’t sign in under their real name or church, to come here and throw false weight around…..you haven’t done an acceptable job at USC!!! Get a grip on the facts of your performances…
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RESIGN RESIGN RESIGN RESIGN RESIGN!
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If this true, I guess USC likes empty seats ?
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If they’ve talked to Bob Stoops, already…that means they don’t want Helton here, either…
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They want to become just like Stanford!
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There’s more to life, than eggheads, just watch the textbook versions on capitol hill, today…
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So the big 5 o’clock SCOOOOOP!!! last night is solid, you’re now being shaken off the spot by FootballScoops.com?
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Scott,
Once again your inside sources came through. Good job being out ahead of this one.
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I visit your blog and hope it’s not true, but maybe I’ve been wrong. Is it true what they say about USC fans being entitled? Be thankful you have 8, maybe 9 wins this year. Every team has down years (even ‘Bama and Oregon). From the outside, things look pretty good at USC. Helton is a proven winner who needs more time. And his support staff needs more time to.
Take a lesson from our fan base. Admittedly, Mario had a down year last year. We didn’t call for his head, but instead displayed patience and trusted the wisdom of our president, AD and Knight. Now we’re on the verge of being Pac12 champs and winning more Rose bowls.
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You’re on the verge of losing your QB to the NFL — I’m glad you’re a guy who’s thankful for 8 win seasons —cuz you’re gonna have one next year.
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You make a good point. And it’s refreshing to see you admit it: we are a pipeline to the NFL. USC not so much these days
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Quacky — I said Justin Herbert is going to the NFL —I didn’t say he’d be a roaring success…
#….We’llLeaveThatJobToPittman
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Gonna disagree, MG.
(Though I do count on you guys to trash the UCLA and Oregon posters.
I pay them no heed.)
“Super” Mario is the real deal.
He’s not some QB (who wore a yellow shirt in practice–don’t TOUCH the QB!!!). Mario was an O-lineman, I think. He’s building things the right way.
The recruits are following. Thibidoux (sp) is the proof. The speedburners will follow.
Point I’m trying to make is….
We’ve had 10 years with the “QB genius” coach–SarkiffinMartinHelton.
We had plenty of prior years–Tollner and Hackett–to ponder this
“QB genius” as coach BS.
I like the Kirby Smart, Ed Orgeron way. Maybe it’s time?
We go to Autzen next year. I welcome Ducky Quacksworth to chime in again.
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I like Mario too…
#That’sWhyIDidn’tMentionHim
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Losing Justin Herbert will be an upgrade.
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Sorry but you are wrong on all of that. You didn’t see how his players gave up vs Oregon. Our players didn’t want to tackle after we threw an interception because they were all quitting. This is a led team. Helton brought his defensive coordinator in and didn’t even want to interview LSU’s Dave Aranda. He’s incompetent on so many levels of coaching. On the field and the stuff thats not on the field.
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My bad .
I meant this a Helton led team
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My bad .
I meant this a Helton led team
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Dang. Sorry, I didn’t know about all that. Maybe I judged the fan base unfairly.
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He got by on dynamic players making look good.
Adoree Jackson, Sam Darold, Juju Smith-Schuster, Ronald Jones, etc. Since then his lack of coaching ability was exposed right away. He’s small school head coach. Bowling Green or Portland State. Maybe San Diego St.
He won the lottery with Pat Haden bringing him in.
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When you drop a big dime on a private education (and don’t rely on the public purse and the hardworking, labor class to pay for your education), you expect more from your school, Mr. Ducksworth.
When you drop a big dime on a private education and take on large qty of debt (as most USC students do) and work a low-paying job to get through those school years, you have expectations for excellence.
Two prior Presidents–Zumberge and Sample–raised USC from a “good West Coast” school (where legacies were honored) to now a top 15-22 University in America. I think USC is now the #2 Research University west of the Mississippi.
Expectation is something that I could never teach my fellow public school grad friends (and I rolled in high places with rich professionals). With a smirk, I watched them get “left behind” along the way.
Entitled? Nope.
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Regarding last paragraph…true for many, but not all of us. The “Trojan Family” and all the doors that are opened with a USC degree, it’s a bit exaggerated. Still, I have no regrets. Proud to be a Trojan!
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Quacky,
Helton has had four years to prove that he is worthy of being the head coach at SC. He won the Rose Bowl on the coattails of Sam Darnold. After that he has lost to Wisconsin and others in the bowl games. This is unacceptable for SC to play in these minor bowl games. SC is not entitled, but from their history expectations are extremely high to win everything every year. This is program is in the same air as bama, ohio st., nd, and lately Clemson. yet, they are in the dredges of the Mountain West. It is time for him to go. Thank you for your consideration.
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Football Scoop is reporting Helton will be retained.
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This is a sad day. A prequel to many bad days of recruiting misses, players transferring, beat down by alabama, and you can imagine how it will go from this point.
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If Clay were a HS student, and the games were like classes, I’m thinking ol’ pseudo valedictorian Helton’s report card would look a little something like this:
Home Economics: A
Calculus: D
Biology: F
History: C
Music Appreciation: B
PE: C (too many days out injured)
Conduct: Poor (more penalties than last yr)
Teacher’s Notes:
No way in hell is he gonna matriculate to an Ivy League school (aka CFB Playoff). Matter of fact, if he didn’t cheat off Sam Darnolds homework and tests, he would have never made it past his sophomore year.
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Don’t forget to mention that Helton would offer very compelling excuses for the “D” and “F” ….and he’d be proud of the “C” in PE …
#”IFoughtLikeAWarrior”
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Lets hope the basketball team can give us something to be proud of and they have a good season. No more football! ☹
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Yes he would.
He would even name drop the man up above a few times like he usually does when we play bad.
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When asked why he did so poorly on Calculus, he’d have to reply,
“I dunno. Gonna have to look at the teacher’s comments.”
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Ha! [And after reviewing the comments for 2 days he’d say it was just a matter of not executing]….
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But after reviewing the teacher’s comments–emblazoned in heavy red pencil ALL OVER THE PLACE–does he make any changes for the next calculus test?
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(I aced calculus, BTW. Actually enjoyed the problem solving)
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Glad you liked calculus, Bourbon —I was more lost in that class than Helton ever looked on the sidelines…
#[ILikeToBlameItOnMyGirfriendButIDon’tThinkThatWasIt]….
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Did you steal my report card? I’m gonna sue you. LOLOLOLOLOLO. Just joking.
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So it appears the Titanic steams on through the ocean floor on its unwavering mission to become the first human-made object to reach the mantle…what was Wally Schirra’s line in “Moonshot” about how the original seven reacted to the idiotic NASA test program? “Where the Hell is the “No” button…”
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The fact that Bohn is listening to senior administrators in the athletic department is a major issue of concern. Steve Lopes, Tim Tessalone, and Ron Orr are responsible for all of the problems that Bohn was hired to fix. He can’t bring about change by relying on the same set of incompetents. He needs to clean house and dump this triumvirate of dead weight!
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Question: What if Bohn is dead weight too?
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Clay Helton was catapulted from the Sunbelt/CUSA league to the job of a lifetime. He was not experienced “enough” to leverage his opportunity and enjoy “the chance of a lifetime.”
Bohn has worked his way up–failed at UC Boulder because UC Boulder has a tradition of losing/losers. If you know Boulder (like I know Boulder), CU likely shouldn’t even have football team. I feel sorry for Mel Tucker. What a waste of a football talent.
Bohn will be a good AD, though the process may be ugly and may go slower than “we” like. I do have tremendous hope for the 2021 season.
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You have answered your own question. If Helton is not fired by Dec. 11, 2019, then he is dead weight as well as Folt.
My question is, who actually is running SC and who is running the athletic department? From the looks of it, Folt and Bohn are just figure heads and are taking orders from someone.
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Well, MG, Bohn was like the fifth or sixth choice after top tier ADs declined the offer because they were given limitations on who they could hire (i.e., Meyer). As we all know, Bohn accepted and then there was a keruffle because the hiring committee hadn’t told him about such limitations. Cut to the hiring press conference and supposedly there are no such limitations.
I suspect there actually are limitations, that Bohn broke down and accepted these limitations privately in order to secure the job, and that shows he’s a pushover. Because if there were no such hiring limitations, why didn’t we just hire ourselves a top tier AD instead of second tier Mike Bohn?
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Oaktown –Every word you wrote (unfortunately) has the ring of truth …
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Look at his resume… his time in Colorado screams “Failure!”
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Not from nothing, I wouldn’t be so quick to believe an uptick in recruiting is headed our way now that cch lobbied his way to another yr.
Those who lay most/majority/all of the low recruiting ranking blame on the uncertainty surrounding the ol ball “coach” are, imho, overlooking something that’s way more important to 4/5 star level talent: does the program prep/place guys in the pros. At ‘SC under clam, we’re far behind what USC historically produced, and embarrassingly far behind the big boys in the SEC. For example: as much fanfare as our dline recruits got/get from local scribes, you don’t hear draft evaluators talking about 4 of them being drafted in the first 2 rounds like they do with the kids from Georgia. Our track record of late is brutal. Hell, this staff barely gets them ready to play the BYU’s of the world, much less getting them ready for the league. I had a front row seat for about 8 years observing and advising draft eligible kids who had a better than most shot at playing for a living, and trust, there not beholden to some antiquated notion of loyalty to a coach who, for all intents and purposes, is someone they barely know, or are just getting to know. This ain’t the 50’s. These kids and their parents have a plan and whatever college can best improve their odds is the one they’ll most likely attend. They see that clay is a gong show and they go elsewhere. Heck, I’d be willing to bet that giving clay “stability” might actually work against us recruiting wise… wouldn’t at all be surprised if some commits did so hoping that clay did get canned, believing that a better staff was surely to follow… buying real estate when the market is down, speculating that it’s gonna jump soon.
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No doubt MG, no doubt… wonder if the dog is gonna eat his gameplan this year should GH head home
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We should all pray that Harrell stays —-without him, Slovis will be lost against Alabama and Utah.
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Lost? He’ll be dead/broken…think of that hit that knocked him out against Utah…and what that will be like being delivered by a vengeful Saban team against a Hugs O-line…
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They must pay Harrell $3-4 million to stay.
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Guys —If the announcement doesn’t include Harrell we’ve taken a giant step backwards…
#BohnCan’tBeTHATDumb…
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MG
As before…you can make whatever changes you want to the staff…as long as Helton is there, it won’t matter…
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That is SO true, James. Recall that Helton put himself in charge of fixing strength and conditioning and eliminating penalties in 2019……
#IGuessIDon’tHaveToGoOnMakingMyPoint….
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MG
I know I come off as a prick on this point, but…and you’re not wrong about Harrell constituting an orders of magnitude improvement over Hugs & The Hillbillys…
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James — No worries — you’re 100% correct (not the prick part).
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Where did Lynn Swann get that Mike Bohn disguise, because there’s no way USC hired another gutless, idiot athletic director? I’ve never seen a university with so much potential for greatness, but continues to dodge it for close to a decade. This is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen, because you’re average fan would’ve made better choices then the last two, maybe three AD’s
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thanks for the laugh! i needed some levity in this dreary day.
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But your average fan isn’t as intellectual as the elites who run USC…
#TheyKnowTheyKnowBest…
#{AllEvidenceToTheContrary]…
P .S.
Wouldn’t it be funny, though, if everybody’s gotten punked and Bohn announces Urban Meyer?
#AndUrban’sFirstChallengeIsDealingWith…
#…ANonEmployee[Helton]OfferingScholarshipsToAthletes
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The only way USC gives Alabama a game next year is if Nick Saban calls it a career and retires because he’s gonna be on a mission to get back to the top and Clay Helton just happens to be his first of many knockouts. Tua will be eager to get back at it again also.
Damn……
Just think it could have been Alabama’s Nick Saban vs. USC’s Urban Meyer 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
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The reason Bohn waited so long to announce Clay coming back is that he felt the need to hire new assistant coaches to try to give the appearance of change. So they will throw Clancy Pendergast under the bus and Clay takes no responsibility.
Typical Clay. He has been taking no responsibility for the whole last year.
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Clay is already planning excuses for next year … and if Slovis (God forbid) gets injured playing behind our uneven o-line, he’s all set.
#Helton:”ICanFixThisIn2021!”
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Bonus points if you can do a good imitation of Petros’ imitation of Helton going into his backwoods ass snakeoil salesman “…just missed goin’ to Santa Clara…” routine…
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James — I entertain friends and relatives on a regular basis doing Petros imitations. I’ve got him down cold —even the expressions. I’ll need to post on YouTube.
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I guarantee that Mike Bohn negotiated the final three years of Helton’s contract with him. We retain you for this year but you significantly lower the buyout. Additionally, you fire Clancy and Baxter ASAP.
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Firing Clancy will help —but whoever takes his place has a lot of holes to fill everywhere you look —linebackers, secondary….
Any warm body can replace the once great Baxter (who burned out 2 years ago and has been mailing it in ever since)…
#Helton’sLackOfGutsInTerminatingTheseTwo…..
#….DirectlyLedToALL4OfOurLosses….
#[AndThat’sWhyHeDoesn’tDeserveToComeBack]….
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MG:
A lot of returning experience on Defense. Give a strong DC this talent and he’ll coach ’em up into a top 20 squad. I’m counting on Tufele and Tuipulotu and ITS (and maybe Echols-RS) returning, however.
The punt game was not so bad, and FG were excellent. Hopefully we can learn how to fair catch the KO return and kick the ball into the endzone on coverage. ST improvement seems “doable” by a clever graduate assistant.
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Not fair to Bohn because the boosters would have to pony of the money for change. I think he swung big for Urban and Stoops who didnt like what USC had to offer. It makes sense to keep Helton rather than bring a coach who hasnt delivered a Naty where they are currently at.
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If Bohn knew USC needed Meyer and couldn’t offer what Meyer wanted [because USC wouldn’t pay the piper] he should have done the honorable thing and resigned.
#NowHe’sGotAJob&NoRespect
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Sounds like most educrats.
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gt —If I were Bohn, I’d wanna watch out. If Helton wanted to hug him for just attending the UCLA game…. and gave him the game ball for just visiting the locker room —I’d really hate to think of the lengths Clay’s prepared to go to for letting him stay.
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MG
There is a reputable well known person on this blog who told me in a text that ‘unlimited’ alum $$ was available for UM.
So if that is true then other factors are at play.
It seems SC is being led by someone who has the wisdom to entertain one of Lori’s fluffer lower classman champion rowers on his little boat in the Caribbean during spring break as Operation Varsity Blues is unfolding.
#WYSIWYG
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Cal75,
Your clever description of THAT person reduces the list of candidates to ONE…..
#AndI’mAfraidYou’reRight…
#[GladIDon’tLiveInL.A.Anymore]….
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They hired a tin soldier who will accept his millions to do very little. He fits in perfectly with this new generation of take the money and play golf bureaucrats. USC has now been converted into a shamble of left wing wackos…..which I suppose was necessary to prosper in the socialist republic of LA.
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Someone above astutely pointed out that Clancy will more than likely be seeing the undercarriage of big ass bus real soon. All things Clancy aside, this isn’t the first time Clay’s played the buddy-buddy faith fam foosball card before chucking someone under a moving vehicle. One could argue that he did so with this years defense as a whole by not ensuring pass happy Graham played complimentary football. It’s all fun and games throwing the ball around the yard unless you’re on defense and have to get back to work 2min into a breather cause the offense went 3 passes and out. I haven’t reviewed the film, and can’t quote related stats, but I think we all know how many times we watched lead after lead shrink as the game went on because the d was gassed. Now why would Clay do something like that to his brave young men on d? Cause he hung his hat on reinventing the O air raid style and needed the improvements to build his case when the crap hit the fan. Then he could say “look at the numbers the offense put up with the dude i hired” while simultaneously pointing the finger at CP as the majority cause of the teams issues. It’s not the first time clay has built in his scapegoats preemptively. As the song says: “don’t let the handshake and the smile fool ya…”
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I saw it differently:
Our defense usually played only 68-70 plays per game–with fairly liberal substituting on the front 4. They were gassed vs BYU (at altitude), and you could see our big guys unable to pursue the scrambling QB in the second half. Same VS UCLA. Better conditioning seems wise.
The problem with the defense was that they could not set an edge EVEN IN THE FIRST PERIOD, never could tackle assuredly (not permitted in practice, evidently), and were undisciplined in rush lanes/assignments.
The ball-hawking was slightly improved, though we lost the t/o battle again this year.
Hard to complain about the #12 offense in the country–which turned in 2 lousy performances (BYU and Kedon in first road start, and UW with Matt).
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I heard one of the Minnesota Vikings players said the Hawks put a “special kind of hurt on their tackles.” Try to say that about what USC does ….without laughing….
#..There’sMoreToTacklingThanJustBringingSomeoneDown…
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Bourbon,
Couldn’t argue the points you made even if I was looking thru helton-colored glasses. None more true than the one about conditioning. Goes without sayin’ (except to the head football coach of Southern Cal) that conditioning, alongside tackling/blocking are the main ingredients in winning football. Obviously they aren’t the only three but it’s near impossible to win squat w/o. If a team is light on other ingredients, a coaching staff can for the most part work around it (of course, except for the head football coach of Southern Cal). Despite the secretive nature of practices, it’s no secret that Clay is 10-ply soft on his warriors and is hellbent on eliminating tackling as a bassackwards way of mother henning ’em. Who’s to say this feline approach doesn’t extend into conditioning? Easy enough to spot the kids lacking tackling skills… count the defensive bodies on the deck who are gazing at the sky or are staring at the turf. The signs that a team ain’t in shape or well conditioned might start with huffin and puffin, but post halftime – especially if the team isn’t taking measures during the break to eliminate as much of the lactic acid buildup/residue – it begins to show in missed assignments, failure to hold the edge, bad angles, ignorant penalties, loss of discipline, etc. You know the conditioning program is suspect when the staff thought 3 carries per hour (approx 10 carries per game) was pushing it for Stepp. The rotational depth up front you mentioned allowed a higher % of overall snaps to taken at a greater energy level. That extra energy manifests in consistently higher effort, and even if it only results in an extra pass breakup or one key stuff on 3rd and short per game, it could mean all the diff between a 5-7 & 8-4 campaign. Hard to maintain discipline when you’re sucking wind. Think it was V. Lombardi who coined the phrase “fatigue makes cowards of us all”. Speaking of Green Bay I had the good fortune of spending a couple nights out yonder and catching a game at Lambeau… got goosebumps just thinking bout it. Point being there is a place where the normal joe/jane loves football like the folks on here do… and they are everywhere. Some of the best, most fun lovin people I’ve ever met… if the opportunity ever arises, pack every jacket you own and go… if that happens to be between now and the start of next season, take clay with and burn his return tic
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The crap did hit the fan……
#Us
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Why does Bones have to make any announcement? Helton is still Coach, nothing has changed, It’s business as usual, coaches are out recruiting…no news.
If there are Assistant Coach changes, Helton will make that announcement.
In order to retain media credentials, Adam Maya will be pilloried in Alumni Park across from Bovard for 2 days and swear allegiance to Capo Tessalone
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Actually, that would be the perfect conclusion to this mess: No announcement. Let recruits and their families figure the situation out for themselves.
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Beats “sleeping with the fishes,” don’t you think?
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Last chirp for the day, gots to beat this storm and traffic home. Appreciate the back n forth today, it has helped to keep up the ruse that I’m still sane (which will end the second i hear Clay say “well howdy everybody” at his stay of execution presser. Final thought was in regards to our offense. Regardless of the how, why, when he came to be QB1, Slovis and the offense showed it could be downright prolific when it had its collective shit together. My only question is if you can move the ball at will, why rush it? Pretty sure Slovis won’t turn into a pumpkin if they use more clock. Reminds me of that joke about a father and son bull looking down into a valley of lovely cows
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Clay isn’t a coach, he’s a politician. Go back to the presser when he was made perm coach (8th sign of the apocalypse for those keeping track) and notice two things he kept hammering on (setting the stage for his defense from day one just like a snaky multi term elected politician) time and time again in the days immediately following (paraphrasing for sure):
▪THING ONE: “blah, blah the bar is set high, and i accept the challenge, otherwise shouldn’t come to USC blah blah blah.”
Classic planting the defense seeds early tactic. Pointedly repeating something early on as if it’s core to your philosophy so later on when people begin to (rightly) suspect you’re actually lowering the bar (Cal State Champs, UC Davis, 340 yds rushing against is a “great effort”, youth, 2 stars, etc, etc) you can pull up 1000 soundbytes talking about how much you welcome that high bar… with this dude it’s all for show. Announcing the obvious high bar with trumpets on day uno helps to distract people from noticing the nuanced and sneaky bs reality of how he’s actually lowering the damn thing.
▪THING TWO: “I plan on coaching here for 15yrs”. (+/- too many or too few depending). Huh? How bout I plan on winning forever like PC, or something team oriented, not some incredibly selfish and obtuse statement about how long you want to stick around. Statements like that give an indication of what his true goal is, and it has nothing to do with being around as long as he is viable, helpful, productive, etc. Nope, not Clay. Longevity as a prime focus is a politician’s game, not a football coaches.
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Heart felt, eloquent and right on the money, Occidental.
#AmazingMoreFolksDon’tSeeThruHelton’sSelfishCharade…
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If this 2:15 pm emergency meeting is legit logic would say Gomer is done. Why call an emergency meeting to announce the cockroach is back? Knowing the outrage it would generate a simple press release announcing he is back would make more sense. It just may be that Bohn could end up being a hero if does the execution then hires someone top notch. If he somehow ends up with Meyer they will build a statue for Bohn LOL.
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