FOOTBALL

USC Saturday Night Notes

One scenario that keeps coming up is whether former USC player/assistant Joe Barry, currently a Rams assistant, could handle working under Clay Helton?

If he can, Barry makes sense as a top candidate to be defensive coordinator. He’s already worked with Helton before under Lane Kiffin. Barry’s primarily been an NFL coach, however, so he would need to be ready for a change.

  • Below, here are Charles White and John Robinson during a press conference at Heritage Hall after White won the Heisman Trophy in 1979.
Charles White and John Robinson during Heisman Trophy press conference, 1979
Photo courtesy USC digital library

35 thoughts on “USC Saturday Night Notes”

    2. Barry is Assistant HC for the Rams.
      He knows Helton well.

      Therefore, there is no way Barry would be interested unless the fine print says “You take over as HC when we fire Helton, probably in October.”

      Liked by 4 people

      Reply

      1. I like it, 67….
        #….MaybeBetterIfThatClauseIsOnlyKnownByPartiesThemselves….
        #[HeltonHasn’tPoisonedAnybodyYet….ButWhoKnows?]…….

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Michael, I still can’t believe that Helton gave game balls to “Coach Bohn” and “Coach Folt”. I mean, just how much more obvious can a guy be?

        Liked by 4 people

    3. Hmmm….
      I don’t know how things go with millionaire alpha male coaches, but…

      Maybe “Barry being an NFL coach, HELTON would have to be ready for a change if he started working with Barry….?”

      This site pretty much profiles HC CH as a wimp (surrounded by wimpier wimps). Bring in a stud, and maybe the wimps cave?

      I have my favorites for DC, but I’ll take anyone who can bring some toughness to the D. No one on that D should request an NFL eval.
      All should return. With this group and a more energetic DC, our defense will improve enough for the other 11 games.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

      1. The right D-Coordinator could make a huge difference, given the talent available. [The funny thing is —-that ‘difference’ would prove how much of an asshole Helton was for insisting on having his blowup doll, Clancy, serve as DC all this time]……

        Liked by 4 people

      1. I hear you, Arturo.

        Sadly, Arturo, the former MG has mutated into a Chicken Little, Rah-Rah/Pimp and now resides in the realm of Einstein’s definition of insanity.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. owns is criticizing Michael as a “Chicken Little rah rah/pimp”.

        owns, what defines “rah rah”?

        I’d say it is somebody who picked the bruins over Cincinnati, Oklahoma, San Diego State, Utah, SC,…

        Liked by 3 people

      3. Arturo,
        You are not a prude at all. In Arthurian terms, you and 67, Bourbon, Craig, and James are the holy knights who behold the Grail. Alv, karma, Owns and me are only allowed to dream of it while we sleep under apple trees.
        #ButWeAllFightInTheServiceOfKingScott…
        #….DefendingTheHonorOfThoseWhoTurnTheOtherCheek

        Liked by 3 people

      4. P.S.
        gt sits in the chair marked ‘siege perilous’ next to the King …and global consultant defends the weak and the powerless….
        #ThatAboutCoversIt,Yes?

        Liked by 3 people

      5. I’m with you 100%, Arturo.
        #I’mconflicted

        The present situation with USC FB can bring out some intense emotions…
        I always try to “keep it clean, myself,” and not get personal or insulting.

        Ahhh fuckit!

        Liked by 3 people

      6. Bourbon,
        Welcome to the shade of the apple tree— outside the locked doors of the sacred chapel. At least, unlike the other more pure grail seekers who are transported to Avalon, we will return to Camelot to defend the King….

        Liked by 2 people

      7. JO:
        You have misinterpreted MG, or Einstein, or likely both.
        MG has no interest in perpetuating “the same thing over and expecting a different result.” His posts bear this out.

        With AD MG, there’d be pink slips galore in Heritage Hall, Urban Meyer as HC, the “decaying mausoleum” would be full each game, and the lads in powder blue would be demoralized. All this from his desk in Maui (aka Heritage Hall west).

        Sadly, the wise counselor knows that he must defend a guilty client to get the most lenient sentence possible.

        Insane? Nyet.
        Clever? F-yeah (for you, Arturo)

        Liked by 3 people

      8. Bourbon,
        Can you imagine showing up in any large courtroom on any case involving USC over the next 5 years—judge, bailiff, clerk and American flag all present and accounted for— and having to say the words, “I’m representing the defendant, USC, in this matter, your honor” ??? …..
        #…KnowingThat,RegradlessOfVoluminousDiscovery…..
        #…YouStillReallyHaveNoIdeaWhatIsGoingToComeOutInTestimony..

        Liked by 3 people

  2. Unless Joe Barry wants to bounce his family around from state to state as an assistant coach, then he better stay with the Rams. Because there’s no stability under Clay Helton, and he’ll probably be gone within two years

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  4. Hey I should have but I didn’t…just what does ‘Joe Barry’ have to do with ‘Jolly John’ or USC?

    Remember class ‘Jolly John’ abnd his ‘move’ he made after 1982 with that ‘oh so sneaky’ slide to the Rams after he stated he would stay at USC….at least Carroll never stated that.

    Again Wolf…are you and Barry talking to each other

    Hey let’s get blunter ‘Scottie’, is Barry who you want to be USC’s new head coach?

    ‘blank’ Barry and anyone from the Rams coaching staff….

    Like

    Reply

    1. Rusoviet:
      JR had run his course at USC. Between playing and coaching, he had almost 20 years of CFB and the (USSR style) NCAA ruling elite. We were placed on a miserable 2 year probation because a bunch of dirt poor young student athletes from the worst parts of LA sold their allotment of tickets for a couple of $20 bills. I can’t think of any reasonable Trojan in 1982 chiding JR for taking the cool cash and casual lifestyle of an NFL coach in ANAHEIM (of all places). Had he not taken the job, we would have thought he was demented.

      Don’t go hatin’ on JR for the “sneaky slide.” I was there. We all understood.

      Understand, I am a lifetime (50+yr) Ram hater, friend.
      JR kept the program rolling along in fine shape during his tenure.
      He was robbed of 1 or 2 Natty’s during his tenure, IMNSHO.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Well John Daniels, I respect you ‘but’ I’m a bit older than you and yes I get your gist especially how they gave AL the NC in 1978 when USC beat them but I’ve got to tell you…if Pete Carroll was soundly mocked for running to SEA, then even more so for ‘Jolly John’…JR was planning on moving before the Ram offer came in and then it did and he booked.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. I can assure you that players selling tickets was a wide spread practice that went back at least to the late sixties. Marv Goux was the main facilitator of selling players tickets. I could mention many names but they are still alive. Players got 8 tix per game. In most cases, it was needed cash for food and rent.

        Liked by 3 people

      4. What is maddening is that the NCAA came a-knockin’ originally in 1980 because of the track team. The LA Times reported that a USC track star named Billy Mullins was taking 4 different classes at 4 different colleges all in the morning. Once the NCAA smelled smoke, they found fire when they discovered the Athletic Department was putting football players and other athletes in a Speech Communication 380 class that didn’t require attendance and guaranteed an A. Then President Zumberge pulled a Pat Haden and told the NCAA that 330 ringers were admitted over the prior 2 decades for only their “athletic prowess”. Then the Marv Goux ticket scalping scheme was exposed, revealing that players were making up to $2000 a season off their complementary tickets. The next thing we knew, SC was on 3 years probation, JR abandoned ship to the Rams and we endured the Tollner and Smith Eras. https://www.si.com/vault/1982/05/10/628360/scorecard

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Ruso:
        We know that Pete was ready to leave the college ranks.
        He’d built his resume–and, oh what a resume it was!
        I felt fortunate that Pete stayed as long he had.
        Pete was never gonna’ be the NCAAF “lifer.”
        Pete left the USC coaching cupboard “full” with Orgeron, etc still on staff.

        I see an interesting dichotomy with Saban. He left for the NFL about the same time, failed miserably, and showed that he was meant to be an NCAAF lifer. I hope that Dabo sees the light. Bobby Bowden knew.
        Urban Meyer is hopefully wise enough not to test himself in the NFL.

        I’ll support JR1 and Pete for their actions 100%.
        Chip Kelly and Oregon? I’ll leave that one to others (smirking emoji).

        Liked by 2 people

  7. Why is it the Rah-Rah/Pimp always whine the excuse that everybody else is doing it after the bozos are rudely busted for cheating?

    As if that whiny excuse mitigates the bozo cheating.

    Clown U Fairy Tales:

    Defendant: Welllllllll your honor, the reason I was doing a 120 in a school zone is ’cause everybody else is doing it.

    Judge (a bozo grad): I totally understand sir, your ticket is dismissed.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.