FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: June Is For The Optimists!

June is almost the perfect month for USC.

The optimists can point to all the recruiting visits; the commitments and find positive preseason prognostications.

In other words, performance is completely secondary.

No one asks a recruit about Clay Helton. They just want to talk to the recruits about Donte Williams or another assistant.

Does anyone see this as a problem?

You think a marquee programs like Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State or even Notre Dame run recruiting as a subsidiary that is wholly independent of the head coach?

Then again, it doesn’t seem to bother too many recruits. USC is so attractive a destination that a head coach can be deemed irrelevant. At least on a short-term basis and when you do not expect to make the College Football Playoff.

36 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: June Is For The Optimists!”

  1. If June is the month for optimists Snarky Boy, I’m confidnt you’ll never let that stand. It’s just not part of your DNA. Sad, so very sad — at least Debbie Downer was funny and entertaining.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. “USC Morning Buzz: June Is For The Optimists”

      And “No Pads November” is the wake up call for those who keep saying, “Just give Clueless Clay one more year and see if he can turn it around…just one more year”

      Clay Helton has been at USC for 11 years now, been afforded several #1 ranked recruiting classes and a bunch of top 5 ranked classes to work with and he still managed to finish with a 5-7 record and an 8 win season during two of the last three years.

      But the powers that be at USC are convinced Clueless Clay Helton is a good coach.

      With a braintrust like that keeping this clown Clay Helton around this long, no wonder USC is in the mess tbey’re in.

      Just goes to show you how stupid Caruso and his band of corrupt mental midgets are, they can’t even hire a decent coach to run a football program that should easily be playing and competing for national titles year in and year out.

      I mean how do you screw that up by sticking with this idiot Clay Helton?

      God Damn!

      Like

      Reply

  2. Scooter,

    You are incorrect about performance is secondary in June. In Helton’s eyes, performance does not matter 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It has shown in his head coaching that he does not understand that SC takes on and beats all competition.

    Like

    Reply

  3. I’m the optimist that posts here. But I havent lost sight of the fact that there are big problems at SC football and those problems all start and end with Clay Helton.

    So many fans at SC have become eternal pessimists. The defensive staff put together by TO does have some young star coaches on it and they are attracting top athletes. TO is a smart coach and will develop that side of the team. Will the SC defense be in the top 10 in the country? I doubt it, but it will improve again this year, IMO.

    The offense is still a big question mark. Clay Helton based his decision to go “air raid” on success in one half of play against Notre Dame. That is what a desperate man sinking does, he grabs for anything he can find. He hired a rookie OC in GH and after one season with a winning streak at the end over poor teams, the Pac-12 coaches have figured out how to derail the USC offense in many ways. Cant stop it totally due to the great player talent. But they can sure out-coach it.

    Is SC football what it can be? No. But it is nice to see that we are landing recruits even with Helton as HC. Those recruits will be on the roster when a new HC is hired for the following season.

    So why isnt a little optimism in order?

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. gamete,

      I like the defense’s staff. You put Drake Jackson as a de, they oculd be formiable. It is Helton and his phiosphy that is being taken on as a staff that will cause problems. The offense sucks, the oline sucks, and the oc sucks and helton sucks, but the rest is good.

      Like

      Reply

  4. Optimism isn’t for everyone, but again this blog isn’t for everyone. I’m optimistic every time I write a post that it will show up, and now that I’ve ditched the account, I usually get it posted.
    I’m optimistic I will learn something new on this blog sometimes from Scott (too). I am optimistic that most people don’t think Helton is the person (man seems like wrong pronoun so I’m using the amateur noun “person”) for the job.
    I am optimistic that at least one of my jokes won’t have to be explained and someone will at least smile.
    I’m optimistic that the quarterback situation will not be solved by an interloper hiding in the whirlpool.
    I’m optimistic that we will hear more about the interloper in the coming days. He is joining the team as a not so preferred walk-on.
    I’m optimistic that one or more troll will use an inappropriate slur to describe one of my fellow posters or Me, usually describing a sexual encounter with the wrong hole.

    I am not optimistic I will be able to ignore the slur no matter how childish, racist and homophobic it seems.

    Oh well June is almost over so I’m optimistic July will be here soon.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. This is NOT a snarky piece. I’m here to enlighten.
      You—I’m talking to you, Me —– nailed the reason Helton is head coach at USC. “Man” is not the pronoun to describe him. That makes him perfect: USC wants a thing who hugs it’s players (cuz the coaches who don’t do that are too “traditional”), they want a thing who insults it’s fans by thanking the opposing fans for coming to the game and rooting against it’s team, they want somebody who sez that a losing effort to an underdog is a sign of “good going to great.” USC wants a modern mascot for their football team —and they found the right “it” for the job.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    2. “Me” optimism is overrated.

      Remember the optimism of SUCC Rah-Rahs like yourself that swelled like a smelly beer fart when Little Petey Pom-Pom’s team took the crumbling mausoleum field to battle the 41 point dog Stanford FB team. The Clown U fat cats couldn’t wait for Stanford blood to run.

      Remember the optimism when SUCC fans felt another NC FB was in the bag when with 10 minutes to go the Clownster’s were up 12 points over Tixas.

      Remember the silly optimistic “Shock the World” SUCC FB fans thought SUCC had a chance to defeat vs Alabama.

      Andyain’twinning was optimistic he’d receive a contract extension even though he lost the Elite Eight game to Gonzaga by a humiliating 19 points on Nationwide television.

      Lastly “Me” when you hang with vultures, birds of a feather is accurate.

      Like

      Reply

      1. “You have robbed me of my youth. You have robbed me of my optimism. How dare you! (Voice trembling from one too many acting lessons) How Dare You!”
        –The Illustrious Greta Thunberg (activist & Future USC Prez)

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Thank you for taking the high road, Owns. I watched that Alabama game recently, we were actually in it right up until the end of the Star Spangled Banner. After that we went into a animal impression mode. The quarterback was a deer in the headlights, the defense played possum in the middle and ends (everywhere the ball went) The coach became an owl yelling, ” who? who? who’s supposed to tackle that guy?” Even the second string quarterback got into the act running around like a puppy chasing a Frisbee.
        But for being a kind responder I vow not to denigrate the chaps crosstown for a whole week or better yet until the end of the month.

        Like

  5. Helton, TO, Harrel, Naivar, Jinks, Clay McGuire….hardly a murderers row of coaches. I wonder though, who (beside Helton) is the weakest of the lot? You could make an argument for any one of them. Oh, and if you think it’s unfair to put Todd Orlando on the list I ask you to just wait, because his predictable second year collapse is coming soon. Not only will Orlando’s defense surely regress next year, but he will undoubtedly find new ways to alienate the top guys (pass rushers) like Jackson and Foreman. Just ask Texas fans about it.

    Orlando’s buddy Naivar doesn’t even deserve a breakdown. He’s really only there to stroke TO’s ego and to give he and his wife have another couple to hang out with.

    McGuire and Jinks, come on, seriously? They’re not even worth a mention. These two should be coaching at a school like Chapman.

    Harrel, is he even worth a mention? The guy is an even bigger conman than Helton. It’s amazing how these two dimwitted bumpkins were able to sucker the ‘SC elites out of MILLIONS. At least Harrel can point to Orlando and his defense and say “what about him/that” if a reporter ever questions him about his use of talent, inability to adapt/make adjustments, lack of game planning, and/or his painfully predictable schemes/play-calling.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. USC will win the south. And they’ll win the Pac 12 Championship (if Harrell does the obvious and inserts something called “the Run” into his offense).
      #AndTHATIs”WorthAMention”

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

      1. You need to take that prediction one level higher, Michael.
        You are predicting a Dux collapse–and with no known QB entity you may be correct.

        Anything but a win in Vegas Dec 3 should be considered a failure and the HC is sent packing.

        Liked by 3 people

      2. Bourbon — You’re not satisfied with a Pac 12 Championship. I’m not satisfied with a Pac 12 Championship. But it is “worth mentioning.”
        #You’reRight,However…
        #ItIsAlsoWorthMentioning…
        #..ThatUSCIsNotReadyForTheNextStepIn2021..
        #AndThatShouldSpellEndOfTheRoadForTheMan/Child
        #[JustPrayFoltDoesn’tInsistOnBrianStelterAsTheNewHeadCoach]

        Like

      3. oooo, the South! Awesome. I know you think like I do that our days of glory and true accomplishment are so far behind us they are hard to see.

        How long until they return? And will we still be here to see them?

        sad, sad, sad sad. And so unnecessary.

        Like

    1. Ya gotta sympathize, 67. It’s fricking June. He’s doing his best to keep us entertained (and riled up) with very little to go on.
      I’m thinking June should be devoted to something very woke –like “photos of past and current blond, blue-eyed cheer-girls”……
      #Yeah…That’sTheTicket…
      #SomethingToPissALotOfPeopleOff…
      #AndYetGarnerHits…
      #SomethingNew..
      #…But…
      #….SquarelyInTheInimitableInsideUSCTradition

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Hi Michael, absolutely, I feel for Scottie without much material. This is where the rubber hits the road for him, I think he will come through.

        Liked by 2 people

  7. Reasons for optimism?
    1. The NCAA just got “SCOTUS’d” and kicked down several notches. Here’s to hoping they become more impotent than, well, your average Bruin male.
    2. NIL is coming, and USC student-athletes are on the forefront of “cashing in”.
    (With a shambolic PAC 12 commish for the first decade and waning TV and bowl revenues, the Pac12 needed something.)
    3. Tennis Larry is off the payroll and back on the court where he belongs. Mertin Hanks can get things done.
    4. USC is #19 with a bullet! Just ask the Wall Street Journal. UCLA? 34 or so and dropping faster than bitcoin.
    5. USC athletics wins a few Natty’s despite the COVID. Go Women Go.
    6. Trojan hoopsters are doing well in the NBA. Trojan WR are doing well in the NFL.
    Non-Helton recruited LB and D-linemen are also doing well in the NFL.

    FB recruiting is looking up. We’ve jettisoned most (all?) of the SunBelt Conf coaches and brought in some guys who appreciate what USC means in CFB. Smart talented student-athletes from Texas–where real football is played–are coming in droves.
    The OC gets to prove in the 2019 version of USC offense–#9 in the nation in 2019–is a fluke or the shape of things to come.

    You can always count on Bourbon for some sunshine.
    Fight on!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    3. Hmmm. Most of this has nothing to do with FB and will have zero effect on our success.

      It all starts and finishes with Clay, and even though MB has tried like heck to put him on the sideline (you know what I mean) he still cannot help himself and will drag the team down.

      Until he goes we are gone.

      And when he goes we will be back very quickly. It’s pretty simple.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Italian Lesson #1 —When introduced to a beautiful woman at a beach party immediately begin planning your pre-erection apology.
      #ClayHelton:”IHaveNoUseWhateverForThisAdvice….”
      #”….AndICanOnlyHopeIPutAllMyPlayersIntoMySituation”

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Michael, somehow the pre-erection instructions were left off the Italian 1 course description at ucla…must be something wrong with them?

        Liked by 1 person

      2. It’s like President Folt said –“Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Trojan all the way —but I have to admit I admire the way all of Chip’s players sublimate their sexual desires into those new 9 inch Krispy Creme rolls.”

        Liked by 1 person

  11. The fansites aren’t going to risk losing their USC access by asking any questions about Clay Helton or in any way possibly putting Mike Bohn in a negative light. For the same reasons, the LA Times doesn’t want to lose its preferred status with USC. Everyone here is part of the problem. No one at USC is being held accountable.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment

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