FOOTBALL

Morning Buzz: USC Playing Chess Or Checkers?

One trick Clay Helton has pulled the past 5-6 years is getting early commitments and then dropping the recruit later.

It creates early buzz and also acts as an insurance policy if better players don’t want to commit later.

I’m not saying he is doing that now but whenever I see three stars commit, I feel like that is in that back of USC’s mind.

But two years ago, he took six offensive linemen and five were three stars.

So maybe Helton isn’t playing any masterful mind game and simply taking whatever linemen are interested right now.

Like clockwork, of course, as soon as USC gets a three-star, there are stories popping up about five-star (or four-star depending on the rankings) offensive lineman Josh Conerly of Rainier Beach, Wash., considering the Trojans. Whether he is four-or-five stars, USC needs a guy like that, provided he is willing to play in an Air Raid offense.

28 thoughts on “Morning Buzz: USC Playing Chess Or Checkers?”

  1. The actual answer to this “trick” is starting to sound like a broken record. We have a zero star recruit running the team. I say this often but it never sinks in Clay Helton was a second string quarterback on his dad’s team. That means he would have been a scout team player on any other team. And dad wasn’t great shakes as a head coach. Between the two of them Clay actually has the better record, but give him time and recruiting to live down to his dad’s level.
    With just the animosity Clay creates most schools would have given him a pink slip. At USC the administration wants to see him in a pink slip.
    Again repeating myself, my older (much much older if he’s reading this) brother has been a coach at the peewee through high school levels and he used to get mad at me for blaming the coach. With Helton however, he wonders if the end will ever come. In 60 days we will again be privileged to see the 10th wonder of the football world, a man who can sit on the sun itself, Clueless Clay Helton!! (Two exclamation points for effect)

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    2. P. S.
      Is it at all possible Clay is luring 5 star recruits by announcing 3 star recruits (you know, making the 5 star guys think, “I know I can start ahead of that guy!”)…..
      #ClayHelton:CrazyLikeAFox

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  2. Helton plays checkers. He does not have the intellegience to play chess. Recruits showing interest is one thing, getting a committment from a 4 or 5 star lineman is another. However, an oral committment means very little today also until the player has officially signed.

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    1. They can even sign on the dotted line. Enroll in classes at their dream school, get straight As and participate in practices competing for a legitimate chance at a starting position. Then bail out and transfer to the crosstown rival, after all of this nonsense. You can’t make this shyt up either, when Toia transferred to UCLA about a month ago. Any word yet if he’s eligible or does he have to sit out year for the crap he pulled on USC?

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  3. Even signing on the dotted line isn’t a guarantee that the player won’t enter the transfer portal and leave any ways. Refer to my other post for an example.

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  4. There’s never been a problem with USC getting top ranked recruits, the problem has been Helton and the two previous Bozo Trojan head coaches have failed to develop them.

    USC has afforded that clown Helton a bunch of top ranked recruiting classes and the idiot is 18-13 with blowout losses to Alabama and Iowa of all teams.

    The only thing Helton has developed is his stupidity.

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  5. Where is Mike Bohn? Does he think he can turn the USC program back to the glory days working remote. Scott Wolf, is reporting no one ever sees him in the office, and delegates everything to his subordinates to micro-manage.

    Did we hire a consultant or an athletic director?? An athletic director needs to lead by example, and directly manage his staff. My goodness no wonder it is hard to find anyone that likes this guy other than Carol Folt, and the new basketball coach who he way overpaid for.

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      1. Entertainment need not be factual.
        I would like this blog to go full Tarantino: “Once Upon A Time In Trojanville”…..
        #InTheFinalSceneWeBeatTexas

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  6. All you ruin lovers out there… (yea you tommyd) seems that espn doesn’t quite see the light with either sow or the sundevils.

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    1. Arizona State WOULD have been a threat —but now sadly a lot of Athletic Department time is gonna be devoted to answering interrogatories….and staring at the ceiling at night hoping the NCAA doesn’t find where the bodies are buried…..
      #..WhichTheyWill…
      #…UnlessASUComesUpWithSeveralMillion$$$…
      #…AndFigureOutHowToTransferItToBoardBankAccounts

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  7. Scooter,

    He is not playing either checkers or chess, that is too complicated for him. The only game he knows how to play is circle jerk. He has jerked SC for over $14 million and has not produced a thing. Get rid of the bum.

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  8. Facebook is all whooping it up over a new quarterback prospect who lit up the elite eleven. My response was :Max Browne.
    Helton was QB coach when Browne arrived. He turned him into a second string quarterback from Houston facsimile. The kid was an all world quarterback until the Helton effect. Under Helton he was jello and the Alabama defense was a flamethrower. If you look up deer in the headlights in an encyclopedia, his face is the picture. The only good thing to come out of Helton’s coaching was the uncoached Sam Darnold saving Helton’s job. (Except for the saving the job part)

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    1. Anybody who watched Max play in high school knew the sky high, 25 mile an hour bombs being thrown [from the safety of a tight, well protected pocket] weren’t gonna work in college (especially at USC with a Helton O-Line)… AND especially against Alabama…..
      #NotACheapShot….ANYBODYShouldaSeenAlabamaDisasterComing
      #[WhichIsWhyClayShouldaToldTeam”NoActingLikeWildDogs….
      #….BeforeGame,ItWillJustMakeItWorse”]

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      1. MG, you and the rapid Rah – Rah’s to a man were sure Clown U would “SHOCK THE WORLD” and mug mighty Alabama. The SUCC highlight of the game was their SUCCessful 48 yard FG when down 35 – 3.

        As I recall, I was of the opinion that Clown U and a Panzer Division didn’t have chance vs Alabama in Tixas Stadium.

        Today, you can still smell the stench from that Alabama 52 – 6 slaughter in Hubris Hall; although the reek of Andyain’twinning Gonzaga debacle/humiliation has added to the slaughter aroma.

        SUCC FB: Tough as a drop of water.

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      2. My Lame Defense Department (and you’re a rat for remembering after all this time):
        I said “Shoulda” seen it coming…..as in, we all shoulda seen it coming….
        [My small consolation: I did say “go with Sam, not Max” —Sam was tearing it up in practice, Max [according to Helton] was “not making
        mistakes.”
        Further consolation: Had we played Alabama instead of Penn State in Rose Bowl it would have been a LOT harder for Alabama —by that time Sam was humming…..
        #AlabamaIsSOLucky…..

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      3. P. S. (You can see you really bother me when I go to a P. S.),
        I still say Helton shoulda said something like “Given that I’m your coach—and Saban is Alabama’s coach — maybe let’s not piss Alabama off by doing the wild dog act as we come outta the tunnel.”
        #”JustToBeOnTheSafeSide”

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  9. Pudly……..odds mean nothing even in ping pong which I hear your good at. . Last time I checked USC was favored to win the Pac 12 championship game, and the Ducks won. I don’t like the Bruins either, but they will have a much better football team this year count on it. We shall see..

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    1. Having a “much better” team at UCLA doesn’t mean much….
      #AreWeTalkingAbout”Cal”Better?

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    2. So you say you played football in the pac12? What years were you active? Seems to me that you’re the one full of it, little tommyd. What school did you play at? tommyd, worry about yourself, because you haven’t predicted anything since before this past football season, and that includes all your brilliant work breaking down the hoops games. One of my all time faves…

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      1. I think tommyd is going to be sad on November 20th —word from Coach Helton is he’s given team permission to start playing football in the first quarter this time…..

        Liked by 1 person

      2. P. S.
        I “liked” the comment about you being a good “ping pong player” by accident…

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  10. I’d be shocked if Conerly went to SC. The 4 and 5 star O-Linemen go to Oregon. SC gets the 3 star projects that they can hopefully develope. The only problem is that this O-Line coach that they hired who we are depending on to develope these guys has nothing in his resume to recommend him.

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  11. Okay if you’ve read this far down, I challenge you to scroll all the way back to the top and caption the Helton picture.
    I go first: “Stay back, I had a mean green burrito for lunch and it just blew a hole in my shorts.”

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