FOOTBALL

Discuss The USC Debacle

Talk about a gutless performance.

USC got dominated on the line of scrimmage by Oregon State?

This was not about who started at QB. The USC defense was woeful.

Is all that money spent on support staff worth it if you don’t win the line of scrimmage? Or tackle?

You think Clay Helton was enjoying the game in Palos Verdes?

What grade does Coach Bohn give the programa after four games?

Remember Bohn’s had two years to fix this.

159 thoughts on “Discuss The USC Debacle”

  1. This is the residue of recruiting to a soft, passive football philosophy. The one positive of this ass whoppin is that we can put to bed once and for all the notion of Dante Williams being named head coach. Those of you who posted this bullshit need to have your goddamn head examined.

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    1. The changes Donte made were good, but it’s too little, too late and not enough power to make the real changes needed. Laying this at Donte’s feet is no good. This goes to some poor or deliberately vicious decision making, and the changes in culture at current USC, the PAC 12, etc. The coaching staff, and the Air Raid, and years of Clay’s version of it (and bad habits and rot created by predecessors) were cheered on by some.

      There is some blame for the fanbase and alum– the people that dismissed the importance of keeping focus on California and the West as the recruiting base, who thought that tight ends and fullbacks or hybrids of either was passé, that the power game and drop back QB was as well. And crucially, it also was a base of supporters (if we can call them that) who hated the bellicose protectiveness of USC by Mike Garrett and were happy to see that hypocritical self serving filth, Haden come in, and the same people who approved of that equally filthy Nikias… It’s all of a piece. It all has to do with being rather than seeming; and integrity, culture and tradition.

      From the names I see tossed around for the most part in the coaching search, I don’t see things improving. A coach by himself isn’t the fix anyway– Bohn in particular should have an idea of what USC is at its best, and what works at ‘SC, and that should inform his selection. He should have some ownership of the whole thing and a spine. The fact that Bohn helped select Harrell and Orlando isn’t an indication that he has any of that, but hope springs eternal. But at least this was all a reminder of what actually has been wrong.

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      1. I don’t think that it is Donte’s fault. But I still say that we would be crazy to hire to hire an assistant who has never been a HC(like CH).

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      2. Think of the past successes at SC. Putting aside Carroll, some of SCs best coaches were never HCs anywhere else. While I’m not a supporter of Donte in particular, his resume is more full than Dabo Swinney’s when he rose to HC at Clemson, but he had a definite plan and understanding. Carroll had not lit the world on fire but he spent his time coming up with a plan and presented it and it impressed a football man that knew SC and the game thoroughly who hired him. (The other options Garrett considered who won big would have likely had the same success.)

        By the same token we can look at successful HC from the BCS era still or recently coaching in college and see that many of them were run off. Mack Brown, Les Miles, Jimbo was pushed out of his hot seat in FSU and now he’s struggling. Our old CEO is feeling heat himself.

        The heart of good football at an elite level is a good OL/TE /Run game coordinator, and they’re rare, and people try to keep them. QB/Passing game coordinators are a dime a dozen, and there are tons of QB/WR coaches masquerading as OCs. Secondary coaches are also common… A think about an OL/TE/Run game coordinator is that they know how to block for the QB. They understand how DLs and LBs operate. And what they do determines how good the rest of the skill players can be, the pace of the game, TOP, and thus allow a DC to flourish since defenses are more about discipline and not not making mistakes, and if they aren’t on the field too long and get rest between their offense’s having long drives and limited turnovers, they can generally be successful and gamble more. They aren’t concerned with trying to be flashy.

        A guy who is good with people, and with some NFL experience, a Super Bowl ring being an extra plus for recruiting and player respect, who has expertise as an OL/TE/Run game guy pretty much gets what you need. Make him the HC he’ll stick around longer than if he was an OC. That’s the direction I think serves SC.

        If anyone wanted Donte, they would be better off wanting Deion who would out recruit everyone hands down, has a bunch of experience in successful college and NFL environments, has been an All American, a 2x Super Bowl winner, an All PRo, Hall of Famer, business person, a very successful HS coach and now a college coach in a challenging situation ((and brought in top 50 recruiting class at an HBCU something never heard of.) And of course he also was an All Conference sprinter and batted 350 in MLB playoffs and was in the World Series, which is also magic dust in the eyes of recruits. More crucially, he understands promotion of both a program and in branding which in the NIL era is extremely relevant, and he’s respected, could get a great staff. And don’t think he wouldn’t jump at the opportunity– he was angling for a Power 5 HC job before settling and making it seem like it was the plan. So if a recruitment is the issue why settle for Donte?

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      3. Let’s cut to the chase –Bohn is a yes man who can’t fix anything. Helton destroyed the next couple of years of USC football with his bullshit recruiting. Donte is over his head [and has been placed in a terrible position by Bohn —by the time this year is up, the luster will be off Donte’s reputation].
        And Scott –the defense is woeful….but the QB sucks too. Two things can be bad at the same time.

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      4. I think the recruiting has been just SC getting it’s normal top 5 classes, not as disastrous as it may seem on the surface, but there;’s the crucial misses– maybe 5-10 guys a a year that bring things to another level. IT’s the scheme, culture and development though that have been much more important in terms of where the program is. Donte has tried to change the culture, and that’s good but as you say, tinkering is not enough and the bloom will be off the rose by the end of the year or earlier. Team unity, physical practices, competition, accountability, etc. should be a given for all coaches, not something that merits being hired at SC as HC.

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      5. cancer is a long time cure, sure as hellton was this disease to the program & it is a 2 yr or more recovery even after removal to make sure all of it is gone. No real fundamentals were taught or practiced. How many 4-5 star players on Ore St? BUT they do have coaching. The blame starts at the very top for sure.

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    2. 8 yrs of hellton ,6 as h/coach? one can see what is left. The rot starts at the top,bot,on down. Williams went along to get along…that’s the way it is today.

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      2. He’s the luckiest coach in the Pac 12’s history of 12 years i think. I can’t credit the staff currently but Clay Helton only made it to this season because of the assistant coaches around him over the years. He made most of them eat bullets for him and he fired them. Some were terrible and that ultimately is his incompetence to be in charge. The recruiting was all his assistant coaches. Helton did more to hurt than help. They can only do so much and years went by of him pushing out guys that deserved credit. And this time they might not want to get many former players opinion on who should coach because some wanted Helton last time and recently Antwaun Woods was yelling to Twitter to make Donte Williams the new Head Coach.
        I say just let Bohn bring in a new guy that he wants and wasn’t force to hire or this will end badly.

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    3. And before you assholes start with the talk about hiring any of those clowns from the midwest, Fickell, Campbell and the other Bozo from Minnesota, ask yourself why they haven’t already been hired away by a bigger program.

      Did Texas or Florida St. even bother to interview any of those clowns? If they’re so good then why are they stuck in Ohio, Iowa and Minnesota?

      So enough with the talk about those fucking clowns, especially Fickell, Ohio St. handed him a championship caliber team and he went 6-7. That same team that Meyer took to 12-0 the following year.

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      1. My guess would be their wives wear the pants and they’res good fishing that way.
        I just say bring a coach that is a defense first type of man even if he played offense but someone who has a reputation and could bring in the better defensive coaches for sure.

        We can always get an Offensive Coordinator. They grow on trees. With Helton gone the list of guys wanting to be on the new staff will be plante full and we will get a OC.

        But we need to grow some ba**s and become physically tougher first upfront. Only a Defensive guy will see that as a priority.

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    6. If Nick Saban was the interim coach the results would’ve been the same, because the team was constructed by the imbecile, Clay Helton. And if anyone believes that last nights results would be any different if Helton was still coach , then they probably think like that Trojans Ass Lick 👅, Pudly76, who knows nothing about the game. Nobody’s listening to the fans who suggest that Deon Sanders, Eric Bienemy, or Donte Williams should be considered for the job, that’s not going to happen.

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      1. I’m pretty sure Donte shouldn’t be in the same sentence as Deon or, especially, Eric.
        #EricIsEXACTLYWhatThisBunchOfCrybabiesNeed…
        #….ButHisPastLifeIsn’tQuiteHolyEnoughForCarol..
        #..SheSaysSheWantsSomebodyWhoDoesn’tRaiseHisVoice…
        #Carol”It’sMoreCivilizedToStabPeopleInTheBack”

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  2. I had to turn the game off…it was the Stanford game all over again. The team needed some sort of spark like they found in Jaxson Dart during the Washington St game.

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      2. Owns is correct – and this has happened before, and only a list of mediocre candidates turning Mike Garrett down led to Pete being hired at a time when he wasn’t in demand. USC has made exactly one homer head coaching hire in its history: Howard Jones. The other two (Pete, McKay) were gifts from the stars. JRob coached the greatest collection of talent in college football history (and arguably underachieved somewhat). Reinforces what a complete disaster last January was – the stars had aligned again…but no…so that ship has sailed…and there are no prospects among those discussed that appears to measure up to what is needed. Probably best to hope for another early Larry Smith-like period.

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  3. Donte can recruit——-but I don’t see even his defensive backs playing well at this point. No question he is not ready to be head coach, but with time and more experience he should get a chance to be head coach at a smaller program.

    NEVER SEEN A USC TEAM BLOWN OFF THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE LIKE THIS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL. Some will say the coaches failed to make adjustments. Sorry folks we lack talent in the trenches on both sides. The only adjustment that will work is hit the road and recruit lineman.

    USC football is not currently worth the price of admission. Take the year off, and don’t attend the games until this is fixed.

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      1. For the time being (hopefully only 9 more games), it’s probably better to pick out some other team to follow…
        #ThereAreLotsOfFunOnesToWatch..
        #[PoorUSCWon’tBeCompetingForCovetedPac12SouthTitle]….

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      2. Recall what I did – Forks Up (well, forks up and down…but Daniels is exciting and, in proper context, is as good as any USC QB other than Sam since probably Leinart). But the better solution is to transfer 90%+ of your attention to other things…especially someone living the dream, my friend!

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  6. I am numb again after the second consecutive loss at home.
    This is definitely like the Hackett years or maybe the 1983 team under Ted Tollner which won 4 games.

    Never seen such a lousy defensive performance in a game at home, ever!

    I never call out players but the defense kid who pre-announced he will leave after his jr year, needs to reconsider based on his subpar performances. Dude will be lucky to be a 5th rounder at this point.

    Ran into Willie McGinist at the game. Super nice guy.

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    1. I agree with that. I heard Drake Jackson even stopped going to class. He better get his butt back in the Classroom because he’s definitely not ready for the NFL.

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  7. It could have been worse. The officials kept the game from getting out of hand(over 150 yards against OSU). Plus when OSU went up 42-17, they started to play prevent defense and run it up the middle on every play like Stanford did when when Stanford went up 42-13 against USC which allowed SC to come back a little and make the score look decent.
    Iv’e said it before and I will say it again. SC should consider Jonathan Smith as a candidate for the new HC. I don’t even know if he would come. He is an OSU grad. But they should at least talk to him.
    This guy is an outstanding coach. He knows how to build a running game which is something that we haven’t had in a long time. He hasn’t had any super teams but he has a terrible lack of talent to work with. But he is building a program. And he was able to do something that we were not able to do last year…..beat Oregon. They keep mentioning Mario Cristobal’s name. This guy is a lot better coach than Cristobal.

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    1. Smith’s balanced O was impressive but didn’t see this at Udub when he was OC. Beavs have a great schedule coming up, if he sweeps it ??? After a decade of garbage frauds coaching USC, Smith looks like Lombardi.

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      1. At Udub, in the 4 years(2014-2017) that he was OC they went 37-17 despite the fact that the first 2 years were rebuilding years and in 2016 they went to the playoffs only to lose 24-7 to Alabama. Udub had their best 2 years in 2016 and 2017 and then he left and Udub started to go down a little bit.

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    2. You’re kidding, right? Cristobal (or as we like to say “Crystal Balls”) is leading us right to the Natty and has no use for USC. His Oregon paycheck is large, plus all that extra Nike $$$. USC doesn’t have enough $$$ to hire him away.

      You are committing a fallacy of distraction, my friend. Pretending you don’t want Coach Cristobal knowing you’ll never get him

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      1. Cristobal is a far better coach, even with his struggles. For bigger programs, a great OL/TE/Run game guy is the perfect head coach, especially when he’s had some personal pedigree as a winner on the college and/or pro level, and some degree of personal maturity. He is a good guy, worked at FIU and later UMiami when he did. He should have had the UM job instead of Manny Diaz Jr but Manny’s father pulled the strings– I mostly like Manny too as a person and wish him the best of luck, but fb wise he’s had to much handed to him, doesn’t know what he’s doing.

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      4. I don’t really want Cristobal(I think that there are better coaches out there….like Smith) but I would take him if we could get him. But we won’t. He’s from Florida and he sees that Miami job coming open soon.

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  9. didn’t take long to see ‘who owned who’ I hope all of the program is ashamed believing all the hype for years,ignoring the rot from within…’the hellton yrs will take 2-3 yrs to ,if sc gets a real coach this time.I hope they suffer at the box office for lying to all those kids and families about the program…hurt ’em in the wallet to get their attention.

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    1. Oh they’re gonna get hurt in the pocketbook alright, Tim. Did you see how few fans were in the stands in the 4th quarter? It looked like a Biden rally. That’s the way it’s gonna look in the FIRST quarter from here on.
      Haden won games for USC as a youngster. But he ended up destroying the program. And jackasses like Folt and Bohn can’t bring it back.
      #IncrediblySad.

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      3. Dude….get real! There was a lot more than a Biden rally. The only people that you see at a Biden rally are a few people looking through his cellar window.

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  10. These idiots spend the time hiring people and making hype videos when instead they should be concentrating on the product on the field. The OC’s schemes reflect the simpleton that he is and can fit one side of one piece of toilet paper. The DC can’t stop anything or adjust (the bad washington state qb replacement gave the mirage that they were competent when it was his misthrows and not good coverage that stopped their offense). Slovis is indecisive, immobile and can only throw 3 yards passes (anything further a risk). The sports writers wrote early in the season the defense looked great, yes against this offense. These coaches make their opponents look like world beaters. Thanks Hellton.

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  11. Just watched Donte and Kedon at the post game presser. Talk about being totally lost. There is nothing behind their words anymore. They know they’re done for.
    And it’s not their fault. The jackasses that kept Gomer on after the Iowa debacle are to blame for what happened last night…and what will happen for the rest of this season…and probably the next couple of years (or longer).

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    1. Maui Mike, Gomer should have been fired after getting crushed by Ohio St. In the Cotton Bowl. Even with Darnold at QB, it was obvious that USC could not compete with the big boys. I was at my first USC game in 3 yrs (keeping a previous promise not to attend a game as long as Gomer was coach) and was shocked to see so few people in the stands. Probably 50k fans short of a sell out. Each ticket holder probably spends $200 in a ticket, parking, food, souvenirs. Multiply that by 6 home games and you are talking $60M in lost revenue per year. Why didn’t Bohn do his job and show these numbers to Dolt and Caruso to make the change in firing Gomer?!?! Instead he doubled down on the losses by hiring the Hype team. The end result is the product on the field is garbage (for failing to recruit linemen on both sides of the ball), and the Hype machine makes going to the game feel like I am at a Euro club with fireworks. Pathetic!!! It’s going to take a competent coach 2-3 years to bring in good linemen and coach them up so that the product on the field is no longer garbage

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      1. All true, calabasas. And Darnold TRIED to tell us (“I can’t throw on my back!”)…
        Swann EXTENDED a coach who was dragging the program down. WHY?
        Kickback? I mean, WHY? I can’t think of ANY good reason….
        [And Folt saying no to Urban was the clincher]…..
        #ConfederacyOfDunces

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    2. He should never have been hired, and certainly should not have been retained – the Iowa debacle was well past the point where even the apologists could barely conjure a defense.

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      1. Well, Wanda Austin came up with the one Carol Folt apparently relied on exclusively: “Clay will never be found in bed with another man’s wife or passed out on the floor.”
        #NeverEverNever….

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  13. That corrupt fuck Tim Tessalone in the athletic dept. is going to keep USC from making a quality hire because he does not want to relinquish any control.

    Tim Tessalone should be fired just like Lopes and Helton.

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    1. Eddie — The words “Slovis” and “NFL” don’t sound well together. The Slovis family needs to re-think what their little guy is gonna do for a living after he graduates.

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  15. Sad result of years Helton’s LACK OF COACHING AND REVOLVING DOOR ASSISTANT COACHIMG. USC simply can’t block or tackle. This was predictable and predicted for years, and will plague USC FOR YEARS IN THE FUTURE.

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    1. Yes, we have officially hit rock bottom. Coaching sucks, players suck. I don’t usually like to call out the kids but with all the pre season hype about themselves (Steele,Jackson) and the fact they get paid now (NIL) means they deserve criticism too! They played with no heart, pride or passion. They definitely did not FIGHT ON!

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      1. Well…they did run around, slip, trip, fall & and chase themselves for the whole 60 minutes…
        #ItsNotLikeTheyLeftTheFieldOrAnything….
        #[There’sThat]…..

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  16. This one was on an utterly incompetent defensive coordinator. Orlando kept drawing up overload blitzes on the weakside, leaving one end, one small backer, and one DB on the strongside against two linemen, two good TEs, and a big WR. It’s just counting hats on each side of the ball 5 hats on 3 here, time after time. OSU started out disguising the formations with a bit of motion, but once it realized USC doesn’t have defensive audibles, and doesn’t slide defenders over in response to what it sees, it didn’t even bother with that. You couldn’t do a better job of getting your defense out of the way if you were calling formations designed by 10 Yard Fight. That he kept doing this in the 3rd Q after the 300 yards rushing in the 1st half was incredible. I would fire him now. Leave the emotional and systemic explanations out of this one. USC’s D has all the sophistication of a mediocre HS team.

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    1. I joked with my friend at the game when Williams came out for the 2nd half and was asked on the big video monitor what adjustments he was going to make in the 2nd half that he should answer, “I am going to fire Todd Orlando.”

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      1. It would be disastrous to fire a coordinator during this mess….. but it would also be such a marvelous statement…
        And firing TWO coordinators….ah!

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  17. Last night’s results were years in the making. I grimaced at the helton, harrell and orlando hires. helton is a panderer and fraud. I have always believed he manipulated Cody Kessler et al to petition haden to make him a head coach. Haden was too busy feathering his family and his own nest to do his job agreed and just clicked head coach off his “to do” list. Harrell’s ripping off Leach’s air raid and trying to make it his own was a disaster from the start. If you can install a program in three days, what does that say about its complexity and ability to defend. It’s a gimmick that kept points on the board until every DC found ways to stop it. Slovis benefited from its novelty at first, but soon, all DCs knew how to close them down. Slovis seems to be a nice kid, but a quality QB he is not. He is slow mentally and physically and seems emotionally fragile. He’s a miserable “leader” and a slow learner. He has a weak arm and doesn’t throw well. By the time he makes a choice to throw and at the speed he throws, the defense is in a better position than the receiver. SC seemed to be operating on slo-mo while Oregon St was operating on fast forward. Texas fired Orlando and if you watched Texas games you could see why. Did anyone at USC look at Texas games before handing him the keys to the kingdom? Now, we have the stink of bad habits, laziness and stupidity surrounding the program…. helton’s stink will live on for a time unless a big-name coach overshadows it. I wonder who wants this challenge. If I were offered the job, I’d have in writing I had autonomy and I did not have to bow to football knowledge idiot nepoleana folt or her minion mike, the marketeer. I am terrified that SC will not find a quality coach with those two as “superiors”. If I were on the board, I fire both of them.

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    1. Being that this season is lost, Bohner should fire Opie and Orlando today and see what their assistants could do to find out who can and cannot coach from this pile of Gomer’s losers. He’ll also win brownie points from the fan base who no longer can stand either coordinator. Also, time to sit Slovis (he is just not the same QB as his freshman year) and see what the other freshman (Miller Moss) can do.

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    2. Absolute bullseye – there is a high probability they will botch the next hire…firing Helton was only step one of a two step process…and given it should have been done years ago, it just shows those still in power are the real problem, and as they will still apparently be empowered to make that next selection…there is no evidence they have learned anything…

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  18. I’d like to thank Scott and all the commenters for voicing their opinions. It is therapeutic to read so many great thoughts and know I am not alone at this miserable time. It’s going to be a long trip back to the glory days. I am terrified longer with folt and bohn in charge of hiring.

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  19. “Debacle” refers to a sudden downfall or rout. This was 7 years in the making so hardly sudden. The players have never had good skill or position coaching. They are like little kids whose parents never taught them how to behave. The coaches are checking out and looking for their next jobs. Donte’s value over the next few months will be to hold on to the quality freshmen and recruits until the real coach comes in.

    Bohn finally did what we all wanted him to do. It’s going to be a transition year. Stop expecting to see any immediate change and take the joy you can from ‘SC football. Live with hope that things will get better now that change is coming. Fight On!

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  20. Pardon me for interrupting, I’d like to point out the obvious.
    SC’s previous 3 coaches,
    JK
    JR 1
    PC

    All had vocal and continuing support from those above them. No dogmeat AD’s or university presidents or BOT presidents. Any new HC hire needs that. Until that scenario changes, things most likely remain the same.
    Does the president of the school and the president of the BOT demand and really support a nationally successful program. Never heard them vocalize it.

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    1. Agree 100%. Yesterday on College Game Day, Herbstreit made a similar comment when talking about Florida State and Miami. “If the school president, the athletic director, and the head coach are not on the same page, then it doesn’t matter who you bring in as head coach. It’s not going to work.

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      1. Hmmmm. What happens if the chair of the board, board, the president, the faculty, the athletic director, the coach, the coordinators and the players are ALL on different pages?

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    2. I disagree with everyone about both Folt and Bohn. I think that they want to bring back the glory. Why fire Swann if they just wanted a mediocre program? He was the perfect person to just take his big fat pay check to the bank, play golf and give them a mediocre program. Nakias was bad. He didn’t know a football from a watermellon and he didn’t want a great football team.

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  21. If house cleaning is required then the jackasses who allowed haden and swann (who have no AD experiences) to be appointed thus allowing that pos hellton to be appointed and stupidly extended resulting in YEARS OF EMBARRASMENT for the school (which will take years to fix) should also go. Is it not there need to be accountability or does it only apply to everyone else and not them.

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    1. It wasn’t that Haden and Swann had no experience, they just were very selfish and corrupt individuals. I think that can happen easily with star athletes who experience the same toadying and benefit heaped upon them without demand or character building. What also can happen is exactly the opposite of course, where individuals are hyper loyal and and dedicated to the institution and its traditional culture, something we benefit by in Garrett. But Bohn is a professional with experience, even if much of it (as in Colorado) wasn’t great. A lot of this comes down to the wider culture at the school. SC is really kind of being torn in different directions.

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      1. Time to face it: USC is a microcosm of Los Angeles –which is a microcosm of California — which is a microcosm of the United States….
        #Looney,LipServiceOverResults,Leadership….
        #It’sJustMoreObviousWhenThere’sAScoreboard

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      4. I’ve said on this board several times that whatever his faults were (and they were apparently pretty considerable), Garrett hired Pete (and many others wouldn’t have), and the hiring of Kiff, regardless of “tarmac-ing” and embarrassment, was a master stroke that prevented USC from falling into a decade of 3-8s (bringing EdO and tremendous recruiting, particularly under debilitating circumstances) and is chiefly responsible for USC weathering the past decade (until the Helton Effect became just too much). Haden was arrogant and stuck in the past. Swann was unfit and one suspects compromised (in the sense of perhaps needing the paycheck and being too willing to please the administration – only thing that makes sense, because he is not stupid, and he knows as well as anyone what right looks like).

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      5. Interesting that no one has interviewed Swann since he was asked to get his things collected in a shoebox and leave by the nearest exit….
        #NondisclosureAgreement?

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      6. Yeah, one suspects NDA (and as I insinuate above, with no proof but just extrapolating from circumstances, to include his failed bid for the governor’s office in PA, there would appear to be an interest in not interrupting the cash flow in that equation, which would fit squarely with)…not as if we’re talking about some obscure, faceless administrator…HOF WR/4xSB Champ, on competitor for all-time greatest college team, ABC commentator for a long time…and in the past personable and open…

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      7. Come to think of it, James, pretty much everything you wrote about Swann pertains to Haden too —and one gets the feeling no one outside Pat’s family will ever hear him utter a word again….
        #WTF?

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      8. Good point MG – know there were indications from some quarters of health issues where Haden is concerned, but never read anything certain…just clear complete silence on that last chapter in their USC arcs…

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  22. Only one name on my list: David Shaw. He’s smart. What he doesn’t know, he’ll figure out. He’s too serious to pander. He knows the Pac. He knows ND. Most importantly, he knows how to run a DISCIPLINED program. When was the last time Stanford had 100 yards in penalties? For us it’s always been the price of playing. His sideline never looks like an elementary school yard. The embarrassments the last 5 years on and off the fields, and courts, have eroded the legacy. Shaw doesn’t know anything about scandal. He’s had more Rose Bowls and top 10 teams, despite not being a football school. Take a deep breath. As you let it out slowly, just agree.

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  23. It was actually a delight to watch the soft bullshit offensive and defensive lines get absolutely destroyed by a working man’s Oregon State. I would pay money to go to an Oregon State game 10/10 times before USC. I want all of Gomer’s installation burned to the ground.

    FU, Gomer, you punk!

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  24. It’s twrue, it’s twrue, Oregon St. bombs mighty THUCC at the crumbling mausoleum, 45 – 27. Trwo pigs just flew over Clown U searching for the campus swine herd trough.

    #Cue: “Pigs on the Wing” ((Parts 1 and 2)

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    1. Owns – problem is we have the whole barnyard assortment (‘Ravers and droolers’ and ‘Have to be crazy Dogs’ along with those pigs)…and yeah, ha-ha, cha-rade we are…

      Liked by 1 person

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      2. Yes…keeping with (band and previous album) same theme…instead of enlightened leadership, we are saddled with “Have A Cigar” types (who still have no idea “which one’s Pink?” – but know which one’s Green).

        Like

  25. USC became a 7 on 7 Passing Team under Kiffin (remember the Bubble Screen Days) out of necessity due to Scholarship Limitations. Started to get out of that a bit with Sark (Ronald Jones), but are now nothing more than a middling Big 12 team since all of Sarks’ recruits are gone. Kiffin had a bigger problem than Scholarships. His boss was Pat Haden.

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    2. If Kif wanted to come back, I would certainly take him. You can’t find a better offensive mind. But “woke SC” would never take him just like they didn’t want UM.

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  26. Kiffy and Suck’s track record of getting canned everywhere they go … proves those mooching d bags are as big of frauds as that idiot they brought and keep here, Gomer.
    What disastrous decade .. no doubt Haden and Swann were on the take hiring those inept morons. Check the agents.

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      1. wrong … Goatboy Kiffy was canned by Saban during the playoffs … during ! that is what a cancer that d bag is.
        Suckisian was canned by the Falcons before their fans killed the fat fraud. Horn fans will turn on the mental case pig, real fast.

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      2. Neither one was canned. They left… (under, admittedly, serious pressure and death threats)….
        #KiffStillLooksFrickingFantasticComparedToHelton…

        Liked by 2 people

  27. The unspoken problem: The players SEE & HEAR their coordinators and position coaches ACTIVELY (and desperately) searching for other jobs. Everybody knows they’ve failed.
    #ThatMakesItATeenyBitHardToPLayForThem

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    1. (1) Clay will never work outside the home again….
      (2) Luckily for Mrs. Helton (and thanks to USC Athletic Directors) Clay never HAS to work outside the home again….
      (3) Clay is NOT lounging at his Lunada Bay Mansion–he has cheerfully accepted the job of houseboy….and answers to the name of Dingus…

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    2. I haven’t heard a peep from Gomer since he was canned. No statement thanking the university or that it was an honor to be their coach?!?! A friend of mine said he saw him at Nick & Stef’s Steakhouse in Downtown gorging on a slab of meat this week. The waitress told my friend that he dined there often. No wonder he got so f$&king fat in the 6 years as coach. And all on the backs of tuition paying parents and the broken dreams of great athletes who weren’t coached up.

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  29. I’m getting more furious by the minute. Somebody should be arrested for putting that prick, Gomer, in charge? BTW, I don’t buy into his nice guy bullshit act.

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      1. Remember, he didn’t hire or retain himself – yep, disgorgement is in order, but we live in an age within a society that has actively embraced obscene unmerited enrichment – Clay just wondered into the right casino.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Can you imagine Captain Benteen taking a commercial law exam involving holders in due course? What a visual! Imagine his genius being applied to a presentment problem…

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Clay is forever doing his unique impersonation of Steve Martin’s “The Most Gullible Man O Earth” routine. Each time the chair is pulled out from under him he blinks and goes “what the heck?”

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Would love to see late ’70s Steve Martin impersonate ClayDough…???…”Retained by Folt and Bohn-a…could barely beat Arizona…King (Mutt/Gut/etc)!”

        Liked by 1 person

      7. I guess being an oxygen thief enabled him to accomplish the seemingly incompatible…

        I still can’t figure out how Chumley jumped from that zoo to being the Trojans’ head coach…

        Liked by 1 person

      8. There’s a very sweet book entitled, “Unlikely Friendships” about different species befriending each other —- I think Haden misread it….
        #NextThingYouKnowClayWasCoachingAOnceProudFootballTeam

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  30. Carol Folt quote on twitter: “What a beautiful experience it is watching the high spirited USC student section last night”

    Yet, the rest of the stadium is more than half empty. Her statement clearly shows she has absolutely no understandng what USC football really means to this university.

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      1. SC seems to be in the habit of overpaying underqualified people… Better get my CV out to them asap. Who can’t use a few mil in the bank?

        Liked by 1 person

  31. I was very wrong about TO. He cant coach the defense. Oregon State is able to take 2 and 3 star athletes and make them into top talent.

    But I think TO has one valid excuse. His defense practices against the air raid offense. That doesnt properly prepare them to defend against the rush, because GH has no rushing attack. It doesnt prepare the defensive line, which goes up against a horrible offensive line every day. But still, there is really something wrong about the running defense and the players inability to get off blocks and attack the runner. It seems like both the defensive line and the linebackers are completely inept.

    That Oregon State team could beat Oregon, they are no joke.

    It goes to show you that with a great coaching staff, you can build a team over a period of 4 years that is excellent. Even with lower ranked recruits.

    Good coaches would never come to USC to coach under Helton, they knew it was a death sentence. So we got TO, who was fired at Texas and GH, a neophyte who really had not learned enough to be an offensive coordinator at this level.

    But the bigger question is shouldnt the responsibility actually go upward to Folt, Caruso and Bohn. I think Bohn was prevented from firing Helton earlier, so I cant really blame him. I think this reflects on Folt and I wish some of the pansie-ass reporters in LA would cover this story. It shows that USC’s “leadership” still needs to be changed.

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    1. gametv…. what is an honorable military officer allowed to do when he can’t follow idiotic and/or inexplicable orders?
      #AsSoonAsHeSawHeWas”DesignatedFallGuy”….
      #…BohnShould’veSteppedDown

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    1. We are not dumb fucks —we just placed all our trust & faith in Carol Folt and Mike Bohn and Graham Harrell and Todd Orlando….
      #…..WhoCould’veGuessedThisOutcome?

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  33. Last night was not a shock or unexpected at all. It was just a reminder of the state of the USC football program. Everyone knows that the road a head will be painful. Hoping it gets better sooner, rather than later.

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  34. I think it’s obvious, we need to remove the interim tag and make donte our guy.

    Did you see those young men fight and claw to get back in that game!?

    Clay could’ve never done that.

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      1. I especially liked the way one of our players had the onside kick BOUNCE RIGHT STRAIGHT INTO HIS HANDS … and let it go….
        #”WasThatAnOnsideKick?WasISupposedToHoldOn?”

        Liked by 2 people

  35. You all do realize that the Coliseum Scoreboard is practically writing Scott’s Blog for him this year?
    #Scott:”ThisGigGetsMoreFunEachYear…
    #…NotreDameAndUCLAStillToGoIn2021……
    #…ICanHardlyWaitFor2022!”

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    1. May I ask why you’d want to give Special Teams an “F” for merely getting a major penalty on the first play of the game two games in a row at the coli?
      #WhyWaitTillFirstPlayFromScrimmage?

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      1. I just want to read Wolf’s reasoning for his grades.

        #They’reNeverReasonableButHisRationalesCanBeEntertaining

        #EntertainingInThat”DidHeReallySayThatKindOfWay”

        Liked by 1 person

  37. And, I wonder who is going to be Wolf’s whipping boy now that Helton is gone. DC Orlando? OC Harrell?

    #NoMoreFatHeltonPicture

    #OrlandoAndHarrellAreTooSkinnyFor”BloatedConfusion”Pics

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      1. This is Wolf’s blog so asking for cheerleader pics from him is treading on some shaky ground.

        #AskACertainOregonCheerleader

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  38. Now that Pete’s Carroll Seattle teams are beginning to fade in the NFL perhaps USC does the following:

    1) Fire Mike Bohn
    2) Hire Pete Carroll as AD / CEO of USC Football, and let him hire a new coach or perhaps Pete would coach for 2-3 seasons to assist with the rebuilding process, and the new hire.

    My concern with Bohn is he has does not know what USC football can and should be.
    He also has never hired a big time college football coach like USC needs, and he may choke this decision based on the pressure to get this fixed quickly. Is Bohn a bit over his head running USC athletics the answer is probably yes.

    Pete, still has too much energy to retire, and I believe this might be the perfect position for him to rebuild USC Athletics especially football. He also will protect our athletic department from Carol Folt, and tell her directly to stick with everything else except athletics. He also still owns a home in Manhattan Beach, and it might be the perfect time to leave the Seattle franchise as it appears they have a rebuilding job up there.

    Bohn, would not fire himself but the Board, and some boosters need to go after Carroll who just might consider this to be the perfect challenge, and opportunity to leave Seattle. USC needs leadership now not many have the qualities and talent of Pete Carroll.

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    1. All we need to do to get Pete back to USC is get our DeLorean going at 87 m.p.h. so it can hook up with those cables attached to the clock tower at exactly 10:04 p.m…….
      #It’sAlmostTooEasy

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      2. Ha! Sorry. [But I can explain what gravitons and sparticles were SUPPOSED to be –Brian Greene promised he’d find them and prove his string theory approach to the multiverse —but they turned out to only be imaginary theoretical constructs]…..
        #KindaLikeGraham’sAirRaidOffense

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    2. Actually, I think the PC return will gain some momentum as search continues. Remember, we had Robo II in the mid 90’s.

      PC with JDR as DC with promise to JDR to be next HC in 2 years makes a lot of sense.

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Others here (and the not-so-clever clever types constituting the bulk of the media covering the program) will not agree, but I would be all-in for that arrangement. But I don’t agree that it’s going to happen – I don’t believe Pete will ever return (or coach again after stepping down in Seattle – one suspects he’ll hang around there as a senior exec.), and don’t believe this administration would even consider hiring someone like JDR (unfortunately). But it would be great if it happened (if only in our book!).

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  39. Do these games even matter? NO!

    This is a throw away season. We knew Donte was not going to the Head Coach regardless of how many wins. He could’ve won the title and he should still be out.

    This BS about playing with pride…of please. These kids were recruited by Helton and have no heart. They are all nice kids like Helton.

    I hope Bohner thoughtfully decides on a proper Head Coach to revamp this program from being run by nice guys to winners!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. You’re partly right. There’s no reason for players to keep saying they’re feeling “tight’ or they’re “pressing too much” (favorite excuses after both Stanford and Oregon State). From this point on they have absolutely nothing to lose. Nobody expects a fricking thing outta them.
      This should be the loosest bunch of Trojans ever to travel to South Bend….
      #LetItRip

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      1. I’m going miss “Sunday Night with Helton.”
        [It’s gonna be harder than usual for Scott to include any Trojans in the top half of the Winners & Losers column tomorrow]….
        #Winner:CarolFoltForThinkingSheSaw”TrojanSpirit”InStands…
        #….AndSpottingPete’sDragonInParkingLot

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  40. At least we only need to wait a few months to get a new head coach. We have to wait more than 3 years for any shot at a halfway decent President of the United States of America!

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  41. Pete back at SC lol … Pete hates the modern college game and these whacky offenses. It will never ever happen.
    SC wants a veteran college coach that will stick around awhile and turn this mess around sooner than later. Perfect job for a James Franklin or Chris Petersen.

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  42. This morning I read an article posted on USA today, which pointed out correctly that the national media has been ignoring the USC fans about Helton for too long. That Helton should have been fired in 2018, but the media ignored the signs that were glaring from the program.
    When Orlando was hired it was pointed out that he was not effective in his previous employment. He’s inconsistent from year to year.
    Fans pointed out that Harrell is a quarterback coach not a coordinator.
    Maybe the blame should placed where it belongs: Swann shanked his tee shot and gave Helton the keys to this debacle. This isn’t going away any time soon. Donte’s position group was woefully unprepared. For this reason I really don’t think he’s a head coach worth keeping any longer than needed.

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    1. Really like Donte as a person …but he’s been set up for failure. [Still I agree with whoever said he will produce at least one more inspired victory along the way —maybe it’ll come against Notre Dame]…
      #…ButNotWithKedonAtTheControls…
      #..He’sTooTimidToLead

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