FOOTBALL

Back In Business

I haven’t posted much this week because of a follow-up medical procedure from September, but it is Signing Day.

First, USC is pursuing Houston offensive line coach Brandon Jones per FootballScoop, which describes Jones as “big-time.”

I’m not sure of working at Cal, Texas Tech and Houston makes you big time but he does know the Air Raid offense.

  • Sources tell me Kedon Slovis has had multiple conversations with Arizona coaches (Jedd the Fisch).
  • Some important comments from Lincoln Riley on the Pac-12 Network.

“We’re getting ready to, in a lot of ways, overhaul this roster. Today is one step in a process. The (recruits) we will bring in early are those that we feel very confident will help us change the culture.

“With the transfer portal, every day is signing day. This, in a lot of ways, is just another day for us.”

83 thoughts on “Back In Business”

  1. Just out of curiosity, what’s your greatest memory from past signing days? How nostalgic is it for you? Do you reminisce about it while having a beer as your sitting around the fire with your friends?

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    3. per BPI (the computer, not a human) USC MBB is #26–which seems like a smart ranking. USC MBB strength of schedule (as we all know) is 200+,
      meaning lower half of D1 basketball.

      HOwever, USC strength of RECORD is about #5 or so, meaning that they beat teams that they are supposed to beat by a solid score.

      GT and ESPECIALLY Okie State will be good testers before PAC 12 play.
      Thankfully, it is only a road trip to AZ.

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  3. Welcome back, Scott. I’m sure you will hate to hear this…but… I said a prayer for you.
    From the sublime to the ridiculous department: Urban Meyer just got his ass fired. Where does he end up?
    #AsLongAsIt’sNotThePac12All’sWell

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    1. Michael, I am afraid that Urbie scre*ed the pooch. Can’t see a pac-12 team hiring at this stage.

      It pains me to the end of the earth to say this, but just maybe Folt was right when she said Meyer is “radioactive”. He created his own technicolor clusterf*ck in Jax entirely by himself.

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      1. It’s sad –but you’re right, 67. Urban has flamed out. We’re at the point you can’t say “Meyer screwed the pooch” without the listener asking “literally?”

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      2. I think Meyer would have been an instant winner at USC and should have been our choice after the 2018 season.

        Off the top of my head, I cannot come up with recent LIFETIME winning CFB coaches who have done well in the NFL. Seems that the NFL produces it’s winning coaches and CFB produces it’s winning coaches and “never the twain shall meet.”

        Mike Tomlin has no interest in coaching teenagers and their delicate emotions with their parents’ tender feelings.
        Urban is accustomed to having all 105 players and all coaches DO EXACTLY AS HE SAYS. Not gonna happen with the pros.

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      3. Well, look at the upside –now the media gets to call Meyer “the worst NFL coach in history” all week…..
        [The weird thing: If Folt hadn’t nixed him, Urban would have been the perfect person to take over the soft USC football team & whip it back into fighting shape…..]

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      4. P. S.
        In my opinion:
        If the great Ricky Bell hadn’t contracted a fatal disease, John McKay would have taken a Super Bowl title….

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    2. Scooter,

      I too said a prayer for you. Even though you went to St. Paul and I went to Loyola, I still have to pray for ya. I am glad you are back.

      Micheal,

      We won’t need Mikey until Scooter is gone for a long time. Thank you for covering for Scooter.

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  4. Translation of Lincoln’s comments about every day till Mid February being another signing day: “Coaches Folt, Bohn and Helton screwed up the football program so seriously it’s gonna take me a long, long time to get it straight again.”

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    1. I love Riley said the team needs pretty much a total redo. Helton is a complete schmo. Let’s see if “schmo” gets moderated. “Village Idiot” was way too kind for Helton.

      Scottie, good to have you back, brother.

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  5. Scott: You are correct on the credentials of the new offensive line coach. My concern is we are getting too many buddies on our coaching staff with alot of Texas Tech connections. Please explain what Texas Tech has really ever accomplished in college football!!! One has to wonder why his buddy Graham Harrell another good old boy from Lubbock has not been announced as his new passing game coordinator/QB coach.

    Riley seems so determined to overhaul our entire roster which he did not have to do at Oklahoma where he inherited some really good players. Time will tell if Riley can really pull in some great players, and rebuild an entire program to match the expectations that are quite high at USC. I have a gut feeling he too is going to struggle bringing in some top offensive and defensive linemen especially after Helton and staff ignored the recruiting trail for the most part.

    I have a strong feeling also Riley will take the first NFL opportunity offered to him. Don’t be surprised if in two years he gets frustrated at USC, and becomes the new Dallas Cowboy head coach. I hear Jerry Jones the owner of the Cowboys loves the guy.

    Tosh Lupoi is the best candidate available for the Defensive Line Coach. Unfortunately, Texas Tech and Oklahoma never had much of a defense during his time there so this time he better grab Lupoi before Oregon does.

    We shall see what Riley can get done quickly otherwise I say he will leave in two years due to the pressure to win at SC, and then head to the NFL.

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    1. If Lincoln goes 9-3, 10-2 and 11-1 in his first 3 regular seasons –yes, he’s PROBABLY gone. [And that would be fine –he’d have gotten us back on our feet and put together a solid core of players for the next coach]…..
      #…ButHeMightJustHaveHisHeartSetOnANationalChampionship

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      1. I don’t think Jesus could go 9-3 with next years roster. Who’s the leading returning receiver and running back? Can you name 3 people left from the defense that got run over every game last season? If Riley as good as everyone says he is then 6-6 would mean he’s done an excellent job. Also, Dart isn’t as great as you all think he is. He throws the ball to the other team too often. He’s just fortunate they dropped most of them.

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    2. Look at his Wikipedia and why he left Cal & Washington. Dude was working for Urban Meyer up until a few hours ago. If you think Folt is going to let him get within 10 miles of a job as USC you’re an idiot.

      He’s legit a trash person. I’ve heard this from a few people who most definitely would know.

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      1. @CalSeventyFive – there is no God. Congrats being on one of the imaginary sky person teams! Thoughts and prayers or something I guess

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    1. tb,
      In a courtroom that question might be objected to as “assuming facts not in evidence.” I’m not sure it’s ‘disappointing’ that Riley didn’t feel like he had to get it all done today. I think there’s a good chance he knows how to get where he’s going …and that he doesn’t feel he needs to get there until mid February….. whether it be filling staff or player slots….

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  7. 80# in the rankings is still disappointing especially with no offensive line men signed and all the other blue bloods having a great recruiting day. I thought more top players would be flocking to USC because of the Lincoln Riley hiring. I was expecting some surprise commitments especially all the hype Lincoln was getting as an ace recruiter Today felt like a big let down to me. Too much hype and not enough results. USC doesn’t recruit itself anymore.

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    1. You do realize the main signing day is still over a month away? The kids that sign now are the ones who are tired of the recruiting process and want it to stop. They’re 17-18 years olds most of them haven’t even decided where they want to go. Not to mention the coaching changes.

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  10. USCs problem with Helton was he couldn’t get a big time offense and defensive line coach to come to USC. Still seems to be the same problem that Lincoln Riley has. Nothing is going to change unless the trenches are built up. That starts with coaches that can coach and recruit. A big red flag at USC still after ESD.

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    1. Big red flag that a coach who has been on the job for 2 weeks can’t undo 15 years of incompetence, really? I’m still not sure how what you just said made sense in your head.

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      1. So has he hired a offense or defensive line coach? No other blue blood program has a problem hiring coaches. Then you wonder why top linemen are going somewhere else. He could of fixed that problem. Stop making fucin excuses smacky d. You make it make sense. Because the sense is the top linemen are going somewhere else. Without big time line coaches. 2 weeks my fucin ass. This is USC Helton or no Helton fucin things up from before. Tired of the excuses already. We want results with coaching and recruiting.

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      2. trojanboogs — I have some of the same fears you do —mine are just lurking under the surface of my confident exterior. Although I’m hoping things sort themselves out by mid February — it DOES suck that Riley didn’t/couldn’t get the O-Line coach he wanted from his OWN old team. Riley’s not being able to get the people he wants in the positions he needs smells like Folt and Bohn aren’t giving him the money to get the job done…..
        #…AndTHATWouldBeJustLikeThose2Assholes

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      1. I can’t stand that blow hard liberal pos. Mike Florio is just hater always talking shyt, but doesnt know shyt. Nothing but a big Raider hater.

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      2. As a lifelong Raider fan, it’s OK to be a Raider hater. They are the WORST professional franchise in all of sport. Seriously the worst. They need the Davis family to sell the franchise. Until that is done they will continue to be a joke.

        Im so tired of the nonsense. Im still going to pull for them, not quitting after 40 plus years, but they don’t do fans any favors.

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      6. NFL and CFP sportswriters along with the NFL Network love to demonize Urban Meyer. Unlike Nick Saban and Pete Carroll, Urban had no prior NFL assistant coach experience. Maybe he didn’t have a grasp of what he was getting himself into and how coaching NFL players is different from CFP. The guy is human … he made some mistakes this year. I hope Urban takes another CFP job.

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      7. You hear new coaching hires talk about getting existing players to “buy-in” to their coaching philosophies and way of doing things. Urban’s idea of buy-in may have been “my way or the highway”. He’s exercising some discipline in an effort to change Jax’ loser culture. My advice to the Jax owner vis-a-vis the Jax players: “fire your effing ass because a loser is a loser!”

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    1. I posted that problem as a big red flag, Charles, and that idiot smack d tells me to make it make sense. Because not any linemen coaches have been hired. That clown gave me the 2 weeks excuse for LR. This is USC, a blue blood program. There should never be a problem bringing in big time coaches to SC. LR better get his shyt together and hire someone fast.

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      1. Lots of big name coaches came and went during the Helton era, didn’t they? Rome wasn’t built in a day.

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  14. This pos sob Hellton has sabotaged the program to such an extent it will take time to weed out and remove his contamination. When people saw through his facade and he couldn’t get highly rated players he then goes to the portal to get players who are injured and nobody wants eg lineman from Alabama and receiver from Texas who to this day are still injured and can’t even get on the field (wasting schoolies) just so he can pad his portfolio as if he is achieving something and getting some big time players

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  15. I’m glad they have decided to keep Donte, if for no other reason but his recruiting abilities. But I’m confused. Somebody help me out here. I see 9 coaches that he has hired: 1) Alex Grinch 2) Dave Nichol3) Zach Hanson4) Dennis Simmons5) Tashard Choice6) Brian Odom7) Jamar Cain8) Roy Manning9) Donte Williams  Maybe I am mistaken but the rules say that you can only have 10 on-field coaches. We still don’t have an O-Line coach and a D-Line coach. That would make 11. How do they plan to work out this new math?

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      3. He was definitely OC before he became Head Coach…I don’t know if he served as his own OC as Head Coach…..
        #IfRileyIsAllowedToCutHisB.S.”P.R.”DutiesBeingOCCouldWork

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      4. That might work. Something must be in the works…..otherwise you have 9+2=10. That is new math. Maybe these coaches came out of todays public schools.

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  16. I’m so happy you’re ok Wolfman – like MG said many of us really do care about you. This is the only place I still feel like part of the Trojan Family.

    Please do a post on the hoops team. They are a very resilient group of young men playing their tails off. Goodwin’s putback of Mobley’s miss at the end was CLUTCH!!

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    2. @R Rita I’ve had my share of health problems as I’ve posted on here in the past. Thank you Trojan family on here for getting me through some tough times lying in the hospital or in recovery like I am now. Thank you to everyone of you.
      To Scott Wolf wolfman may you have a healthy rest of your life. We care about you on here even though we give you shyt sometimes. Thank God you are still on this earth fight on never give up! Trojan boogs. Survivor and warrior.

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    1. Refreshing how candid Reilly is in comparison to Helton. He has stated repeatedly that he is going to “overhaul the roster.” He plans to bring in players that will “change the culture” thereby implying that many current players are lacking discipline and competitive spirit, an assessment that is supported by the fact that many players refused to play in the Cal game. Can you imagine Helton making such a statement? He praised his players after they got their teeth kicked in by Iowa in the Holiday bowl and had the audacity to say that his team is on the cusp of greatness, a real special group of players.

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      1. Helton’s act was so stale and transparent only people as dim and inauthentic as Folt and Bohn would fall for it. They’ll both continue to be stumbling blocks for “building back better.”

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      2. The Holiday Bowl would have been the perfect time to can the twit. On the other hand, we did have a few rectal exams in ’20, and a lot in ’21, but we did get a top 5 HC. Skies are looking bluer by the day.

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      1. Ah!, ok I get the subtle difference. We’ll see who actually signs. Of course the transfers (Caleb Williams) could change everything. I like Jackson Dart but Caleb Williams is an obvious upgrade.

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      2. @MG Those 2 twits fell for the kissing ass game ball give away from Helton after the UCLA game. Which Kedon Slovis and Drake London Deserved! Oh well at least Those 2 bozos have them to put under their Christmas tree every year.

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      3. Folt & Bohn 2022 Gameplan: “We got Riley by sheer accident —now let’s (1) take credit for what we know was an undeserved miracle …while (2) doing everything possible to subvert the shit outta his rebuilding effort by starving him of the $$ he needs to get top assistants…..

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  21. Unless Lincoln Riley signs big tough linemen on both sides of the ball soon, then we’ll see another Texas Tech/ Washington State/ USC addition trying to out score the opponent with 56-45 victories. And those type of teams will get blown out in the playoffs.

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  22. As a proud Trojan MD and a proud member of the Trojan Family, very happy to have Mr. Wolf back in the Family and hopefully in good shape.

    Hard to believe that it all started with my favorite daily read, “The Daily Trojan.” Fight on!

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    2. Not necessarily —but a lot of bad omens are popping up….
      #GlassHalfFull:BadOmensDon’tAlwaysTranslateIntoBadRealities…

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  26. I believe there is a real worry about Scott’s health– the fact he was recently out of commission for weeks tells me he might have been in the hospital for cancer treatment. So yeah, he needs all the good thoughts he can get from his “second family” here.

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