FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: Lincoln Riley Should Reflect On One Decision

I mentioned yesterday how USC has still not announced the coaching staff.

If no one else gets hired, one scenario has Oklahoma cornerbacks coach Roy Manning coaching the linebackers and edge rushers while Donte Williams coaches cornerbacks.

Is Lincoln Riley really cool with this? Forget about what Williams did as interim coach, did Riley analyze the job he did with the cornerbacks?

Did Williams develop freshman corner Ceyair Wright, who barely played? Or freshman corner Joshua Jackson? How about freshman corner Prophet Brown?

Don’t forget USC started two five-star corners (Chris Steele, Isaac Taylor-Stuart) who Williams did not get the most out of?

If I was Riley, I would consider that before proceeding.

  • Oklahoma wide receiver Mario Williams is in Los Angeles per his Instagram.
  • Mater Dei wide receiver C.J. Williams is expected to commit to USC today.
  • UPDATED: Williams committed to USC, as expected.
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56 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Lincoln Riley Should Reflect On One Decision”

  1. Hate to say this cuz I like what I see of Donte in interviews —he’s a straight shooter who cares about his players (in other words –he’s what Plato would call Clay Helton’s “polar opposite”) ….BUT… I hope his title as DB coach is purely ceremonial and he’s being retained as a recruiter only.

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    1. I agree. Donte has many fine qualities and he exudes a sense of responsibility and loyalty. He stood tall during loss of his father never clinging to it for sympathy. You can teach skills, but not character. Donte has fine character. A good manager can design a job description to utilize his best attributes of an employee to allow him to be successful as well as the team and university.

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    2. We really dont know how much of the problem with the secondary was due to Donte, and how much was Todd Orlando’s scheme and the overall culture of USC. I dont think Donte doesnt know how to coach.

      USC fans turned on Donte because he couldnt solve the problems at USC. That really isnt fair to him. He was put in a no-win situation.

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    3. Williams had one year left on his contract, he was pimped around, No Takers.
      So USC. Could pay him for the year to sit on his ass or make use of him in some capacity, most likely recruiting.

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      1. Donte could have definitely got another CB coach job. By focusing on the corners this season at USC, he can get his reputation back and revive his career.

        Honestly, I think that he did USC a big favor by taking the interim HC job and it was a thankless task, with no way to win.

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  2. I can’t help thinking that some of these programs are paying the players money illegally. I can’t prove that but I have to ask why Texas is #5 in the nation in recruiting. Their last really good season was in 2009. Last year they were attrocious. There’s got to be a reason why such good players are rushing to Texas when their football program has stunk for more than a decade.  Missouri is another one. Their last really good season was 2013. That’s almost a decade ago. Yet they are #12 in recruiting. Florida State is #14. Their last good season was 2016

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    1. It’s gotta be the Sark thing, parcelman…. yeah, that’s gotta be it. Kids LOVE playing for “7 Game Sark.”
      #That’s7GamesInA”Good”Season…NotEverySeason

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      1. Yeah….I guess it’s that magic number 7….8+ and 6- won’t make it. Win 7 games and all the cream of the crop will be banging on your door to play for you.

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    2. I just heard on the All-American game that the player picked Texas over USC because of their NIL program…….he liked the specific NIL department they offer. I thought USC had a great NIL program….what could Texas have????

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      3. They have a huge football budget. Now that paying recruits is legal, all is fair game. A&M has #1 class of all time because they have out massive NIL deals. That’s the world we live in. I’m sure we are doing the same thing. Let’s see how well Riley convinces donors to step up.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. My son is watching the high school all-star game on TV, Raleek Brown is about as quick as one can imagine, and CJ Williams made a London style catch in the corner of the end zone. Another 4 star commitment, and one who wasn’t even considering USC before Riley came.

    Regarding Dante, coaching the cornerbacks isn’t done in isolation, so perhaps the fact that USC was 96th in QB sacks had something to do with this. You give any quality modern QB enough time with quality receivers, and they will tear up a secondary.

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    1. True, 67. 5 to 6 seconds of checking what’s going on downfield makes all QB’s look good…and all DB coaches look bad.
      [Our 2021 D-Line didn’t give QB’s 6 UNINTERRUPTED seconds — they’d get to the QB in 2 seconds, miss the tackle and then he’d have 4 more seconds while they recovered & got back into the play]…..

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      2. It’s almost like our defensive ends are told, “get there fast ….but be sure not to bring him down…just sail by …. that’ll scare ’em”…..

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      3. Regarding over pursuit and ” It’s almost like our defensive ends are told, “get there fast ….but be sure not to bring him down…just sail by …. that’ll scare ’em”…..” I have often thought the athletes looked confused and unsure of what they are supposed to do in the play they are in. They often look like they never saw that play before. With helton, it may be true. Hopefully, those days are in our rearview mirrors. I’m hopeful Grinch can coordinate the team to provide everyone with an enhanced opportunity for success because every part of the team IS doing his job.

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    2. C.J. Williams reminds me of Drake London a lot. Not as big but a similar type of receiver. He doesn’t have the burning speed to blow by you but when it is a situation where the ball is in the air and both the receiver and DB have the equal opportunity to catch it, it’s usually Williams who comes down with it. I wasn’t convinced that he was all that great but all week long in the army all-american practices he was the best receiver out there and he was also the best receiver in the game. So he is better than I thought he was.

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  4. Jeez, Scooter finally found something to be negative about. I wonder if he ever thought about the team playing the best players at the moment. Probably not. Donte can coach, and recruit with no problem. He is now working for a highly qualifed DC and he should grow as a coach because of it. Anyone else realize we could have three players named Williams? Two receivers and a Qb. All very good. Life with Riley is really good.

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  5. Or… the linebacker coach, Brian Odom, will coach the linebackers. Just a thought.

    Scott is not even good at reading twitter any longer.

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  6. What were practices like under Helton and after he was fired? The fact that Donte tried to implement discipline means a lot. If the players could slack and not face discipline because Helton had his favorites, how could any coach get the best out of his players? After the firing of Helton, did players quit? Maybe Riley knows more about this than Scott.

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  7. CJ Williams reminds me of Robert Woods. 6-1, not blazing speed, but a talented WR. Made 4 impressive catches.

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  8. All the assistant coaches suffered under coach-killer Clay Helton. Grinch coached safeties at OU, which leaves CB’s for Donte. Donte will be better in Riley’s program or he’ll be gone.

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  9. We are getting top talent in the offensive skill positions, but still missing out on all the line positions for the best young talent. It is real tough for a position coach who doesnt know a recruit to flip him in a week or two

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  10. Scott Wolf will have an opinion on this.

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      2. I saw “package deal” and thought FAU with Harrell and Orlando. Send Carol Folt and the entire USC Gould Law School faculty to Venezuela to serve with the dictator Nicholas Maduro. Total cesspool at Gould Law. Clean house and Fight on, Fight on, Fight on✌️✌️✌️

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      4. Gould Law is promoting BLM Marxism, Defunding the Police, and Critical Race Theory. Gould Law is more about radical ideology than it is about teaching law to aspiring lawyers. Notre Dame – Amy Coney Barrett, USC – Jody Armour aka @niggatheory, his twitter username.

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    1. We need to give Caleb an ultimatum: Sign with us in the next 60 minutes or we won’t accept him when & if he picks USC ….
      #CanAnyoneSeeAPossibleDownsideToThis?
      #Oh,Wait…
      #IJustDid…

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      1. You’re basically asking for a Dart. I remember a time when you once loved a Dart b/c you’d lost faith in The Slovis. Nary a mention of the crap OL The Slovis got murdered 17 times behind. The Williams guy has a caveat/ demand when it comes the the OL right? RIP Dart. I’d bail iI were him, why stick around if everyone is pining for replacement?

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      1. I’m a taker, smackyd, and I wrote about the Dart v Williams contest on a previous Scott posting, so I will only add this– if it were possible to quantify how good of a football player a guy is, what percent would be assigned to Williams over Dart– 5% better, 10% better?– Or perhaps not as good?– Is that worth replacing Dart?

        Quarterback is not a desperate need for SC; the guys that properly protect the Trojan quarterback are what has been missing for years now. We fans have no idea what these quarterbacks face with charging madmen hellbent on ‘killing the quarterback.’ It broke Slovis.

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  13. Email to a SC friend: Yeah I saw Arizona at 19. I hope USC can get a few more quality recruits, but not holding my breath. Man if they can just get Caleb and Mario Williams and then 2-3 more starters from the portal.

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      1. These USC hoopsters might go far. Veteran team, playing together well, very strong defensively, Enfield coming into his own.

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      2. Ditto. I don’t own a t.v., never have, and so I have not seen the team this year, but by all accounts the Trojans are big, talented, motivated, and confident after its Elite-8 showing.

        I am anxious to go to Galen to see them first-hand if a certain-virus doesn’t get in my way.

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  15. Caleb will announce he’s coming to USC right before the National Championship game …as a signal that –no matter who wins — USC will end their reign in 365 days…. [as a matter of fact, he will state this explicitly and, then, spit on the Georgia and Alabama helmets he has on the table in front of him , before donning a USC helmet]…..
    #MyPredictionIsNotBasedOnAnyInsideInfo…
    #….ISawItInADream

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    1. Once all these things have come to pass, no one will deny my prescience……
      #IWillCelebrateByFlyingOverCampus&Skywriting”SurrenderCarol”
      #… [AndAMovieWillBeMadeStarringLizaMinnellAsCarol]

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  17. NIL rules? I was wondering about the rules and the NCAA, there aren’t any. Basically it’s up to the state to set rules for students and their earnings. California kicked this off with their law prohibiting schools from earning money based on the name, images or likeness of a student without compensating the student. So basically even part of the proceeds from selling a program at the games would be given to the students.
    Each state has their own rules and cannot be prohibited by the NCAA (per the NCAA)in dealing with them. For instance Texas rules state the NIL cannot be used as recruiting inducement, but who’s going to prosecute? A state like TX where football is a religion just gave a wink and a nod to their football schools. Before the NIL all they had was cows and pretty girls as inducement. Now they have oil money and cows to go with their pretty girls. Sark is probably telling recruiters to mention the cash and pass on the cows.
    The NCAA is hoping people will figure this out and want a stop put to it. Then they might step up and do something about lopsided rules. But until then, it’s the NFL farm system for what passes for college football.

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  18. Why bring in Caleb Williams? Will that drive out Jaxson Dart and Malachi Nelson? And you can not have so many mercenaries from out of state on teams and expect loyalty and team spirit. Look, you could get all the top 5*’s and pay them all $1 mil each and they might not perform to expectations if there is no desire to win for the home team. Dart is a competitor, team leader and his arm is second to none and he is a good runner. Malachi never seems to make a mistake and if he does he corrects it. How is the team going to feel if another QB is brought in?

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    2. Dart will probably transfer but Malachi Nelson was commited to OU when Caleb was there, so, same difference and no reason why he would “not” cone here.

      If we don’t get Caleb, so be it, but I think would be a huge get and I think it’ll ratchet up credibility with the pull that LR has, bring in more recruits who will follow and F*CK over OU (so sick of their whiney fans!)

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