FOOTBALL

Morning Buzz: Did USC Drop Ball On Josh Conerly?

USC lost five-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly to Oregon on Friday night.

But was the groundwork for the Ducks’ upset commitment laid before that?

Conerly thanked former USC lineman Viane Talamaivao during his announcement and is obviously close to Talamaivao, who was hired by Oregon in January. Talamaivao has pretty much worked at USC since he completed his eligibility in 2017.

Should USC worked harder to keep Talamaivao, if for no other reason than to keep Conerly?

62 thoughts on “Morning Buzz: Did USC Drop Ball On Josh Conerly?”

  1. That is a bit of a stretch in reasoning, even for Scottie.

    More detrimental was how all the publications and many SC people were proclaiming it was a done deal that he was going to be a Trojan. Might that have been off-putting for the kid and his family?–

    Who knows, but all of that speculation and tooting our horn did not help SC’s chances of landing him.

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    2. These kids should realize the media will exploit them for every click they can get. All the “experts” tout an opinion, but in the end, as usual, they get it wrong often enough to call it a scientific wild ass guess. Kind of like preseason polls.

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  2. Conerly knows ‘Ol Mule Shoe doesn’t care about the trenches, interior linemen.

    ‘Ol Mule Shoe is obsessed with skill position players just like his cousin Clueless Clay…they’re both cut from the same cloth.

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  3. Move on. His SC visit was a stunt to later put down the SC program. He’s about same size as Monheim who got pulled late in the year as he is undersized. Likely he won’t be a OL in NFL.

    What Riley has to do is learn from Andy Enfield that OL have to be grown locally by nurturing relationships with local high school programs. OL rarely leave their home turf to go to school. SC should develop relationships with Central California high school coaches where larger size players can be found. LA area has mostly soccer sized high school athletes.

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    1. I have thought that myself, that the linemen in CA are not developed, just the “skill” positions. I also am smdh.

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  4. Shoulduv offred to giv Connurly his own pursonal chef to get his wate up so he culd be a reel linesmen, then he wuld have come here. John, you got to use yur loopholes. smdh.

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    1. Once Nike entered the picture and the NCAA decided to look the other way, it’s Oregon that “recruits” itself….
      #[I’mForcedToUseTheWord”Recruit”….
      #….SinceThereIsNoOtherKnownWordForWhatOregonDoes]….

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      2. Interestingly, Chip was fired for Oregon NCAA violations. But he was good enough for that bastion of integrity, principle, and fair play, westwood tech.

        #ShowCauseChip

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      3. It will be interesting to see how these new braggart coaches actually perform. BTW, if they don’t have good management skills, they will reap what they sow. It’s not only the great players Alabama always has, it’s the great lessons and leadership that permeates the program. I have seen many young manager fall in their mash potatoes before they got the message of what it is to lead.

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      4. I’ve also seen one very old leader fall before he got the message of what it is to lead…
        #”It’sMoreThanGivingInToTheInterestGroupThat’sMostFractious?!”

        Liked by 2 people

  6. ESPN has a great article about the serious problems facing college football with portal/NIL and numerous other serious issues destroying the game.
    “Clemson Tigers coach Dabo Swinney says there needs to be ‘complete blowup’ of college football”

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    3. It was a good read. I agree with Dabo, it’s basically there anyway. We need new divisions with the top 50-60 teams. Maybe there can be relegation for those that can’t win enough. I’m all for it.

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    1. Easier said than done. How many “transfer linemen” do you see available out there, at least ones that are (1) better than the stiffs SC currently has on its roster for offensive linemen and (2) that are highly-rated? The loss of Conerly hurts. He would’ve started by mid-season, and he’s the type of recruit that tells other recruits to come to SC and that the staff and program are legitimate. Additionally, go look at the recruiting websites and the interested prospects for OL who are warm on USC for the 2023 class. It’s currently slim pickings. There are lots of wide receivers, “athletes” and defensive backs, but very few offensive linemen, defensive linemen and linebackers rated four stars or higher. That’s a problem, Charles.

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  8. Second on the transfer linemen.

    As a sidebar, Pac-12 D lines last year were surprisingly small.

    The All-Pac 12 D-line averaged 267 lbs, most of whom were 3 star (Thibodeaux was 5 star, but he is now gone), compared to ‘Bama and Georgia who had D-lines averaging over 300, and several who were 4 and 5 star guys.

    USC o-line improved from 109 to 38th in rushing between 2020 to 2021. Not saying there isn’t more room to get better, but they were better than in the past.

    https://247sports.com/college/usc/Article/USC-Trojans-offensive-line-leveled-up-in-21-under-Clay-McGuire-180068654/#:~:text=Overall%2C%20the%20Trojan%20offense%20finished,finished%2061st%20in%20the%20country.

    Moral of story, the Pac-12 is a bit small, which is a good thing if you are an o-line.

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    1. Our O-Line was better by the end of last year. They looked good against BYU [the last game they actually gave a shit about]. With way improved coaching, better morale & discipline and a mobile QB we should be fine…..
      #IDon’tMeanPlayoffFine,ButPac12Fine

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      1. You have to logically figure that with what we had last year improving under that leadership, that this year they would be great simply based on culture and coaching.

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      2. In the last game of The year when SC plays Oregon for the Pac 12 title all these young kids that picked Oregon over the Trojans are going to find out they made their biggest mistake of their young Lives. Picking someone that’s never been a head coach over a proven winner was pretty dumb on their part and their parents. Sabin,Riley,Sweeney, and up-and-coming Aranda, best college coaches.

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      2. Michael, don’t go into the cage. At least not without a hazmat suit on. You know what those little primates like to throw at us bigger primates.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Yes, and along with that menu suggestion, he said “You will never work in D1 again. Even as a quality control analyst”

        Liked by 1 person

      5. …to which Clay replied…. “as long as I’M happy…that’s all that matters…”
        #TellSamDarnoldOrJ.T. OrKedonThatToTheirFace,YouDumbTurd

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  10. In order to have a consistent class of O line and D line USC staff has to invest in the high schools and develop the programs to make the players better and create the pipelines PC used to have.

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  11. Answer me this ’67, isn’t it true that Clown U is the most scandal ridden College in the lower 48? I mean SUCC is ridiculous when it comes to shooting itself in the foot.

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    1. What? Does Alaska have scandals? Really you could say the scandalous big name school. USC has so many scandals, they are considering a major in the subject. Makes a bit of a mockery out of “ no publicity is bad publicity.”

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  12. Always funny when idiots (or fans thereof) across town bring up USC’s scandals while ignoring their own. Our athletic department has been sanctioned only one or two more times than they have. They also had a coach involved in the Varsity Blues scandal. They also had a sicko gynecologist for whom they paid two separate settlements totaling over $300M. A UCLA professor was convicted for conspiring to send U.S. missile chips to China. We could go on & on about both schools. As much as you try to keep them out, when you employ thousands, bad ones get in.

    People who live in glass houses…

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      1. Hey ’67, how many bozo professors, administrators, BOT members and Athletic program employees reside in So. Ctr. LA? Maybe 0.00001.

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    2. The two most sanctioned NCAA Div. 1 athletic programs are private Methodist Universities – 1) SMU; 2) SUCC.

      I can assure you So Cal, had C. Max Nikias been associated with UCLA, they would have cut him loose tied to an anvil parachute; as opposed to giving Nikias a lifetime BOT membership and tenure like Clown U.

      #paging Dr. Geo. Tyndall

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      1. I love you Owns…but any University that allows Chip to appear in public in those nylon t-shirts is capable of some pretty sick shit….

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      2. Oh yes, because SUCLA acts so quickly in taking out the trash.

        Dr. James Heaps committed over 6,000 acts of sexual assault and sexual misconduct between 1983 and 2018, when he worked at the UCLA student health center and UCLA Medical Center. Accusations include making sexually inappropriate comments to patients, touching women sexually during exams without wearing gloves and simulating intercourse, often roughly, with an ultrasound probe.

        Dimwit would try to find solace in Tyndall have committed even one more act than Heaps, as if that matters. What a fool.

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  17. I’m sorry to have to say this about an 18 yr old but Conerly is not the brightest bulb in the room. Oregon sucks. The coach has never been a head coach before and did not even call the defensive signals at Georgia. Kirby Smart ran the defense. The defensive coordinator is a joke who was fired by Nick Saban after only one year as the coordinator. The offensive line coach has bounced around due to being caught cheating at EVERY COLLEGE dumb enough to employ him. The offensive coordinator was fired from that offensive juggernaut Florida State program. Oregon is a clown school that talks about winning championships AND THEY HAVE NEVER EVER ONE EVEN ONE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 🤷🏽‍♂️😱. Finally it is a starter program. Coaches go to Oregon and leave at the first offer. Lanning will go back to a second tier SEC PROGRAM the first chance he gets. Oregon football is a stepping stone to a better and higher paying position. They could not even win when USC was down. If you cannot win ANYTHING during the Clay Helton era you are certainly not winning during the Lincoln Riley era. Hurry up and lose Clown School with your clown uniforms and absolutely no tradition.

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