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USC Morning Buzz: Rough Week For One Coach

It’s been a rough few days for USC defensive backs coach Donte Williams.

First, Oregon gets to go to the Big Ten. That removes a talking point with recruits for Williams about the Ducks being in an inferior conference.

Second, it means Oregon cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin will remain in the same conference with Williams. Martin landed top corner Rodrick Pleasant of Gardena Serra over USC in February.

Then top corner Dakoda Fields, also from Serra, flipped from USC to Oregon on Monday. Martin is becoming a real nemesis for Williams.

Martin, who was a graduate assistant at USC, can also point to the fact he coached Christian Gonzalez for three seasons before Gonzalez was selected with the 17th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Williams? Well, we’ve been over his thin list of NFL prospects at USC.

Don’t forget USC’s top cornerback last season, Mekhi Blackmon, spent two seasons at Colorado with Martin. Who developed him more?

Finally, it all hurts more because Williams used to be at Oregon and now he’s losing recruits to the Ducks.

  • Did you see USC superfan Colin Cowherd mentioned Dwayne Haskins among 20 quarterbacks he believes cannot win a Super Bowl. Haskins passed away 16 months ago.
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52 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Rough Week For One Coach”

  2. MG, are you threatened by the Maui Wildfires? I hope you and your family are out of harm’s way from the severe, wildfire “inferno.”

    #Wishing you good luck in crazy Maui…I mean out of control wildfires frying Maui…WTF?

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  3. I bet MG is not in harm’s way, Maui is big enough to ‘hide’ out
    It’s like a fire in Bel-Air and back-east friends call to see if we’re ok

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      1. Thanks so much, guys! Got evacuated by Maui Police last night [I wanted to stay but they weren’t having it]. Spent the night in the car at Target parking lot with my wife. Woke up an hour ago, took a piss in the lot and drove us home. Fires have reduced …but… the winds are wild… so who knows what’s next….
        #SomeOfOurNicestTouristAreasAreBurnedOut….
        #[It’sProbablyNotFairButIBlameAllThisOnTheNCAASanctions]….

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      2. Once again a Target parking lot comes through!! Met my wife in one 21 years ago next month.

        Glad to hear you’re OK and hope your place survives, too.

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      5. Thanks so much, Karma! I can still see some flames —hope the crazy winds die down!
        #IWishIHadn’tSaid”IRegretHavingOnlyOneLifeToGiveForScott”….
        #[It’sAKarmaThing—You’dUnderstand]

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      6. It’s obvious the state of Hawaii lacks the resources to knock these fires down. Biden will spend in BLM hot-shot crews, the best trained in the world. It’s going to take a while to work out the logistics….Stay safe buddy!

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      8. “Spend” is okay too—
        [But, truthfully, emergency services here are way better than in my last stomping grounds…. Oakland/Berkeley]….

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  5. I bet Wolf can’t wait until Williams is out at USC. This TJ Simers act is tiresome. After Williams is gone not only will Wolf take credit but he will start up more on getting rid of Enfield.

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  6. Scott is well on his way to another “Razzy Award” for excellence in journalism. He has dominated the award like no other. Just look at the grin on all the fanboy’s faces.

    I would take pleasure in listening to Colin make mincemeat out of Scott in a football-related discussion.

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      2. Thank you, 67! Got to sleep in the car close to the Maui Airport –with planes flying overhead & roosters crowing all night…
        #ItWasSoCool

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  7. Robert Swan dead at 78. Very minor role in Hoosiers, introduced at the 4:20 mark here.

    If only more parents were like this. Instead, these days they blame the teacher or the coach. It’s never their little angel’s fault.

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    1. Thanks, John. I’ve never been that close to a major fire before [and that’s saying a lot —we lost our home in the Oakland fire —I drove us away from that one before we were ordered out —- there were actually tiny sparks in the air we were breathing as we loaded up the car —they burned your throat]….

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      2. Yep. Had no home — but showed up in Judge Obera’s court to do an E.R.I.S.A. preemption motion on a wage theft case Monday morning …
        #ITellThatStoryToMyKids5TimesAYear
        [When we finally saw the house I was surprised —I expected to see a burned up house, burned up car in the driveway, burned up garden —- but—-there was no house, no car, no garden —- only thing left was the chain to my heavy bag in the backyard]….

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  9. At least Cowherd is right a dead quarterback cannot win a super bowl. As for Donte, he did his job and got the commitment. It’s not his fault the kid is a flake. When the kid, who grew up in Southern California, finds out that there’s nothing two blocks away from the school in all directions, he’ll be homesick. Really a flip like this (before graduating high school) is good because it shows the true character of the kid. He’s not the type to keep his word on things of importance.

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    1. That’s harsh. Why can’t it be a case of “there’s no way in hell I’m starting as a freshman at USC when I KNOW I’ll start over these other bums at Oregon!” If he’s lacking in quickness to play corner at the D1 level then he’ll definitely start at safety or get more playing time at Oregon than over Zion, Beavers, Fegans and Hawkins. He’d have to wait at SC. That’s why the staff didn’t chase after him.

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  10. USC hoops is on NBA TV now. Collier looking really good, rest of team not so much.

    They are playing some Croatian or maybe a Greek team with the absolute worst looking uniforms ever (a light pink, with just a hint of chartreuse thrown in). USC down by 6 in second quarter.

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      1. Ha! The team they are playing is the one that Jokic played for back in the day, and has produced something like 15 NBA players. Several players the size of Jokic on the current team.

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  11. Dakoda really wanted to play for Oregon and the move to the Big 10 did seal the deal for them.

    It is becoming obvious that the pristine NIL policies at USC are not working for getting the best high school athletes, but maybe Riley has more confidence in using the transfer portal and bringing in proven talent.

    Let’s see how things shake out in the season. Performance on the field is what counts on the scoreboard.

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  12. Speaking of Colin (the master of the obvious), I heard Urban Meyer lie and had a revelation. At $1 billion, USC could take $500 million and bring the rest of the conference back while leveraging the automatic bid in the CFB as an incentive to help merge the PAC# network with a new media company that streams (that means having Apple and/or Amazon help produce the tv programming) and a linear partner to produce licensing to overseas viewers who might be interested in college programming. A win-win, especially if you can get the overseas licensing to some interested buyers in the Olympic sports programming part. With all the international athletes being interested in playing for west coast schools (especially with NIL for students) then you could create a monster that would generate $2 billion in revenue on a yearly basis.

    And USC has a connection to a wealthy sovereign nation fund who went to USC. Even Oregon’s Phil Knight would invest (to help keep his widdle school popular with their cross dressing) as well.

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    1. LIKED!…..but maybe Riley has more confidence in using the transfer portal and bringing in proven talent. Let’s see how things shake out in the season. Performance on the field is what counts on the scoreboard.

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  13. MG, glad your doing fine. Hey Wolfe get off Williams back, we had Martin as a coach. He has an personal vandetta against SC. I told you on this subject. Kept telling u guys there was going to be decommittments, look this happens every year. Like him or hate him, Wolfe is going to stir the spot, maybe his bonus comes from over centric Faks Gabby

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  14. — So my wife calls me about an hour ago frantically saying she is watching CNN and there is a big Maui fire and how is my Blog-friend doing?– So you got support everywhere you look, Michael

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    1. So nice. Thank you for that!
      We’re having “emergency” meetings in the clubhouse of my development –they started right after the “emergency” was over.
      btw, I thought we would wait the fire out last night by checking into a particular Maui Hotel on the beach but was told as I walked in, ” …we don’t take walk ins — you need to book on line.” I asked if it would be better if we booked a room a few days in advance of the next disaster and the receptionist said “that would be better.”
      #AlwaysBestToRememberToKeepASmileOnDuringCrisis…
      #…ButIt’sGettingHarder[BetTebowWishesHeCouldSayThat]

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      1. MG, I’ll bet that Maui Hotel has jacked up the per night rate of a regular room with an extra, 50% emergency, one time fire fee.

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  15. USC beats Jokic’s old team 76-73. Collier was excellent, Kobe Johnson great defense, Trojans beat a very experienced, much bigger, much older team.

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  16. We will be better than Oregon they might have PNike $$$$, but we have history, tradition, great players, n last but least better academics. I bet you Fields, Pleasant will transfer before or after next year. This college movement is for the birdse.

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  19. We are going to be a monster on defense. Listening to early reports Branch Shelby Curtis and Reshon will make in impact. Alexander Lucas Sullivan and others will step up, because we have better depth to keep the starters fresh for the 4th quarter. Who cares about recruiting it’s subjective. Just because you have a top 10 class, doesn’t gaurantee a Natty. 16 days left.

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