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USC Notes: How Do Early Commits Work Out?

Here is an early commitment story: In Sept., 2021, USC interim coach Donte Williams took commitments from cornerback Jett White (Class of 2025) and wide receiver Jason Robinson (Class of 2024).

How did it work out?

Robinson signed with Washington last month. White committed to Maryland today.

This is why when I hear people say Julian Lewis, the No. 1-ranked QB in the Class of 2026, is committed to USC, I don’t get too excited. Commitments are meaningless.

  • When Keith Wilkinson said last night his mentor, Tim Floyd, would have thrown a chair instead of his shoes in disgust over officiating, it reminded me of a better Floyd story involving a chair.

In 2009, Floyd was at Morongo Casino in Palm Desert when some women started fighting in the food court.

Floyd tried to break up the fight and a woman behind him was ready to clobber him with a chair before someone interceded at the last second.

“I didn’t see behind me,” Floyd told ESPN. “It was one of those deals where people were circling, chanting and cheering. It went on for 20 to 30 seconds before I walked up there. I was thinking someone would break it up but nobody would.”

The whole thing was captured on video but it looks like it has been deleted, unfortunately.

34 thoughts on “USC Notes: How Do Early Commits Work Out?”

  1. I’ll say it again, the most prudent way of breaking up a fight is to walk over to the biggest guy watching and whisper “somebody should break this up…”
    #50%SuccessRate

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    2. The most dangerous encounter is trying to break up a fight between a man and woman with the woman often turning on the ‘good Samaritan
      like “He’s a horrible man but he’s MY man”

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      1. Sgt. Sam Manley [a member of the famous or infamous “Hats” at LAPD] had a nice sized scar on his forehead [the result of a high heel shoe] which came from trying to protect a woman from her drunken husband …..

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  2. Early commitments don’t mean jack especially if it’s during their freshman or sophomore year. The recruit is using that school to get more NIL money now. My suggestion is to offer early summer of jr. year n evaluate to see is he committed to your program.

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    1. I know you have a soft spot in your heart for Donte, 7112, but in my opinion a lot of what he did “didn’t amount to jack”….
      #..ThatDoesn’tMeanHe’sNotANicePerson

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  5. MG, Donte didn’t teach them jack, so my evaluation of him as a coach he is not a real coach, Georgia is using his relationship with HS recruits to recruit only on the West coast? Yeah my tone regarding him as a person doesn’t change.

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    2. Starting to believe LR doesn’t really have major recruiting experience except for QBs and receivers. No DLs, no OL’s, no defensive players per se. When he ran outta Stoop’s players, the real LR was left standing there. Gotta go. Oh. If you’re a head coach with one of the worst defenses in the nation, and you must be persuaded / bullied to fire your DC and make other changes, there’s something really wrong.

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      2. USC has a really good bowl game where the team pulls together under a true-blue USC QB and another USC alum (Taylor Mays) turns the secondary into a decent group in six weeks and we are still focused on bashing the program???

        I was pretty sour at the end of the season. Said some things about Riley. There is no doubt that Riley made an immense mistake keeping Grinch and Donte and probably other defensive coaches. He also didnt reign in Caleb. He needed to learn from this season.

        But I am starting to think about next year and pretty sure that USC is in a much better position that anyone realizes and the program is in much better shape than we hear from Scott.

        Caleb Williams is an amazing athlete and can do some pretty special things, but is he really a great QB and team leader? Maybe not. Despite that, the USC offense was still among the top five in the country on many metrics. Next year, USC will have one of the best receiver rooms in the country, guaranteed. They are building the OL roster up internally, developing last year’s recruits. Paige, Noa, Pregnon, Monheim (assuming he returns), Banuelos, Raymond are going to be a more solid front. And they have three excellent tight ends coming in. Does anyone think Riley wont have another top 5 offense?

        So it comes down to defense. I really like the new defensive staff and I think they have filled some of the holes, except for needing more defensive line players. The defensive problem was mostly coaching and d-line not being big enough. The secondary is stocked with alot of good players. It all comes down to whether the d-line and linebackers will get developed enough to stop the run and put some pressure on the QB. Does anyone think they wont be a top 50 defense?

        Combine a top 5 offense with a top 50 defense and you have a team that is capable of beating anyone on their schedule. LSU has a new defensive staff and is losing their QB. Michigan is losing a ton of talent and probably their coach. Washington is losing their offensive line and QB. UCLA is a mess. Notre Dame doesnt look to be in better shape.

        Regarding the incoming class, it is just missing a few 5 stars. If we had just one 5 star athlete, it would be a top 12 class. Two big recruits and it ends up a top 10 class. The whole recruiting ranking process is kind of BS. We got alot of what we really needed. Some great OL recruits including the #1 interior line guy. A great tight end. A great d-line/edge guy in Fountain. A really good receiver and db. And some linebackers that are great athletes but need development.

        Most important, the team culture is strong. We got rid of the guys who are all selfish and think they are stars, but are not performing. The only player who I think is a real loss is Taj, and his shoes will be filled by the young talent.

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      4. gametv –Don’t get me wrong –I think we’ll be better next year [cuz I think we’ll play way better team ball]. The only point I’d quibble with is the “Top 5 Offense” remark. I’ve heard that point made till it’s coming out my ears. Number of of yards, points per game —whatever —the fact is Riley’s offense didn’t score as many points as Utah, Notre Dame, Washington, Oregon or UCLA.

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      5. And despite all the happy talk, the fact remains the ’24 schedule with the unprecedented long 2000-3000 mile conference play road trips is much harder than the 2023 schedule.

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      6. Gametv: You make some very good points. But, I don’t know if we will be a top 5 offense. I think Moss and the receivers are ready but were losing a good running back and the o line is inexperienced. And we are going to need a run stopper at nose tackle to complement the Bear. I really like the 340 pound guy from Houston but he will likely be looking for top NIL money and that is not us. Agree that the secondary should be much better.

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      7. I think that the offense should be good next year….much better than last year. I think that it will start looking more like the Oklahoma offenses under LR. We’ll see.

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      8. Have to admit that Holiday Bowl changed my perspective on this team 100%. I honestly think Caleb was a major problem, even though he is capable of some plays that noone else can make.

        he could never just get the ball out. he ran around forever and forced the o-line to block for 10 seconds. he probably was changing play calls so he could get stats. he was moody and self-centered. combine that with a defense that was lost and Riley probably lost the morale of most of the team as soon as they started losing.

        sure, there are questions on o-line, but i think they have more of the right body types and Hansen has been building them from scratch, not taking in transfers. that is the way to build an o-line. he had a really good class last year and they will be good this year. i’m pretty sure that getting rid of kingston and tarquin is a relief for Hansen.

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      9. Watch one quarter of an Oregon game and one quarter of a Washington game and then one quarter of an SC game on you tube from last year. You’ll see the difference. Nix and Penick get rid of the ball fast. The offense has a certain rythm to it. CW hangs on to the ball. That’s why Nix was sacked 5 times last year, Penick 10 times and CW 33 times.

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  8. Been watching the success recent Trojan Receivers are having in the NFL, so I went back to the 2019 USC-UCLA Box Score int he game Slovis threw for over 500 yards and Helton gave the game ball to Bohn. 4 receivers had over 100 yards including Tyler Vaughns, Michael Pittman, Amon-Ra St Brown and Drake London. Only CeeDee Lamb has more receptions than St. Brown and Pittman so far this year. Maybe Helton is actually the Offensive genius, not Riley.

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    1. Agree Yesterday: That was a tremendous receiving group. And all of them, except Vaughns, were tough as nails and blocked extremely well. Next year’s group should have as much talent as 2019 and we will see if Riley can exploit them. Shame what happened to Slovis. A great passer his Freshman year. Harrell’s offense didn’t protect the quarterback and he paid the price.

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