With the season approaching, I can guarantee you one thing Gary Patterson is doing is trying to coach up the secondary.

His pet position is safety and he knows the secondary is an issue. Too often with USC, the fanboy media just lists names and acts like everything will be great with the defensive backs as long as you say “Fight On” at the same time.

But have you looked closely?

Is USC going to worry teams if Kennedy Urlacher, Alex Graham and Prophet Brown are the candidates to start at one safety spot and nickel back?

Does it concern people that Chasen Johnson, who is expected to start at cornerback, was injured most of last season? Why isn’t Marcelles Williams, who started last season, considered a starter? Christian Pierce is considered the best safety on the team. Will he be able to impact games?

Remember that USC will face some good passing offenses this season. Patterson will try to disguise some weaknesses but he’s got a big challenge ahead.