Thoughts from the underground

Wow the 2011 season was fun!  The most enjoyable season since the 03 season. It is fun being the underdog.  The offense made great strides and ready got an indentity and played with a purpose. Coach Kiffin grew into a more mature play caller. Nothing showed  this more than the play calling at ND and Oregon. You saw Kiffin set up plays for later in the game use. He maximized the talents on the offense. On defense you saw a much improved pass rush and secondary. Linebacker play was also better. The Trojan D swarmed the ball. As a head coach I thought Kiffin did the best job in America. A very young team under probation with nothing to play for went into hostile environments where the opposing team did everything in their power to make it into a superbowl type event.(ND and Oregon) and the young Trojans looked unfazed!! Great job. How Kiffin got NO consideration for COY is crazy! He wasn’t even in the 5 final candidates.

Next year we lose Kahil and Perry and those are big loses but I expect the Trojans will be fine. I think Barkley will have a stellar season and the Trojans will complete at a high level. Kiffin has also done a great job at recruiting. The biggest challenge will be dealing with the target on their backs. The media will no longer overlook them and they will deal with outside distractions. I will make a more in depth preview closer to the start of the season when recruiting and depth charts are finalized.
I leave you with these great videos recapping the Trojans 2011 season..FIGHT ON!

 2011 USC vs Stanford

What a game!! It has been a long time since I was as emotionally involved with my Trojans but last night was an awesome atmosphere. It felt like the good old days and I mean 2002-2005. The energy and excitement could be felt miles away. As soon as I got off the freeway there were people walking to the Coliseum from miles away. There was no parking anywhere.That was indication number one that the stadium would be rocking….The crowd at the game was electric. I tell people all the time that nothing compares to college football and last night was the classic example. When Robely got the pick six…the Coliseum went nuts. We were jumping around high fiving everyone..it was crazy. A night to remember how fun a Trojan game can be…

There were alot of questionable plays in the game. I do not blame the refs for the loss but I certainly question some of the missed calls. An oblivious pass interference play in the end zone on Robert Woods,  a questionable personal penalty call on McDonald on the Farm’s game tying TD drive, the tauting call on Lee and of course the missed timeout at the end of regulation. How do you correct the call on Lee..”Listen son..I know you are 18 and are playing in front of 100k plus on national TV. You just made a play that put your team up late in the game. DONT SHOW THAT YOU CARE???”..I would know what to tell Lee regarding that play if I am coach Kiffin. When I walked out of the stadium last night I felt the Trojans were robbed. Completely robbed.  Now after emotions have settled, i still feel the same way but recognize that the Trojans also had their opportunities to win the game and they didnt seize them.  One thing I would say is that coach Kiffin needs to reign in his players mouth and his complaining. Leading into the game all we heard was the notre dame quit. When coach Kiffin tried to address some other player would tweet something..I really wanted coach to kill the talk. Does Kiffin have a point about the time out? Yes..but guess what coach? All the complaining will get you a written apology from the Pac 12..at best..and that’s it. You lost the game regardless…STOP BITCHING! let it go. Talk about your teams and how it rose to the challage. The players will look to you and your reaction for direction after this tough loss.

Offense: Woods was off early in the game and never seems right the whole game. Hard to critize the guy that has been your offense at times. Maybe the kid is tired. Kiffin should soften his load and take him off kickoffs and punt returns. You have alot of talnetd playmakers on the roster coach..use them before you burn out your best player. I thought that the offense went away from the run game for long streches in the game. They failed to use the middle of the field with their tight ends.  Of course Woods should downed the play in regulation with time running out..that was a bad decision.

Defense: I really dont have much to say for the defense other than congratulating them on an awesome game. Coach Kiffin (dad) did an excellent job. 2 sacks, 3 delays of game, 1 pick and multiple hurries and knock downs. Luck had been sacked 2 times all year..picked 4 times all year..Their offense was rolling huge nunbers on the offense and on the scoreboard. Yet the defense kept them way under their averages. They left the middle open for Luck scambles and ran out gas by the second overtime but my hats off to them. Great game…

Overall it was an exciting game. One that I will remember for a long time. Not so much the outcome but the energy, the excitment, the passion with which the players played that had nothing to play for but pride. I had not seen or felt that in a long time. Even towards the end of Pete’s era..that part of the game day experience was missing. Kiffen is still growing as a coach but if the last 2 weeks are any indication the program is headed in the right direction.  Coming off his most impressive game under the glare of College gameday..he had the players focused, prepared and ready to play. The kids played their hearts out last night and left it all on the field. That is the mark of a great coach. Some people will always have something to complain about but I for one am in Kiffins corner…fight on coach.

On a side note…Trojan post game show with Darrell Rideaux is terrible. I dont know what it is with former players in broadcasting but Petros and Darrell Rideaux are terrible when talking about Trojan football. It seems like they go out of their way to not be Trojan homers. Rideaux especially tries way too hard to by wordly..tough to listen too..

Fight On!! and the Buffaloes !!

 Well….do I have egg on my face. Coach Kiffin proved alot of people wrong(me at the top of the list) and had his most impressive win as head coach of the trojans. Notre Dame did everything but wear the green jerseys: First night game in 20+ years, biggest recruiting trip ever at notre dame, handed out towels, played Ozzy before 3rd downs…and yet the fighting irish did very little fighting. USC looked very prepared.

Offense:

They  kept the notre dame defense off balance almost the entire game. The game was swinging a little bit at the end of the first half and the start of the second half but USC kepting churning those first downs and surprisingly with the run game.  The tight ends played big, I saw Farmer in the game and he didnt get the ball!!!, as a matter of fact it was a fake toss sweep and Woods was open at the back of the end zone. Excellent playcalling by Kiffin.  Woods had a very quiet 10+ catch, 100+ yards game, 2 Touchdown game!! Curtis and Tyler had a great game as well..but the game ball goes to Barkley. His best game he has ever played as a Trojan so far. He has had better passing numbers, better touchdown numbers..but never has he played as mistake free football as he did last night. He looked every bit the 3 year starter. Great decision after great decision. The best stat line of the game..2 penalities and no turnovers…

Defense:

What can you say about a unit that has been beat up since last season. Pretty much shut out their star receiver who was bigger and stronger than our corners. I would have never believed it if you told me that before the start of the game. They played discipline, controlled, smart and opportunistic football. A heads up play on all three turn overs. Starlings fumble return for a touchdown was tremendous..a 14 pt switch..most likely. Lady luck was not with the irish last night in south bend..Again..a heady play by a 5th year senior linebacker in the second fumble. And 5 8 Robely undecuts the route against 6 3 Floyd..wow..The defense faltered a little on the start of the second half but held together at the end.

The only glaring blemish was the kickoff return for a touchdown. That could have been much bigger than it was. Huge momentum switch.

Congrats to the entire coaching staff and the players on a great win. Both Kiffins and Barkley have been getting killed and I very happy for them. I still think Kiffin should get an experienced OC and that the defense should be simplified but for one night they looked like the Trojans of old.

I often get asked if not Kiffin who? And I have always answered that even though Kiffin has his flaws he is the right coach at USC at the right time. He might be the best long term answer but what program on probation, barely ranked gets College Game Day to come their house??? Kudos to coach Kiffin…Beat the Farm!!

USC vs notre dame

USC faces the Irish this weekend in the arguably greatest rivalry in college football. Before I get    into what I think are the keys to a USC victory I thought it would be a great time to evaluate your 2011 Trojans.

Defense:

This unit was highly criticized last season and seemed to improve this season. Although last Thursday’s seemingly great performance had more to do with the awful performance from the Cal QB than a great performance from USC’s defense.  USC has great athletes on the defensive side of the football. True, they are young and thin at certain spots such as linebackers and the secondary. However, I do not think that is the biggest issue. The problem with USC’s defense continues to be the scheme and the play calling. Monte Kiffin might be a legend in the NFL but I will repeat that the difference between college and the NFL is huge. How many coaches can you name that had success in both? Coach Carroll’s successful performance as a defensive coordinator in both college and the NFL is rare. USC’s biggest problems are that the players do not know where to go and where to be. Receivers and backs are WIDE open most of the time. Monte is so scared of the big play the secondary plays 10-20 yards off the ball. Linebackers do not plug holes on running plays opening the defense up to 20 yard gains. Does USC have the players to be a top defense? Maybe not. But when coach Carroll arrived in 2001 he had less to work with and he made that defense look scary good.  The difference? Coach Carroll had about 6 plays..that was it. Players were told not think but just do what your jobs requires. Their superior athletic ability took over and viola..a top 10 defense. Coach Kiffin needs to follow that mold. The question is..can a 30 year veteran of the NFL suddenly change and adjust? Don’t hold your breath…

Offense:

As much as the defense is under performing..the offense is not doing much better. Ok..in the stats it looks like they are. But the USC offense has even more athletes and yet also suffers from the same poor coaching dilemma. The offense continues to suffer from a lack of identity. What is USC on offense? A power running team? West coast? Pro form? Get the ball to Woods? Yep..that seems to be it. The whole offense seems geared to get the ball to Woods. If he covered..look for Lee. If he is covered…Were doomed. Someone please explain to me how Woods could be bracketed by both safeties..which means he is TRIPLED covered and someone else not be wide open? Don’t mention Lee since he was not wide open, he at least had the other corner on him. I mean WIDE open..A tight end over the middle? A receiver or running back on  a quick slant? Either Kiffin cannot adjust to the defense or Barkely simply cannot go through his progressions..It is most likely a combination of both and that is BAD NEWS for USC.  Please do not get me started on the Farmer and Baxter packages? How many times has Baxter or Farmer came into the game and NOT  gotten the ball? How many times have the actually ran anything other than a play wide? Those formations/packages are the biggest giveaways I have seen since Hackett ran the tank formation. How could a defense not know what you are doing?  To quote a knowledgeable USC observer “Most college offenses rely on 2 fundamental principles:  Multiple plays from the same formation and Multiple formations for the same play.  Multiple plays from the same formation lets you set up future plays.  ”Oh they’re in formation X with these people.  They’ve hit us with a blast every time so far.  I’m going to cheat against the blast and Oh Crap Play action he’s going over my head!”.  Multiple formations for the same play lets your players do something they’re familiar with and master the play without telling the defense what you’re doing.  Our offense is neither.  It seems the me the closest thing Kiffin has to a philosophy is that he’s not going to worry about whether the defense knows what the play is or where it’s going, he’s going to try to be cute with motion to get favorable matchups for his star athletes.  I have news for him, Robert Woods isn’t fooling anybody when he lines up as a running back, motioning out to the slot.  Cal made sure to mark him every time he stepped on the field regardless of where he lined up.  Moreover, this kind of offense is confusing for your own players.  They don’t OWN any plays, they don’t have anything they can fall back on when they’re in trouble… they have a lot of toys and no idea how to use them. “.. The problem with Kiffin is that he is too green for the job he has. He has not been a coordinator long before he got a head coaching gig. It is very tough being the offensive coordinator at a big time university like USC…harder when you are young and inexperienced. It is even harder to be a head coach at a big time university like USC and even harder when you are young and experienced like Kiffin…and it is almost impossible to do both. I don’t know many if any coaches at big time college football that do double duty…much less one as young and inexperienced as Kiffin. I hope that part of the maturation process this off season will be the realization by coach Kiffin that he needs an experienced OC. Doesn’t mean Kiffin cannot be involved and the offense have his mark and influence but someone else needs to take the reins. It is better in the long and short run for coach Kiffin and for USC. Don’t hold your breath…

Notre Dame

I have to admit, I don’t have high hopes. USC has not given me any confidence even with their 5-1 record. Notre Dame’s offense is perfect for USC’s defense. Notre Dame does not have big play capability. They do not have burners on offense. Instead they rely on taking 5-8 yards at a time with big Michael Floyd, the tight ends and a solid running game. With USC playing 10 yards off the ball, Notre Dame should not have much trouble executing their game plan. When they get into the red zone we have NO answer for Floyd. A simple fade to the corner should be successful nearly 100% of the time.

On offense, I think Cal had the blue print and to some degree Minnesota in the second half. Simply take away Woods, keep an eye on Lee and don’t worry too much about the rest. Doesn’t matter if the rest get an occasional pass or even a big play because Kiffin and Barkely will always look to Woods no matter if the defense is giving them other options.  Minnesota stayed in the game because they simply focused on Woods and Barkley simply cannot go through his progression to see that the tight end was WIDE open…or that Brice Butler had beaten his man by twenty yards. Against Cal..Barkely went to Woods no matter the coverage. He had to throw the ball in tight coverage and couldn’t do so…but again, tight ends, backs out of the backfield, other receivers SHOULD be WIDE open.  News flash to Barkley and Kiffin…take what the defense gives you.  You can win with Woods getting 1 catch..if the other receivers are given a chance.

Keys to a USC victory:

Take what the Notre Dame gives you.

Use Woods as a decoy until the defense goes back to reasonable coverage on Woods

Use your tight ends

Use Baxter and Farmer in regular formations and not special packages. A wheel route might be a good idea.

On defense, play bump and run man. Just have McDonald double on Floyd.

Blitz like crazy from all directions and formations.

Predication

SC 30 ND 28

Fight On!!

   USC lost their 2004 today in the midst of coach Tressel going down at Ohio  State. The NCAA had no smoking gun against USC. There was no email, phone call, receipt that showed that USC and the football coached knew that Reggie was on the take. Should they have known? Maybe. But the NCAA could not prove that USC did know. What was the excuse that the NCAA gave when they refused to sanction Auburn in light of Cam Newton’s father selling the services of his son? They could not prove that Cam or the University of Auburn knew anything about it. Well, this is not the case with Tressell and OSU. There are emails that show that Tressell knew of the transgressions. So what know NCAA? Does OSU get the death penetly? Sure seems that would be apporiate given the evidence and the pattern of discpline set forth by the NCAA…which is why the complete opposite will happen and OSU will get a slap on the wrist in comparison to USC. The NCAA is a fraud and a mafia.

So now that USC lost it’s 2004 championship..where does that leave the legacy of Pete Carroll? He was once talked about as the greatest USC coach in history…surpassing even the great John McKay…now well…I think comparsions to John Robinson seem more appropriate. Nothing wrong with that….

The NCAA suspended 5 Ohio State players including the star quarterback for 5 games NEXT season for improper benefits accepted THIS season. How ridiculous is that?  Let’s look at the NCAA scorecard…USC’s Reggie Bush’s parents accept improper benefits and USC gets hit with 5 year probation, loses 30 scholarships and a 2 year bowl ban.  Cam Newton’s dad admits to shopping his son and NO punishment from the NCAA.  5 players for Ohio State get caught accepting improper benefits this season and get a five game suspension next season. Some are juniors and may not even come back next season. Can they play in the upcoming Sugar Bowl???of course!! The NCAA does not want to kill ratings.  2 things jump out from the Ohio State suspension.

1) They were caught selling their school merchandise including Pryor selling his 2008 Big 10 championship ring. One guy got a tattoo in exchange for a autograph. Why is this a violation? Pryor owns the ring…why can’t he sell it?

2) Why in the world would they be suspended next season and not the very next game which in this case would be the sugar bowl??

The NCAA has proven their uneven. unjust and many times silly application and punishment of their rules.

USC football was very different this year and it goes beyond the change in coaching staff.  The energy around the team was different..had a different vibe. Let’s face it, we expected a tough season. For the first time in a long time, we went into games such as Oregon and Stanford and expected to lose and would be happy if it was a close loss. It goes beyond the change in coaching staff because USC still had and has a ton of talent but very little depth. The players were poorly coached the last couple of season prior to 2010 and thus we knew they would struggle.  Compound that with a new coaching staff and you have the 2010 season. I wonder if coach Kiffin would have taken his “Dream Job” if he knew then what he knows now. Pete did him no favors with his lazy recruiting and poorly selections in assistant coaches the last couple of years in his USC coaching career. The lack of depth falls directly on coach Carroll.

Offense:

The offense started off pretty good and seemed to get better each week. Barkely was playing much better and the running game was strong. The offense was getting yards in big chunks and putting up alot of points. They were doing so well that in the Oregon game I thought the offense could actually keep up with the ducks. Well, the offense did keep up with the ducks for about 2.5 quarters and then it hit a wall….Hard….and never recovered. Barkely regressed big time. The Notre Dame game was the low point of the season for the offense. A bad defense looked like the Steelers Iron Curtain. It got to a point where I thougth a turn over by the defense was not enough….they needed to get the turn over and score because the offense could do nothing. 5 false starts in that game! The offense needs alot of work and it starts with the play calling. Coach Kiffin needs to make mid season adjustments. The players need to play to their potential an execute the game plan.

Grade: C

Defense:

The defense started off as bad as any defense I have ever seen in my life. There was poor tackling  and poor decisions. The worst part was the play calling and schemes. Guys were WIDE open, the hole for the running backs were HUGE. The middle of the field was always WIDE open. This unit improved immensely and was actually pretty good towards the end of the season. They were forcing a ton of turn overs. Unfortunately, they could still not stop a game winning drive. This unit has a ton of depth issues. The front seven needs alot of bodies. I was happy to see the improvement but I am nervous about the future.

Grade: C

Special Teams:

They had some great moments with Woods returning kicks but the kicking game is bad. Your kicker cannot make a field goal past 25 yards. The two point conversions were BAD! Why go for so many? The two point attempt against ucla was embrassing. Up and down season for special teams.

Grade: C-

Coaching

Coach Kiffin and his staff came into a tough situation. For the first half of the season I thought they did an outstanding job considering the circumstances. Keeping the team motivated and playing hard the whole game. Last season you saw players give up Pete Carroll. The standford game comes to mind in particular. That team gave up. However, the 2010 team that had less to play for never did. The closet they came to giving up was the Oregon State game. For the most part these are the same players from last season. That says alot about the coaching staff and the great job by  coach Kiffin. That being said, I think coach Kiffin still has a long ways to go as a coach. He is a young guy and lacks the experience of coaching in different situations, it goes beyond X’s and O’s. It is a feel for the season, the players and moods. That only comes from experience, so we might have to suffer through his maturing process. However, he needs to get an experienced OC. Someone that knows about midgame, midseason adjustments.

As for the defense, the jury is still out on Monte. Yes, he is a legend in the NFL and re-invented defense with his tampa 2 scheme. The key word is “NFL”. Alot of NFL legends came down to the collegiate level and did not display the genius they displayed in the NFL. Bill Walsh comes to mind at Standford. We have seen 2 season of Monte on the college level. One at Tennessee and one at USC.  Neither season was impressive. Obviously it takes time to adjust to the college level and for the players to learn the system. The question is…is the NFL Tampa 2 defense suitable for the college level? Can a 70+ year old coach adjust his schemes and coaching methods and make the transition from dealing with men to dealing with kids???

Grade: B

…Last Note on Carrol

The ESPN 30 for 30 episode on the Pony Express (SMU) and the story of how that school got the death penalty was very good. I though it was funny that right after it debuted ESPN showed the Heisman ceremony with Cam Newton winning considering all the allegations around him. However, I was disappointed that when the show finished and was rolling the credits they were showing clips of more recent pay for play scandals….and of course USC and Reggie were featured. Pete Carroll did not look good in those clips. I thinking it goes to show that his tenure will be forever tarnished. He was great and will be remembered for this great accomplishments but his legacy will be tarnished. The longer USC takes to bounce back from sanctions the more his legacy will be tarnished. Carroll should be Kiffin’s biggest supporter to save that legacy.  Carroll went from the Tom Osbourne, Ara Parseghian realm of coaches to the Barry Switzer realm of coaches. Sad really. A friend of mine who is a fanatical support of Carroll refuses to lay the blame of the scandal on Pete and instead insists that it was Garretts fault. I do not take any of the blame away from Garrett but the Carroll is the man in charge of the football program. The scandal falls at his feet.

The Trojans lost another heart breaker last night. The offense played great and has improved significantly since the start the first game of the season. Matt Barkley has followed his poorest games of the games of the season with two of his best. The penalties on the offense side has been becoming less of an issue as the season progress. Most importantly I think Kiffin has grown as an offensive coordinator. He has taken what the defense gives him. Against Washington…he decided to ride Bradford and he had a career day. Knowing Stanford was better against the run he decided to ride Barkley and Woods and they had a career day.  That is smart coaching. The biggest evidence of Kiffins maturity as a play caller came on a play that was not successful.   Kiffin ran the wildcat over and over again…sometimes with success and sometimes with no success. However, in a crucial part of the game…he went into the wildcat formation and passed to an open Havilli. He dropped it but it was a great call set up on game long.  The offense has played well enough to be 6-0…the defense..huh! not so much.

The problem with the defense is not so much lack of depth or poor tackling. Sure that plays a part..but the biggest issue is lack of being in the position to make the play. The other team is not breaking tackles or running past tired players…they are making plays with guys WIDE OPEN….with defensive backs breaking containment so bad that a simple off tackle play goes for 20 yards..why because the DB bit on the inside handoff fake… and left his area of containment completely open. That is poor coaching. Your job as a coach is to put your players in position to make a play. Monte Kiffin is not doing that at all. Couple that with poor tackling, lack of depth and lack of discipline and you have a defense that is as bad I can remember.  Dumb penalties by #17 and #54. This defense gives up yards in huge chunks.  An offense always has the upper hand because they know what they are going to do…a defense has to react and guess correctly. As a defense your job is to make the offense predictable and one dimensional. That is why the goal of the defense is getting an offense to 3rd and 5 or worse. That makes the offense predicable. However, with this defense..the offense can tell you the play they are going to run and they would still get the first..

The defense is clearly confused..Monte needs to make the defensive scheme as simple as possible. Take advantage of the speed and quickness of the players..don’t make them think so much.

Final note….In 2000 a coach came to USC and brought with him a “genius” offensive coordinator. He let that genius run that part of the game plan. The head coach took care of the defensive side.  We saw the defense get better and better as the season progressed. We also saw offense progress into LAST place in the pac ten..all with the same personal that was FIRST in offense the year before..We all know what happened the following season..

Sound a little like this season only with the roles of offense and defense reversed??? Maybe…I hope so and I hope the story repeats itself..( grasping as straws? Hey I have to try and see the positive!)

I think that the penalties were very harsh considering the evidence. The question was did USC know or should have known. Maybe they should have known when they saw Reggie’s parents at the bowl games staying in expensive hotels…the NCAA says that high profile athlete’s require that much more attention but has always said that every athlete should be treated the same. I will point out that although USC gets compared to Miami and Alabama in punishment…those schools involved boosters which are directly tied to the school. Charles Woodson who won the Heisman at Michigan..and Chris Webber who played basketball at UM admitted in court under oath that they took over 300k in payments from boosters while at UM..the punishment was not even close to USC.
However, in the end I think it was USC arrogance that did them in. Garrett’s comments just typified USC  attitude towards the NCAA investigation…They thought and acted as though they were above the law…this really tarnishes Pete’s stay at USC…did he know? I don’t know but his move to the NFL looks very suspicious. Reggie gets a new car and registers it with USC compliance and no one asks where he got it.  Joe Mcknight gets a new car from a dealer who registers the domain joemcknight.com…this time USC sits the player out as they figure out where and how he got the car…Pete on the other hand insists…he plays in the bowl game…practically calls out Mike Garrett in the post game interview. Pete says he knew nothing of the Micheal’s and Lake’s deals and yet he requests 10 internships at the new company…did he know??? maybe not…but to me it seems maybe he did not want to know..so he closed his eyes to the obvious..USC basketball has issues with Rodney Gilroy in the past and when the #1 HS basketball player comes knocking at USC with Rodney in tow…you would think that would send out HUGE red flags…Yes…I realize I just contradicted my opening statements..I am not sure how I feel about the sanctions and Pete…I feel terrible with the kids…I felt terrible for Taylor Mays,Matt Barkley, Stephon Johnson, Allen Bradford and Arron Corp before this because I feel Pete really did them a dis-service this past season…now I feel for all the current players who were in junior high when this all happened….Was it worth it?? Yes because it was an awesome time and Pete showed what can happen…I just wish I had more respect for Pete…in the end the standard continues to be McKay..Thanks for the memories Pete..USC football will recover…sooner than most people think…Fight On!!!

USC welcomed Lane Kiffin as the new head coach of USC yesterday. If he wasn’t coming with that all-star staff I would be very disappointed. However, with Coach O, Monte Kiffin, possibly Chow and Davis…WOW how can you be against it? I would say that a veteran offensive coordinator will be very important. I do not think that play calling will be an issue if Kiffin is the one calling the plays. Rather it is the lack of experience in big games and a young coach tendencies not to break tendencies and thus becoming predictable to experienced defensive coordinators.  Young Kiffin still needs to grow in this area.

In terms of recruiting, often times when Kiffin was here he was regarded as the second best closer next to Pete. All this talk about recruiting violations is a little bit premature.I do not remember any allegations against USC or Kiffin in particular while at USC in terms of recruiting. My take is that Kiffin needed to make a splash in the SEC because he was regarded as young coach in a tough conference. He went over board to show that he was more than able to complete in what regarded as the best football conference in college football. He went overboard…granted. Somehow I do not see that being an issue in the Pac X. If anything I feel that this signals that USC is pretty confident that the NCAA will not come down hard on the program in terms of violations.

The thing that I find interesting is that Chow and Davis are even considering coming back and being under Kiffin. I heard that Kiffin and his style and appointment to OC directly led to Chow and Davis walking away. I heard they could not work under a brat like Kiffin….The more and more we found out about Pete the more it seems Pete had more to do with it than Kiffin.

In the end I think it is a great hire as a whole.This would be a top tier staff. If Chow, Davis and Dat come in to round out the staff I would call this a HOME RUN by USC.