Scathing Article in The Athletic

Michael Connolly

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Worth a read for anyone with a subscription. The most upsetting part of this article is that it is all seems true and fair.

Bohn's administration needs to get this under control with a home run hire or we're screwed. One anonymous source mentions Franklin in the article. But we will see.
 

Shrapper

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Xs and Os are fine and all, but when it comes to great colleges coaches, they can do two things very well:

  1. Develop their players. Coach them up. PC had this. You can watch kids coming in with raw talent and potential develop into superstars on the field during their tenure at USC. It was impossible not to see that development from game-to-game, season-to-season; it was exciting to watch them develop on the field before our very eyes. Helton and his staff lacked this ability and it showed on the field and in the draft. If anything, players regressed while being coached by Helton and his staff. The next coach must posses this attribute above all else in my opinion.

  2. Recruit. Scouring four and five stars is easy, but convincing them to believe in your vision and enroll is another matter entirely.
 

ScottSchrader

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Worth a read for anyone with a subscription. The most upsetting part of this article is that it is all seems true and fair.

Bohn's administration needs to get this under control with a home run hire or we're screwed. One anonymous source mentions Franklin in the article. But we will see.

What most fail to realize when writing articles for clicks, is USC has taken care of pretty much all issues that plagued the program, except the head coach part.

I didn’t read the article, but it would’ve read like this for me….blah, blah, blah, blah.

We’ve been writing about all the ineptness at USC for years. It’s no secret to those paying attention.
 

TrojanHorseshoe

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We’ve been writing about all the ineptness at USC for years. It’s no secret to those paying attention.
Yeah, but having the national media actually call them out puts pressure on them to do the right thing moving forward and keeps them honest. World-class slime ball Nikias did a hell of a job being the man behind the curtain during his tenure.
 

ScottSchrader

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Yeah, but having the national media actually call them out puts pressure on them to do the right thing moving forward and keeps them honest. World-class slime ball Nikias did a hell of a job being the man behind the curtain during his tenure.

I believe Mike Bohn and Brandon Sosna are doing exactly what they planned and the media attention is simply for fans enjoyment.

An empty Coliseum has far more impact than an article written in the Athletic lol
 

SCthe1

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I just read it, Antonio and Bruce Feldman did a great job here, they were spot on as far as I am concerned.
 
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HectorSpectre

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Yeah, but having the national media actually call them out puts pressure on them to do the right thing moving forward and keeps them honest. World-class slime ball Nikias did a hell of a job being the man behind the curtain during his tenure.

I don't think any of these talking heads is telling USC anything it doesn't already know far better (and for far longer) than the writer(s), nor are they providing any additional impetus/pressure necessary to deal with it.

IMO Bohn firing CH was a sure indication that they're already on it at HH.

At least I certainly hope so, otherwise exactly what was/is the point?
 

The Great One

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I believe Mike Bohn and Brandon Sosna are doing exactly what they planned and the media attention is simply for fans enjoyment.

An empty Coliseum has far more impact than an article written in the Athletic lol
I've said it in my other post: Bohn and Sosna are not getting enough credit for what they've done. The Helton cuffs are off. Now they can do what they have visioned in the first place.

As far as article is concerned, it is quite spot on. Good read for people that are not aware of the five-alarm fire USC football had been for the past 11 years. But nothing the fans don't know already.
 

SCBoogie

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I just read it, Antonio and Bruce Feldman did a great job here, they were spot on as far as I am concerned.
They are just reporting what we all know. SS and Marc have been reporting and posting this stuff for 2 years. This was an easy article to write as the data was on SC Scoop to snag. We need to turn the page, make a great hire if necessary (DW Yet TBD), go get CC and start anew.
 

ScottSchrader

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I don't think any of these talking heads is telling USC anything it doesn't already know far better (and for far longer) than the writer(s), nor are they providing any additional impetus/pressure necessary to deal with it.

IMO Bohn firing CH was a sure indication that they're already on it at HH.

At least I certainly hope so, otherwise exactly what was/is the point?

While Brandon Sosna doesn’t offer great details of what he and Mike’s plans for the football program are, I’ve spent enough time talking to Brandon to where it left zero doubt how intolerable USC not winning and not winning on a grand scale is.

It’s 100% not going to continue on the current Athletic Director’s watch in my opinion. All of the words I’ve heard from Mike and Brandon have resulted in actions. That’s why I have little doubt about where the program is headed.

Obviously this head coaching hire is by far the biggest decision they will make. I just have little interest in reading about how awful s**t has been at USC. We kinda know, right? Haha
 

BeachFAN

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What most fail to realize when writing articles for clicks, is USC has taken care of pretty much all issues that plagued the program, except the head coach part.

I didn’t read the article, but it would’ve read like this for me….blah, blah, blah, blah.

We’ve been writing about all the ineptness at USC for years. It’s no secret to those paying attention.
Scott.. It's a great observational encompassing read that's worth the $2.99/mo for access. True, it's obvious stuff followers of the USC program, and I'm certain to wears.com staff writers, but i think articles by institutions that aren't primarily focused on USC itself, that point out the complete and utter mess that is the football program help to institute change (perhaps Plaschke's article helped to end the CH era?).

There are more than a dozen accounts of former coaches from the program, HS coaches and parents basically saying that Oregon is the king of the West now and that any new coach will encounter a potential multi year re-build due to the fact that the foundational elements of the program have crumbled. Sure USC still has sizzle, but the steak and potatoes are missing. Ugh. Fingers crossed the administration doesn't mess this up and decides to open up the purse strings instead of being their traditional "thrifty" approach to bargain shopping for a new coach.

The good news is that a homerun coaching hire in the wild wild west new NIL era, allows the USC program to be fixed in a matter of months. Of course the same be said of literally ANY D1 CFB program and boosters as well that have the $$$ to spend.
 

HectorSpectre

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While Brandon Sosna doesn’t offer great details of what he and Mike’s plans for the football program are, I’ve spent enough time talking to Brandon to where it left zero doubt how intolerable USC not winning and not winning on a grand scale is.

It’s 100% not going to continue on the current Athletic Director’s watch in my opinion. All of the words I’ve heard from Mike and Brandon have resulted in actions. That’s why I have little doubt about where the program is headed.

Obviously this head coaching hire is by far the biggest decision they will make. I just have little interest in reading about how awful s**t has been at USC. We kinda know, right? Haha

100% happy agree. Good to hear.
 
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B1GTROJAN

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Scott.. It's a great observational encompassing read that's worth the $2.99/mo for access. True, it's obvious stuff followers of the USC program, and I'm certain to wears.com staff writers, but i think articles by institutions that aren't primarily focused on USC itself, that point out the complete and utter mess that is the football program help to institute change (perhaps Plaschke's article helped to end the CH era?).

There are more than a dozen accounts of former coaches from the program, HS coaches and parents basically saying that Oregon is the king of the West now and that any new coach will encounter a potential multi year re-build due to the fact that the foundational elements of the program have crumbled. Sure USC still has sizzle, but the steak and potatoes are missing. Ugh. Fingers crossed the administration doesn't mess this up and decides to open up the purse strings instead of being their traditional "thrifty" approach to bargain shopping for a new coach.

The good news is that a homerun coaching hire in the wild wild west new NIL era, allows the USC program to be fixed in a matter of months. Of course the same be said of literally ANY D1 CFB program and boosters as well that have the $$$ to spend.
Is that a paid advertisement of TOS?
 

HectorSpectre

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Oregon is king of jackshit. When SC is right it doesn't matter in the least what the eleven dwarves are doing.

Probably true but we're gonna have to prove it now.

Lots has changed since it was USC and the 11 dwarfs. With the payouts being shared evenly, USC preeminence is no longer necessarily a given. That payout-sharing move is an agreement that has served everyone well but USC.

In any case, we're gonna have to earn our preeminence back the hard way.
 

ScottSchrader

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Scott.. It's a great observational encompassing read that's worth the $2.99/mo for access. True, it's obvious stuff followers of the USC program, and I'm certain to wears.com staff writers, but i think articles by institutions that aren't primarily focused on USC itself, that point out the complete and utter mess that is the football program help to institute change (perhaps Plaschke's article helped to end the CH era?).

There are more than a dozen accounts of former coaches from the program, HS coaches and parents basically saying that Oregon is the king of the West now and that any new coach will encounter a potential multi year re-build due to the fact that the foundational elements of the program have crumbled. Sure USC still has sizzle, but the steak and potatoes are missing. Ugh. Fingers crossed the administration doesn't mess this up and decides to open up the purse strings instead of being their traditional "thrifty" approach to bargain shopping for a new coach.

The good news is that a homerun coaching hire in the wild wild west new NIL era, allows the USC program to be fixed in a matter of months. Of course the same be said of literally ANY D1 CFB program and boosters as well that have the $$$ to spend.

Talking to high school coaches is a big part of what I do. There’s zero doubt USC had lost the trust of a vast majority of them, many have done what they can to steer their kids away from USC. That is a fact.

But any prep coach who thinks it will take USC two years to rebuild is simply ignorant. They’re fanboys half the time themselves. I know them personally, so this isn’t a guess. They enjoy the attention Alabama, Clemson, Ohio St. Mario and staff etc. shower them with. They have intoxicating environments at those schools. I’m sure I would enjoy that love too.

USC has the foundation built firmly from the bottom up, it now needs a strong and competent leader. As you posted in last paragraph, it’ll take a few months if that depending on who’s hired. But this hire absolutely needs to be a grand slam, not just a homerun.

I had prep coaches contact me the day after Clay was fired telling me USC needs to get back recruiting their kids who are committed to other schools.
 
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uscvball

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What a lot of writers out there don't seem to connect is that the program started a nose dive in 2010....same year Max became President. That's not a coincidence. Heritage Hall and the BoT are intrinsically linked. The only independent element in the athletic department is the budget and even that requires oversight.

USC has made a firm commitment to something that has nothing to do with football. A "great hire" isn't going to un-ring that bell.
 

xuscx

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I can not say Helton was a bad hire, at the time it made sense, not every hire will work. The question is why they kept him for so many years. He had no legacy to show he could actually coach. We all saw it about year 2. For example the Ducks fired their coach after one bad season.
 

CoronaTrojanFan

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Oregon is king of jackshit. When SC is right it doesn't matter in the least what the eleven dwarves are doing.
While I would agree that Oregon has won a good number of games in the past 15 years but has never finished the deal of winning a National Championship, IMHO it would be folly to not acknowledge that they have a program that is certainly the equal to or perhaps better viewed by the rest of the country than USC's. Association with Nike, a flashy/trendy image with their fancy Nike threads and facilities and recent success has made them a serious competitor for anybody in the Pac12 from a recruiting and winning standpoint.

Not saying that USC could not return to a level of prominence with the right HC hire but to ignore the inroads into SoCal recruiting Oregon has made or to not acknowledge at least some measure of recent success on the field by the Ducks is not dealing with the competitive reality of the Pac12 these days.
 

TrojanFireHorse12

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While I would agree that Oregon has won a good number of games in the past 15 years but has never finished the deal of winning a National Championship, IMHO it would be folly to not acknowledge that they have a program that is certainly the equal to or perhaps better viewed by the rest of the country than USC's. Association with Nike, a flashy/trendy image with their fancy Nike threads and facilities and recent success has made them a serious competitor for anybody in the Pac12 from a recruiting and winning standpoint.

Not saying that USC could not return to a level of prominence with the right HC hire but to ignore the inroads into SoCal recruiting Oregon has made or to not acknowledge at least some measure of recent success on the field by the Ducks is not dealing with the competitive reality of the Pac12 these days.
They are not unlike the Mike Bellotti years but bigger because of the Nike money and USC being down. It will turn around but it will take longer then expected to top Oregon on the recruiting trail. Until USC starts crushing them on both sides. That means matching them in terms of football spending. With the aforementioned right HC.

“He had guys on the staff who he let not recruit at all,” one of the former assistants said. “He got away from what USC is.”


So essentially Hugs was a big liar, when it came to understanding what USC stood for...interesting. He allowed coaches on his staff to NOT do their jobs (the most important part). And the old AD office and co were totally fine with that. Big yikes. But I knew all that.
 
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AMLTrojan

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I can not say Helton was a bad hire, at the time it made sense, not every hire will work. The question is why they kept him for so many years. He had no legacy to show he could actually coach. We all saw it about year 2. For example the Ducks fired their coach after one bad season.


Exactly.

Hiring Kiffin was lazy. Bringing in Sark was even lazier. And hiring Clay signaled, "We're not even trying anymore -- I see an adult in the room, let's go!"

Zero effort, zero "out-of-the-box" thinking, zero thinking ahead to how the game is evolving vs. trying to recreate the Pete Carroll era.

Haden is allowed a mulligan, but not three. After the CLK experiment, we should have either let CEO try to run with it for a bit before going in a completely new direction, or make the drastic shift then and bring in a total outsider (e.g. Petersen). By the time the Sark experiment fell apart, we were a laughingstock and probably had at best B-level options... but B-level coaching is far better than what we got with C-level Clay Helton.
 
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GilbertAZTrojan

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Scott,

While there are many VERY qualified coaches out there who could be really solid hires, do you feel that there is ANYONE out there, other than Urban Meyer, that would strike as much fear into the rest of the PAC-12 as an Urban Meyer to USC announcement would be?

I posted before that I would love for USC to be a safe and soft landing spot for Urban after getting beaten up in Jacksonville. He'd come in with a tremendous chip on his shoulder looking to prove that he's still one of the best football coaches in the world despite his disaster of a time in the NFL. He could keep Donte as his Associate HC and mentor him to take over for him in 4-5 years after he comes to USC and wins 2-3 National Titles. Just my thoughts and wishes.
 

FVTrojan

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What most fail to realize when writing articles for clicks, is USC has taken care of pretty much all issues that plagued the program, except the head coach part.

I didn’t read the article, but it would’ve read like this for me….blah, blah, blah, blah.

We’ve been writing about all the ineptness at USC for years. It’s no secret to those paying attention.
I think maybe the only twist or nuance the article made above and beyond what you normally see covered here about coaching and development, prior assistants being left off the hook for recruiting, Helton's lame duck status, moving away from power football, etc. was questioning that the validity of the ranking of some of the recruits, that the focus last couple years might have been more on grab as many 4 and 5-stars as you can versus whether they actually fit into the schemes and systems we run (e.g. bad fits so you were having to development to be something different which took a lot of time). Then again maybe even this has been covered here ad nauseum. But you are right, generally the good fan sites like this cover these issues for year and the nationals pick it up late to give summaries for those who dont follow the teams in question.
 

uscvball

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Hiring Kiffin was lazy. Bringing in Sark was even lazier.
Can't agree on Kiffin. In USC's position with looming sanctions, exactly what top coach was going to come?

Sarkisian was the result of Haden having NO clue what to do, being told by Carroll to make the hire, and making the hire. Is that laziness or cluelessness?
 

SouthbayTrojan91

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I believe Mike Bohn and Brandon Sosna are doing exactly what they planned and the media attention is simply for fans enjoyment.

An empty Coliseum has far more impact than an article written in the Athletic lol

Don't under estimate the pain they feel with more public exposure, more questions from the media and a continues barrage from outside HH.

Mitigating personal discomfort is a powerful motivator at all levels.
 
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ScottSchrader

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Don't under estimate the pain they feel with more public exposure, more questions from the media and a continues barrage from outside HH.

Mitigating personal discomfort is a powerful motivator at all levels.

Don’t disagree, just disagree decisions on the USC head coach were made as a result in this case. That half empty Coliseum cost a boatload to renovate
 

Rodgarnay51

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Probably true but we're gonna have to prove it now.

Lots has changed since it was USC and the 11 dwarfs. With the payouts being shared evenly, USC preeminence is no longer necessarily a given. That payout-sharing move is an agreement that has served everyone well but USC.

In any case, we're gonna have to earn our preeminence back the hard way.
Payoffs shared evenly. Another brilliant idea from Larry Scott.
 

TroyBill

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What most fail to realize when writing articles for clicks, is USC has taken care of pretty much all issues that plagued the program, except the head coach part.

I didn’t read the article, but it would’ve read like this for me….blah, blah, blah, blah.

We’ve been writing about all the ineptness at USC for years. It’s no secret to those paying attention.
It is like captain obvious showed up and pointed out what everyone else in the universe knew for years. Time to correct most of this and move on. USC because of who they are will always be a target for those who are jealous. We have had a target on us for years. For many beating us is their season. We will be back. It may take a little time and some tweaking but we will return with a vengeance.