Musings from Arledge: Pac-12 Looking Up?
Larry Scott’s time as Pac 12 Commissioner officially (and mercifully) ended last year. But in some ways, the Larry Scott era officially comes to an end only now, with the Pac 12 announcing that it is leaving the lavish San Francisco headquarters that Scott had leased for the conference (or, rather, for himself) and is, instead, telling employees to work from home. Some of you may have seen the handwritten signs at local intersections: “Want to earn big money from home? Call 1-800-PacConf.”
I love this. I’m pretty sure George Kliavkoff will now negotiate the conference’s next media rights deal in a robe from his living room couch. “Hey, you want some meatloaf? Ma! Meatloaf!” He’ll pitch the network to advertisers using still shots of Pac 12 Network programming, because he still can’t get the Pac 12 Network on his cable system (But the schools will keep 100% of the revenue!). “Let’s talk a walk into the garage. I’ll show you some poster boards we made from last year’s Oregon-Wazzu game. I think you’ll love it.”
If the advertisers insist on seeing the network’s offerings live – which would make them the first people in America to feel this way, judging by the ratings – everybody can pile into George’s SUV and head down the street to Mad Frank’s Bar and Grill. George is friends with Sarah, one of the servers, and if it’s not too crowded, she’s usually willing to turn one of their 38 TV’s onto the Pac 12 Network for him. “Okay. Sarah texted me back. She says it’s a go. Wait, hold on just a second, guys. Let me just move this car seat out of the way and pick up some of these french fries. Sorry about that.”
If it sounds like I’m critical, I’m not. At least no more than usual and not towards the new Commish. Kliavkoff is playing a bad hand. FEMA wouldn’t touch this conference. At least Kliavkoff’s start-up model reflects reality better than Scott’s extravagance in the face of utter failure. I found that approach less than desirable.
How bad was it? I probably don’t need to tell this audience what I think about Larry Scott; if you read Musings you already know, and just about all of you came to the same conclusions anyway. But if you didn’t know, Larry Scott was apparently 1-18 in singles matches in his professional tennis career. And he was a way better tennis player than conference commissioner.
It’s not just that Scott’s primary business plan for the conference failed spectacularly; the plan not to partner with ESPN or Fox so the conference could own 100% of its network and keep all of the money doesn’t work all that well when almost nobody has access to your programming. And it’s not just that Scott was clearly in over his head and seemed unable to deal with the many problems plaguing Pac 12 athletics, from money to competitiveness to officiating to everything else. What was surreal about the whole experience was the Pac-12 presidents and chancellor keeping the guy around for twelve years (!) as the conference implodes and Scott wastes money like the spoiled child of a maharaja. How keeps a guy like that for twelve years? That’s twice as long as USC was willing to tolerate Clay Helton’s brand of Warrior Ball, and that experience seemed like it would never end.
During Scott’s tenure, the conference was failing, falling farther and farther behind its competitors, and everybody in the world could see it. Meanwhile, Scott has the conference spending $7 million a year on its headquarters – more than all of the other major conferences combined – and was living in a presidential suite with a private chef that the universities were bankrolling to the tune of $7,500 per night. (“Seriously, guys, I really do need Jacques to cook all my meals. I think better on a full stomach.”) And for twelve years the university chief executives smile, hand Scott blank checks, and applaud the performance. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t try to sell these people a bridge. Even somebody who buys Arab gold in an Ardmore gas station wouldn’t fall for Scott’s act. Just imagine what Anna Delvey could have done to this crew.
Things are looking up. Now that the conference’s flagship program has decided to end its self-sanctions and hire a real football coach, the conference may actually have something to sell soon. Just two of those who hired Scott remain in power, but many of the same people who extended and supported Larry the Cable Guy Scott are still there, still calling the shots. This is a time of massive uncertainty and change for college sports. Huge decisions need to be made. And while it’s fantastic that the conference no longer has a commissioner who is less competent at his job than a homeless person selected at random, I still can’t forget who the ultimate decision-makers are for the west coast programs.
In happier news, USC intends to pressure the quarterback this year. And they may even pull it off. Erik McKinney had an article last week about USC’s RUSH outside linebacker position, and while that position group has some question marks, it also has a ton of potential.
Romello Height didn’t put up eye-popping numbers in his short time at Auburn, but he had a high pass rush win percentage, and he’s a big, fast guy. And while I’m usually concerned about any transfer from a major program – why would he be leaving that place unless he had issues on or off the field? – I’m less concerned here because there seem to be some issues at Auburn (which almost fired its coach during the off-season) that have led to a lot of their players looking to see if the grass is greener elsewhere.
Of course, everybody has their eyes on Korey Foreman, last year’s can’t-miss prospect who, while it’s too early to say he has missed, certainly hasn’t yet become the guy everybody expected. He’s fighting through injuries, but you have to think that the new culture will help more guys reach their God-given potential. And Foreman has a lot of that. He’s obviously a guy to watch.
Speaking of fighting through injuries, Solomon Tuliaupupu is also competing at the RUSH spot. Solo was the bluest of blue chips when he came out of Mater Dei a few years ago and has had a string of horrific luck since. He seems to be at full speed now, and if he is, there’s a chance he can finally be the player everybody expected. I would love nothing more than to see Solo overcome his injuries and have a big year. Fighting back from serious injuries year after year must be demoralizing. A double-digit sack year would be a well-deserved reward for his perseverance.
We are three weeks from the USC spring game featuring Kirk Herbstreit. That’s pretty remarkable, isn’t it? Over the last few years, I doubt the Herbstreit even looked at USC box scores, and he certainly wasn’t making a trip to the Coliseum for a spring game. Riley hasn’t accomplished the truly important stuff yet. It still comes down to wins and losses in the fall. But the guy has certainly changed the narrative. Every day is like Christmas for USC football fans right now. And let’s hope we have a big new present to unwrap this Friday. Come on down, Josh Conerly!
If you’re not watching Inside the Trojans Huddle every week on YouTube, you need to start. All the cool kids are doing it. If you hate it, you can always leave nasty comments about the other panelists.
