OT: Rumors of Mass Transfers from USC
This is coming from r/cfb whose sources are a couple posts from a USC board, but it sounds like the transfer talk is legit.
Allegedely OL EJ Price punched head coach Clay Helton and is transferring to Georgia. The post also mentions a number of other players that plan to transfer:
- Freshman Safety Jamel Cook
- Junior OT Chuma Edoga
- Junior QB Max Browne
The post also mentions Adoree Jackson and Juju Smith however I am not sure if those would be transfers as they are probably NFL-ready.
Apparently Helton will address the situation today but if there are lots of transfers, this can't be a good look to recruits.
September 20th, 2016 at 6:06 PM ^
I can't see him taking the USC job if he has a shot at LSU or Texas. Those programs have loyal fanbases that fill their stadiums, unlike USC and the crappy Coliseum.
September 20th, 2016 at 6:11 PM ^
but USC is still RB U. I think they would prefer someone who runs a pro style offense. Jack Del Rio is probably their dream candidate, but no NFL head coach would ever leave for a college job.
From Herman's side of things, USC is not an ideal fit either. An amatuerish athletics department doesn't help. If Houston joins the Big 12 Herman's salary automatically gets bumped up to $5.5 million. With a big year, I'm sure they could find more money to keep him. I don't see why he would leave when he's building something with a lot of potential. If Houston gets snubbed by the Big 12, I think he stays in or near Texas. That's where he's spent most of his career and has his recruiting ties. LSU or Texas would be the logical choices.
Would USC even dump Helton in his first season? I think it would take a disastrous season, not just a disappointing one, or an all-out revolt by the players.
September 20th, 2016 at 6:39 PM ^
I read this and was about to respond that USC is well on its way to a disastrous season now. And they might be, but they've also played two teams that could both be in the playoff.
If the rumors (and that's all that is going on right now, and we've seen rumors about analogous situations at Michigan turn out to be false) are true, that does suggest serious trouble off of the field, and that could easily lead to a firing.
Regarding your doubts about USC wanting Herman: I have no source on this, but I think the doubts about power spread running offenses at any top line program were erased by Ohio State's demolition of Alabama in the playoff. RB U? Tom Herman produced Zeke Elliott. I think USC would love to get him.
September 20th, 2016 at 7:07 PM ^
But last year the QB was their leading rusher. That would be a big change for USC.
September 20th, 2016 at 7:47 PM ^
Mr. Miggle never say never on an NFL coach leaving for a college job. It wasn't like Jim Harbaugh was out of NFL options
September 21st, 2016 at 5:35 AM ^
Ahhh ok, the ever elusive sarcasm in text. Sorry had to say something, you never know now a days.
September 20th, 2016 at 9:05 PM ^
Yep, damn right. Never would happen.
September 20th, 2016 at 2:37 PM ^
September 20th, 2016 at 2:42 PM ^
At one point thought to be the favorite I believe. It was a pretty big shock he didn't end up at Georgia though.
Brown has essentially been out the door for a while too, so that isn't really new.
September 20th, 2016 at 3:09 PM ^
Who wants a guy who (if reports are accurate) punches his head coach?
September 20th, 2016 at 4:22 PM ^
Depends on who the head coach is.
September 20th, 2016 at 2:43 PM ^
September 20th, 2016 at 2:44 PM ^
September 20th, 2016 at 3:10 PM ^
Chuma Edoga was a recruit as well. I think he was a camper at one of the on-campus camps.
September 20th, 2016 at 4:13 PM ^
There was some consternation because Hoke never offered him. I think we made a late run at him after Drevno was hired.
September 20th, 2016 at 4:40 PM ^
September 20th, 2016 at 5:15 PM ^
Are we thinking of EJ Levenberry? Or were we really in on Price too?
September 20th, 2016 at 6:30 PM ^
Don't think we were ever thought to be the leader for Price, but we were I think a top team.
September 20th, 2016 at 2:38 PM ^
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September 20th, 2016 at 5:18 PM ^
exactly what I thought. I can GUARANTEE if he really did punch the head coach, he is going to have to go to a JUCO to 'rehabilitate' his image and then go to UGA.
September 20th, 2016 at 6:01 PM ^
GUARANTEEING something when you only have the most cursory knowledge of the people and events is the fast way to be eaten alive here. Youve been reading here since 2011 and didnt already realize that? Heres a neg for an absurd comment.
September 20th, 2016 at 7:26 PM ^
September 20th, 2016 at 2:38 PM ^
Adoree Jackson and Juju Smith are going to the NFL if anywhere as I think they're in their third years and are Southern California guys to the core.
There were definite rumors of Juju pouting in practice after the Alabama pasting. USC certainly seems to be turning into a tirefire and as a UCLA fan I must say the flames are glorious.
September 20th, 2016 at 3:01 PM ^
September 20th, 2016 at 2:38 PM ^
It's amazing to see how far USC has fallen. Back in the day I thought they would be good no matter what because of the athletes they recruited. But I guess it just goes to show that coaching is king in football.
September 20th, 2016 at 2:44 PM ^
Kind of glad to see them fall again. Except when they play Notre Dame. That's the one time I cheer for them.
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September 20th, 2016 at 2:52 PM ^
That is a good lesson that we should stop freaking out about schools like OSU and Bama - for the present, yes, they are terrifying. But 10 years ago, it sure seemed like USC was an unbeatable terror. It shows you how fragile these things are, and you never know where any team is going to be even just a few years from now, because now matter how good they seem now, these things do not last forever.
September 20th, 2016 at 2:58 PM ^
aside from a few years . . . OSU has been a juggernaut since . . . what . . . . the 1950s?
Fuck I hate them and it makes me sick typing this.
September 20th, 2016 at 3:05 PM ^
Sans Cooper.
September 20th, 2016 at 3:37 PM ^
The beginning of and the last two years of the Cooper era weren't that good but in between he had some darn good teams. It often gets overlooked though because of his record against UM. From '92 through '98 they finished either first or second in the Big Ten every year, won the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl and also played in another Sugar Bowl. They finished the year ranked #2 twice and finished ranked in the Top 20 all 7 of those years.
September 20th, 2016 at 3:09 PM ^
They weren't nearly as good in the '80s/'90s. Earle Bruce allowed the program to slide a bit and didn't leave a lot of talent for John Cooper. (How an OSU coach would struggle at recruiting is a mystery, but he pulled it off.) Cooper upgraded their talent but couldn't beat us. Miss that guy.
September 21st, 2016 at 11:31 AM ^
Bruce was abrasive (pleasantly so, I always thought) and he didn't get along with Ohio money. He'd had it out with the owner of the Dispatch, the governor didn't like him, the president of the university didn't like him and neither did a lot of the board, and on top of all that allegedly there were some conflicts with some booster factions because he wanted to run too clean a program.
It's amazing how quickly recruiting can go south when important boosters turn on the head coach. (Fred Akers's last couple of years in Texas are a great example of this.)
September 20th, 2016 at 2:58 PM ^
Before USC's run, the U was very formidable and they still haven't come anywhere close to their 80s/90s form. So the downturns can last a while.
September 20th, 2016 at 3:03 PM ^
That's a little different though. Miami is a private school with a small fanbase and didn't have much of a history before the '80s, when they suddenly became awesome (and also cheated a ton).
USC has been generally good for a very long time - their all-time winning percentage is about .700.
September 21st, 2016 at 10:09 AM ^
Didn't mean to imply that they were the exact same situation, only another example of a power rising and falling. Also, isn't USC private too?
September 20th, 2016 at 4:52 PM ^
September 20th, 2016 at 5:40 PM ^
As we see at places like USC and PSU, sanctions can take a long time to climb out of. Just because they are lifted does not mean that all is well in a year or two. If you couple that with incompetent coaching, the situation becomes even worse.
September 20th, 2016 at 6:27 PM ^
Especially if you miss on offensive lineman. Hell, Michigan didn't get hit by sanctions and we are still digging out from the disastrous O-line recruiting from the final years under RR. Only one lineman (Jack Miller) panned out from the 2010-11 classes.
September 20th, 2016 at 11:47 PM ^
It's 2016.
Hoke's 2013 OL recruits: Patrick Kugler, Kyle Bosch, David Dawson, Chris Fox, Logan Tuley-Tillman, Dan Samuelson. (Remember turning away Ethan Pocic, because we were full, only to later add Samuelson? That worked out great.)
Hoke's 2014 OL recruits: Mason Cole, Juwann Bushell-Beatty.
September 20th, 2016 at 3:17 PM ^
is the shitshow that their AD position has become. They seem to not understand the benefits of hiring a professional AD with experience, and instead continue to hire unqualified ex-players who just continue messing things up. Lynn Swan probably won't fare much better.
September 20th, 2016 at 3:40 PM ^
Mike Garrett, Pat Haden and now Lynn Swan. It's almost as if they are just hiring a figure head to remind people of the glory days under John McKay.
September 20th, 2016 at 4:20 PM ^
about theiir hiring of Mike Garrett (who also hired Carroll...you could make the case Garrett presided over USC becoming a dirty program, though...but Garrett was a much better hire for USC than Brandon was for Michigan)
September 20th, 2016 at 6:01 PM ^
Garrett kind of lucked into Carroll becasue Carroll was not initially high on the list of coaches USC was looking at. They struck out on their first few choices and then hired Carroll.
Garrett also hired Lane Kiffin.
September 20th, 2016 at 7:11 PM ^
They had whiffed on Dennis Erickson, Mike Bellotti and Mike Riley. Carroll was something of a desperation heave--Garrett wanted someone that was a "proven winner."
September 21st, 2016 at 11:33 AM ^
Carroll at So Cal was a happy accident.
September 20th, 2016 at 4:36 PM ^
USC will still get top recruits by various, um ways, and they will still have their heads up their asses.
September 20th, 2016 at 2:39 PM ^
Smith-Shuster supposedly got in a a fight and almost walked off the team in practice during week 2, so that would not be a surprise.