Paywalled article, but one can click on S'ua's rivals profile to see who the finalists are:
Michigan (yay), Nebraska, and his probable home, USC. Say what you want about Kiffen, but even with their sanctions and scholly limits, he is putting together yet another monster recruiting class.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/michigan/football/recruiting/player-Su'a-Cravens-115015
I'd credit Kiffin less and
I agree.
And Pat Hayden is a great ambassador too. He brings so much more credibility and class to USC. I don't know how much involvement he has (if any?) with recruiting though.
Mom, MGrad and life long fan living in So Cal
Right, he brings so much
Right, he brings so much class and credibility that he just had to hire Kiffin to carry on that precedent of class and credibility.
blah
Garrett
Mike Garrett hired Kiffin.
LSA '10 - B.S.
Rice University '13 - M.S.
Thank you.
I think Kiffen is on a pretty short leash with Hayden.
Just listen to how he handles himself (PH). He is a class act..and it pains me to say it, because I really, really dislike that school and it's fans.
Mom, MGrad and life long fan living in So Cal
Agreed, I can't stand SC, but
Agreed, I can't stand SC, but it's hard not to like PH, he's the type of AD everyone wishes they had.
Everyone except
Ohio State.
"After all was said and done, there was nothing left to do."
Dunno who you're speaking
Dunno who you're speaking for, Gene Smith is an ass
You're the RationalBuckeye.
That makes you atypical of the OSU fanbase.
"After all was said and done, there was nothing left to do."
I can assure you, the amount
I can assure you, the amount of people that think he handled the past two years the complete wrong way greatly outnumber the alternative.
Not quite
I think Kiffin was hired before Hayden. Kiffin was hired by Mike Garrett.
USC football tradition?
USC football tradition?
not just "douchey" MGoBlog user, but now TRUSTED MGoBlog user
Seriously? USC has great
Seriously? USC has great football tradition.
Sorry
But with a fanbase like they have (most band-wagony ever), I have a hard time considering them to have "tradition". Even if they do have pretty rich history of winning and producing NFL talent. I guess it comes down to semantics, and what you consider "tradition".
not just "douchey" MGoBlog user, but now TRUSTED MGoBlog user
I think a "rich history of
I think a "rich history of winning and producing NFL talent" would literally fit the definition of tradition. So... you just said, even if they have tradition, you don't consider it tradition... Which makes very little sense
Not to mention the most wins
Not to mention the most wins and times playing in the Rose Bowl, which has now become the de facto marker of tradition.
Trojan Tradition
I am fairly sure that Ronnie Lott, Lynn Swann, Marcus Allen, O.J. Simpson, Tim Rossovich, Anthony Davis, Rodney Peete, Chris Claiborne and numerous others would disagree.
"Funny isn't it, how naughty dentists always make that one fatal mistake."
Follow the random tweets of a Michigan alum - http://twitter.com/#!/LorneEC3
Anthony Munoz, Junior Seau...
Anthony Munoz, Junior Seau...
Keyshawn Johnson, and an
Keyshawn Johnson, and an obvious slew of more recent guys.
I typed that name but then
I typed that name but then remembered that he was a dick, so I left him out.
Take that, Keyshawn.
We don't need no stinkin 5
We don't need no stinkin 5 stars. We are just going to take all of your 4s.
“When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing” - Bo Schembechler
He's a snake
that is what I have to say about Kiffin.
wolverine 73
So...
/insert so-youre-saying-theres-a-chance.gif here
I thought S'ua was going to vist Nebraska, us, before announcing
But I'm not hopeful.
He is
Down to three with visits lined up to Nebraska and Michigan before deciding. Since this is on his dime he is at least giving us serious consideration otherwise why spend the money.
Don't given Kiffin too much credit...
Yeah, he's a really good recruiter to begin with, but even Dantonio could pull in recruits like this if he was at USC. Of course he wouldn't though, because everyone knows all of the national talent in the country is in Toledo, regardless of what the recruiting services say...
Grass not tall enough at SC
Grass not tall enough at SC for layin in the weeds.
-Mork
IGotARashMan
Not in defense of Dantonio,
but I'm pretty fond of our players imported from Toledo.
I'm pretty sure Ebenezer
I'm pretty sure Ebenezer Scrooge could recruit well at USC. Just sayin'.
Let's keep all Scrooge
Let's keep all Scrooge references between the months of November and January. Thanks in advance.
It is between November and
It is between November and January!
Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, July, Aug, Oct, Nov
(No subject)
Thank you
Although I have no idea where it's from, I must say this made me laugh.
You just blew my mind man
You just blew my mind man
What About
Scrooge McDuck?!
So it goes.
+1
+1 for any Duck Tale reference.
So why was USC mired in
So why was USC mired in mediocrity in the 90s until Petey-boy rolled into town?
I think USC has been REALLY helped with the demise of UCLA football. UCLA is located in such a better part of town than USC, better academic school excluding USC's film-related stuff...
This has been on my mind
This has been on my mind lately, too. It's pretty amazing that UCLA has been so irrelevant for so long. There's more than enough talent in southern California to sustain two elite programs, and USC draws a lot of talent from outside the area anyway.
What *did* happen at UCLA?
I don't follow the west coast programs that closely -- why exactly has UCLA been mediocre for so long despite all the advantages listed above? Is it just the string of mediocre head coaches since Terry Donahue? (Bob Toledo, Neuheisel) Bad facilities? Something else?
I think a run of bad coaches,
I think a run of bad coaches, in addition to the fact that UCLA plays 30 minutes to an hour (including traffic) @ the Rose Bowl away from their campus, thus killing any game day experience, has run their program down into the ground.
S'why you see guys going to Cal (at least Berkley has an on-campus stadium), Oregon (Phil Knight will give you plenty of toys in their brand-spanking new stadium facilities), in addition to USC.
UC salaries
I've heard some of the problems are that they salaries for the assistant coaches is substandard based on the UC salary structure. The coaches don't get paid enough to live anywhere near the more affluent campus area.
They're cheap. They don't
They're cheap. They don't want to spend the money on facilities and salaries necessary to be an elite football program. Even in basketball (which is really the flagship sport at UCLA), Pauly Pavilion was shockingly outdated for a program of UCLA's stature until the recent renovation.
USC was on
probation for violations during their late 80's run of success.
THIS. usc is always going to
THIS. usc is always going to be good (or should be) but the decline of UCLA only makes it easier. the state pecking order used to be:
USC - 35%
UCLA - 30%
Stanford - 20%
Cal - 15%
roughly. Last 10 years? Drop UCLA down to 1%, up usc to 90% and spread the rest, LOL.
USC has pretty much always
USC has pretty much always been better than UCLA at football, other than for brief stretches in the mid 80s and late 90s. I don't know why, but that's the way it is. USC's recent decade of success has been a continuation, rather than a reversal, of historical trends.
I don't think the question is "why is USC better?"
But why is UCLA so bad? I think FrankMurphy gives some good reasons for it above. For whatever reason I feel like UCLA's management has not made it a priority, and has squeezed it out a bit.
"I love him, he's a great coach, he's a great mentor, he's a great friend. He's every single thing you want a college coach to be, and he does it flawlessly." -David Molk
Wonder what sales pitch Kiffin is Using....
With limited scholarships, maybe he is telling them he is only focusing on the best of the best???
With limited scholarships
With limited scholarships comes lack of depth which translates into early playing time. Luckily for Michigan, that is not the case at Safety for USC... safety if probably one of their deepest positions with at least 5 guys who could start right away.
When you look at the offers
When you look at the offers, USC has only given out offers to premier recruits. Having such a large number of instate recruits to go after coupled with the USC brand in a a great location, not much of a sales pitch needed. "Hey, come to USC and play with other great players, in a great locale, and receive a great education." Not ground-breaking stuff here.
On the plus side, they
On the plus side, they arrested two people in the murder of the two Hong Kong-born USC graduate students. They think it was a botched robbery attempt.
I agree, I never understand when people say that location is a draw for USC. LA? Especially west of the 405? Yes. USC just east of downtown? Hell to the no.
I'd credit Kiffin less and the overall draw of Southern Cal + USC football tradition more