Recruiting and the coaching staff are dominant topics. Of course.

Q: cjs said:
It seems significant that the coaching staff has remained relatively stable over the past two seasons (losing Garza didn’t appear to have a negative impact on the field). Will you please grade the assistant coaches and give an assessment of how long they will remain with the team.

A: I can’t say how long each assistant will stay. I do think this is Monte Kiffin’s last job. I don’t think John Baxter would get paid more to go anywhere else. The coach who could leave is Ed Orgeron if he can get a head-coaching position. Because Joe Barry and Kennedy Pola already coached in the NFL, I would not be surprised if they returned. I think wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore will also be a candidate for an NFL job. I think James Cregg will remain at USC. And I could see Clay Helton leaving if he can get a job where he calls plays.

Q: The Monopoly Is Over Here said:
Considering levels of losing. Is UCLA football in the past 13 years worse than Wash St. football?

A: Well, Washington State did go to the Rose Bowl more recently (2003) and the Cougars were ranked in the top 10 more recently. On the other hand, Washington State’s experienced some horrific seasons recently. I’d have to say they are worse overall but did a better job overachieving in the early 2000’s.

Q: bestlakersfan said:
Scott, if YOU could pick the last 11 (we have 9 so far and assuming that we get 5 EE and 15 regular that would leave 11 spots) or so recruits for this class, who would you pick?

Mine would look like this: McCarthy, Armstead, Agholor, Diggs, Seymour, Banner, Murphy, Neal, Shaw (transfer from UF), Spence, Thompson.

A: That’s a good list. I think Seymour and McCarthy will commit to USC. I tend to think Murphy will also commit although I heard USC was extremely slow initially with its recruitment of him and Stanford was early to get on the talented tackle.