In this segment, depth at tailback and wide receiver are prime issues.
Q: tom_floyd said:
Looks like this will be a variation of questions already posted, but here goes…
First the sanctions, then Nikola bolts for the NBA, next Jio has a season-ending injury. KO has plenty of “excuses”, but realistically, how long of a leash is PH going to give him? Based on what I’ve read, it seems like he may be safe through the end of NEXT season, when he can showcase all of “his” players.
A: With Pat Haden’s comments last night that he is going to be patient with the team and coach I would say Kevin O’Neill gets one more year. He will have his transfers from Wake Forest (J.T. Turrell, Ari Stewart) and UC Irvine (Eric Wise) plus incoming recruits and Jio Fontan back. So it will be time to produce.
Q: steve49 said:
Scott, can you give us a look at the depth chart before signing day, especially at RB. You think Kiff is going to pursue a new RB, even a JUCO?
A: I guess D.J. Foster is a possibility since he visited last weekend. But options are limited this late in the recruiting season. Right now the depth chart is Curtis McNeal, D.J. Morgan and apparently Javorious Allen with George Farmer back at wide receiver. It looks like USC was hasty in discarding Fullerton College tailback Kelvin York, who signed with Utah.
I’m also wondering what happens if USC suffers an injury to Robert Woods or Marqise Lee next season? There’s Victor Blackwell and De’von Flournoy, whom the coaches clearly do not rate as he could not get in the rotation the past two years. And recruit Darreus Rogers. But that’s about it. Since the season started, USC’s lost Markeith Ambles, Robbie Boyer, Brice Butler, Brandon Carswell and Kyle Prater.
These depth issues are what we’ll be seeing for the next 3-5yrs due to the unfair sanctions. So injuries will be key more than ever during this span of time.
carlosb, your one sentence says it: injuries will be key, along accurate coaching selection of 15 players per year who have the talent and temperament to perform on the field, and the academic discipline to stay eligible.
There is still good reason to be optimistic about 2012. The margin of error in selection and injuries will then shrink further in each of the next 3-4 years. Because of that, the odds favor diminished success at some point during that period.
Counterbalancing that, the 15 athletes who are selected will have greater odds of winning more “game time” and winning it earlier in their college careers. Will that result in the average quality of scholarship athletes rising to the highest level in USC history? We’ll see. If it did, that would mitigate the impact of the shrinking margin of error.
The 2012 recruiting class may provide evidence whether USC can attract athletes of unprecedented quality. So far, the evidence is negative. This recruiting class appears to be a fine, high quality class, but no more so than USC has generally attracted. However, the final evidence won’t be in until February. And furthermore, 2012 is just the first of three penalized years. With each passing year, the USC depth chart may look more and more inviting to recruits. Or it may not, depending on which 60 returning players the recruits see on the depth chart.
It’s all speculation. Here’s what’s certain: if Kiffin can keep USC among the top 5 ranked teams (wins and losses, not recruitng) over the next 3-4 years, he will have shown himself to be a superior executive, strategist, and coach, and to have been a little lucky.