Pat Haden On USC Locker Room

“You should have been in the locker room before the game, I’ve never seen anything like it. And I’ve been in a lot of locker rooms. It was a much different environment. Guys were having a blast. It was remarkable. Music was blaring.”

— USC A.D. Pat Haden

30 thoughts on “Pat Haden On USC Locker Room

  1. We have a great athletic director in Pat Haden. He understood viscerally what all true Trojans knew – this has to be removed (Kiffin) and replaced with someone who can lead these kids be it to the NFL or the world itself.

    He did it – he knew he had to do it and it was done. His biggest dream is that this continues as the weeks move on and that he has the burden to retain or replace Coach O because Coach O runs the table.

      • not even close … 2 more wins tops
        this is still a bad team … sieve D shaky qb. Pac teams especially the good qb teams will go wild.

        • No, USC beats Utah, Cal and Colorado, and has a shot versus OSU, ND, Stanford, UCLA. Not sayimng they will win those four games, but they have athletes and a staff willing to let they play, so they have a shot.

          USC has survived the crazy-spready teams on their schedule, They match up better against more traditional offenses. The ASU game was the team finally quitting on Kiffin. Ariz scored twice on plays by a scrambling QB. Torin Harris is not a man defender, he gets caught looking into the backfield far too often. SC does not have the CB’s to play Pendergast’s D, however.

          I was inclinded to agree with you until i saw the game last night. This is not a Rose Bowl contending team, but a much, much better team with Kiffin gone. Never thought Kiffin was a good coach, but i had no idea that he was the college version of Rich Kotite. I don’t think you can overestimate the rot that is Lane Kiffin.

          • Love the enthusiasm, but Zona is up there with Colorado as the worst team in the PAC. Enjoy Coach O’s attempt to recreate the PC years while it lasts!

          • judging off of what? They lost to UW, which ucla will too. I’m not saying UA is a good team, but there’s nothing to really judge them by until now.

          • Get ready to recreate your very recent history with STAN and ORE. Gonna be fun to watch you guys get humbled again, though I’m sure it won’t stop your verbal diarrhea.

            Be a Little Gutty today – and a loser tomorrow!

          • Kiffin’s ineptitude was on display last night.

            Remember, the offense did this was a new cast of players Kiffin never wanted to use. Plus Lee was out. The upside was an Agholor coming out party and hopefully it carries over.

            Right now I see three more wins and a fourth possible. I think next week might be the best chance at an upset, since Notre Dame doesn’t look all that great (with poor QB play). Oregon St on paper looks beatable but the state of Oregon has been a horror story for recent USC teams. Stanford and UCLA look like long shots.

            And as far as defense play, yes they struggled late, but it was lack of focus and coasting, not poor physical play. The game never felt in doubt. They have a lot of work to do but it’s more on focusing on playing a full game and in developing depth for when the defense looks gassed. Oh and dear God get someone else to take Torin’s job.

          • I believed this was a Rose bowl contending team with a break or two. Of course, the breaks went the other way with loses to 2 teams we should’ve beat.

            Most who looked at our schedule thought we’d be 6-0 or 5-1 at this point.

            Like you said, the spread teams on the schedule have passed with the exception of UCLA later on.

            I actually like our chances against Oregon State and ND. They run more of a pro-style type of offense and we’ve shown we can really shut those down.

          • If you watch the ASU replay we would have had a great chance to blow them out in the first half if Kessler sees our WR uncovered instead of throwing the Lee deflection/interception and we don’t fumble the next drive when we were rolling. We really aren’t that far from being 5-0. Nobody outclasses us talent wise, the difference has been the coaching and now that’s fixed.

          • I’ve never seen the removal of a coach make such an immediate and positive impact on a team.

            Even if the Trojan’s still struggle this season, they look so much better than before.

  2. Why didn’t Kiffin think of this – play music in the locker room before the game and they will play well.

    • Maybe Kiffin doesn’t really like music. He’s not the type to identify with what another person likes.

      USC football has lots of problems, still. Just one less one now. Just one less excuse, something Kiffin always liked to use as a crutch – the excuse.

  3. Haden was surprised because this stuff doesn’t happen in the Women’s Tennis Locker Room

  4. I noted the usual SUCLA suspects on the blog could not control their anti-SC sentiment, even in the Trojans’ victory. Sad that they cannot revel in their own team’s comeback from dismal years of play, but instead rejoice in SC’s struggles.

    Oh well, as they say, bad “publicity” is better than no publicity.

    SC will continue struggling to find wins this year, but let’s party while we can, and maybe we can do an Irish jig next week although the odds will be a bit long.

    • There are two kinds of UCLA fans: UCLA fans and USC Haters. There are those who are both UCLA fans and USC haters, but there is also a large subset of USC haters who are not necessarily UCLA fans, but claim allegiance because UCLA is not USC. Could be Occidental for all they care. I suspect the later are the folks who troll on USC blogs.

      • I have found that there is a type of USC hater that is truly twisted – I await the blowback but they remind me of those who hate Republicans, committed Christians (Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox) Jews and the USA.

          • Gee I don’t know but I do know when a rock thrown has hit something – again I have never seen the vitriol that USC incurs – maybe it’s the stereotype that is old but still evident (the row – West 28th Street) – and been handed down like Orangemen in Ulster – God help the Jews and pray for Jerusalem!

            Again I have never seen the hate that is posted here over and over and over – BTW what program do you root for?

    • What I find interesting is the UCLA “fans” on this site seem to watch the USC games and are the first ones to post on this blog. As a USC fan, the only UCLA game I might watch is the Rose Bowl and that would be true of any Pac-12 team playing in the Rose Bowl.

      • Not only do they watch the games and post, but they know USC history, and all of the players that have worn a USC jersey.. The UCLA fans are more fans than actual USC fans!

    • Like I said many times before, the UCLA “fans” that troll USC message boards do NOT represent most UCLA fans in person.

      Go to the rivalry game and tailgate among the powder blue and you’ll see for yourself. I’ve encountered nothing but fans who want to have a good time. I’ve taken countless shots with them. Of course, every team has their share of idiots, but I’ve only encountered 1-2 of them over the last 4 years.

      I would say that when it’s the other way around, WE get carried away and tend to cross the line of good taste.

      This isn’t because we’re a–holes. Our school pride is on a different level. Some of us are a few generations invested into the school. On the other hand, many of them simply don’t care about their football and are there just to have a good time.

      • Agreed. I can’t stand UCLA football, but they have a great school and some great fans. They also have some trashy fans.

        And there’s the rub. So do we. I don’t think many of the trashy fans of either school actually went there.

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