If You Were Pat Haden . . .

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Who would you call today? Chris Petersen? James Franklin? Jon Gruden? Jack Del Rio? Ed Orgeron?

43 thoughts on “If You Were Pat Haden . . .”

    • Gruden and keep Orgeron. Great coaches and would recruit exceptionally well. Could build on old traditions and bring in new ones too.

  4. Why not look at Dan Quinn current DC with the Seahawks? The team clearly needs someone who has the awareness of knowing what a professional team looks like and can take that and place it on one of the best college programs in the USA – he’s 43 from back east originally and has defense in nis veins throughout his entire coaching career.

    Admittedly no HC experience college or pro but right now Pa Haden is facing the decision that will be attached to him for his legacy and he (Haden) knows it.

    A guy like Quinn would be willing to learn about how truly unique USC is because PC would tell him – why not Quinn?

    • UCLA 35 – suc 14. That’s not unique? SUC was rolled by the best football team in LA – UCLA

        • Excuse, snivel, moan, snivel, blame, whine, snivel; a SUC fan complete sentence. Yap all you want, but SUC lost the game 35 -14. Case closed, no excuses tolerated.

  6. Who wants a flash in the pan that finished 8-4 and 2nd in the Mountain Worst conference?

  7. Gruden if you want to win championships soon and probably as close as saban.
    Petersen if you want to win pac 12
    Franklin maybe the next great young coach to build a dynasty with. And same style as orgeron.
    Del Rio don’t know yet. Lovie smith bring defense and players coach style.

  8. I’m a big fan of Charlie Strong, but I kinda think the most important thing is to find someone with ties to recruiting Cali.

    Anyone else think Sark could fluorish back at SC?

      • Amen brudder! Why Sark ever hired Nick Holt is beyond belief – cost him at least 3 games back in 2010 – Petrino has him now down in Western KY.

        Sarkisian is where he can make some gain but he needs to win the close games against divisional rivals and he hasn’t.

    • Arty baby, there are 100 + division one teams that want to recruit good O and D linemen. SUC will just have the stand in line and recruit players like any average D One School/University. UCLA 35 – suc 14.

  11. I just knew most Trojans would turn their back on Coach O if he lost the SUCLA game, which I think is unfair, but I guess is typical earthlings’ behavior.

    That was a game SC was not going to win, with Marsh and Barr owning our tackles and giving Kessler little time to react. And Hundley being on, with his 8 or 10 runs for first downs or touchdowns was too much for the Trojans. (Note: with Hundley’s fine game I bet he now turns pro which gives SC a chance in next year’s game)

    And ever think SC might not be a ripe plum for prospective coaches? There still is this little matter of another year of sanctions, limiting the team to 75 players instead of everybody else’s 85. And then when Troy returns to “normal” in 2015 how many years will it take to fully right the ship?–2, 3, 4? That will be difficult waters for any coach to navigate.

    • BH is no fool, and will stay in school next year. He’s not quite ready for the NFL. He doesn’t want to end up like SUC’s hack NFL QB’s.

      • So you talked to all the agents, nobody is going to tell him anything different? $,$$$,$$$ talks.

  13. Wow how quick did Wolf throw Orgeron under the bus? Looking at what he has done for the team and his experience and a few mitigating factors i still think Orgeron is the head guy, I am disappointed at this outcome but not kick to the curb disappointed,

  14. I don’t think Coach O was the right guy from the start. I love the guy, and he was what was needed to get the guys out of the Kiffin funk…but not the solution. Maybe with different coordinators its a different situation, remember Helton was “promoted” by Kiff to sit quietly, not scheme and call plays.

    Neither is Franklin. He hasn’t won anything of importance, nothing against ranked teams, etc.

    Haden needs to interview everyone and hire whomever has the best plan. This is a hard conference with a lot of extreme offenses from fast to powerful and many flavors. Every team is loaded with fantastic players and coaches. That’s why Stanford falls to Utah, Oregon gets blown out by Arizona, UCLA goes Jekyll and Hyde.

    Haden needs to listen to all people and picl the guy with the right plan. Every candidate has good and bad. All can work out well, or horribly. The guy with the best plan will/should get the nod.

    • I’d say you were listening to the Trojan Brunch this morning – that was Pete Arborgast’s pointed directive to Coach Henry Hyde – “What should be the first question Pat Haden asks any potential hire? Answer ‘What is your plan?'”

      Time to come clean – it truly is the smartest question any employer asks of anyone being considered to take hold of or clean up a mess. Right now we have a mess and another year of limited scholarships – need to make some serious changes.

      • I missed the brunch show this morning, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I just don’t see a clear-cut hire.
        Peterson has done some great things at Boise, but he’s beaten the WAC by getting better talent, then getting guys up for one top-flight opponent in a bowl game and mixing in a little trickery. In the PAC-12, nearly every team is loaded with 3, 4, and 5 star talent. Even in the MWC, it seems he’s meeting teams of a similar talent level and struggling a bit.
        Franklin went 8-4 this season. What was his impressive win? Lost to South Carolina, Mizzou, and A&M. He beat Georgia, but an UGA team that was severely depleted. Last season his record was 9-4, again, losing South Carolina, UGA, and Florida. I don’t know where Wolf got his stats from, that’s 7 in conference losses in the past two seasons.
        Even if Sumlin were available, I don’t know that he’d be the guy either. He’s done great with Johnny at the reins and Keenum at UH, but none of his teams have shown an ability to shut down offenses with any consistancy, they just outscored people.
        Gruden, if interested, would be fine, except has he ever coached against this wide variety of offenses? Has Del Rio?
        Coach O may very well be the guy, and that’s fine by me, as are all these other men. My feeling is just that whomever comes in needs to have a plan in place to build a great coaching staff. This isn’t the NFL, where players do nothing but study and practice. College requires coaches to take a game plan and install it quickly, meaning it needs to be simple. The onus is on the entire staff, not the HC, and not the players.
        If given the reins, would Coach O go out and find an innovative offensive coordinator who can install a flexible offense? Remember that the great SC offenses under Chow (the ones that won championships) were as comfortable in a 5 receiver set as they were in an I-formation with 2 TEs.
        And who is a defensive coordinator who can prepare guys for the spread in one week and Stanford the next?
        Defense is the ONLY place I buy into the argument that sanctions are truly hurting. In the PAC-12 you need different personnel to handle the power game and speed game in different weeks.
        What made Carroll’s teams great was a good coaching staff and somewhat normal offenses to play against. Once Oregon went to an extreme on the up-tempo spread and Stanford went to a loaded line power offense, and coaches started to leave, the run eroded into what we have now.
        So Pat, find someone with a solid plan and let’s see where that takes us.

    • Unlike the previous two coaches, under Mora the Bruins haven’t been “Jekyll and Hyde”; they’ve been playing eighteen freshmen this year, including three starting in the offensive line.

      UCLA’s consistent effort and tenacity have been one of the most reassuring aspects of Mora’s tenure so far.

      • Santiago, I’m not talking about UCLA differing over the course of the season, I mean quarter to quarter. I know they were decimated by injuries, but it’s also fair to say that the quality of freshman across the country has gone up in recent years. Starting a true freshman now is not as detrimental as it was ten years ago, for example. Starting a freshman isn’t a step backward (e.g. M. Jack, E. Vanderdoes, etc.).

        But, for sure, things are looking up for UCLA. I agree that Mora’s got them more consistent. Even more, they are a lot more blue-collar and tough-minded.

        I’m probably in the minority among USC alumni, but I’m very happy to see it. When they are not playing against USC, I root for UCLA, which is a lot more than I can say for Notre Dame. Very good win, very good season for the Bruins. They showed a lot of heart in the comeback against Nebraska and the almost come-back on ASU. Even more, Mora will always have my respect and admiration for the way he handled the passing of Nick Pasquale.

  15. First of all, Hayden has already reached out to people he’s interested in. He hasn’t just been sitting on his hands the past 2 months.

    Gruden is a stupid pipe dream so stop talking a about it.

    If Chris Petersen didn’t talk to Ucla, then he’s not talking to Southern Cal.

    The best news for sc is, if someone like Brett Bielma can leave a great setup at Wisconsin for a disaster at Arkansas, there is hope to get someone respectable.

    What I find strange is there hasn’t been much buzz around the candidates. I get that it’s the middle of the season (or at least it was) so people won’t be interviewing. But still there doesn’t even seem to be a consensus first choice beyond Orgeron.

    • The problems with the current team are the O line, the corners, depth and a very average QB.
      I think Greg Roman might be a possible get and an interesting hire. He advocates a play-action passing game off the power run. I think if we get a good O line coach with the new recruits, the O line situation might be salvageable. We have some terrific RB’s.
      Max Browne was touted as the next big SC QB. Time to find out next season. I’m not sold on Kessler. He’s not a gamer, he’s not overtly mobile and he doesn’t make his reads.
      Don’t know how we solve the CB problem. Time solves the depth issue.
      I think Greg Roman’s attitude might also fit right in, in LA.

  16. James Franklin is the only quality candidate left who would realistically take the job. If it’s not him, I don’t know who it is.

    • VA, I mean this seriously, please enlighten me on why you think Franklin is a quality candidate? I’m assuming by your name, that you’ve got a lot more access to Vandy news and chatter than we do here.

      I know the mess that Vandy football was, and they certainly have improved under Franklin’s tenure. But I don’t see any marquee wins. I don’t see any major upsets. I don’t see Vandy snatching top-flight recruits from anyone. Since 2011 he’s gotten 4 guys out of California, most of which have been mainly 3-star guys. In fact, it looks like the vast majority of his roster is 3-star guys with a couple 4-stars mixed in. I understand that Vandy is a private university with high standards for admission, but the same goes for Stanford, Duke, and Notre Dame.

      Also, their stats don’t look very impressive. In 2013 they are 93rd in total offense, 10th in conference. Last year they were 8th in conference. They are dead last in 3rd down conversion (35.2%). On defense they were 5th in conference, so that’s good, but still 20 spots lower than USC on the overall list.

      I know Wolf, and now Key, have been singing the praises of Franklin…I’m just curious why? What have you seen/heard that we haven’t?

  19. One concern with a coach from Boise State. He has won at a school where any good player whose body temperature is at or above 86 degrees will be admitted, regardless of whether they can read and/or write. This is not the case at USC (I know you Bruins think it is, but I assure you it is not). Franklin has experience at a reasonably good private school. That may be important.

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