74 thoughts on “USC Question Of The Night

  1. You forgot to put Kyle Wittingham, Jack Del Rio, or Chip Kelly. Those seem to be the names that some sites keep mentioning.

  2. Bronco Mendenhall from BYU, Kyle Whitingham, Jon Gruden. Don’t want a newly promoted assistant. Need a proven motivator with charisma to recruit. A guy that really knows defense, then get an A1 offensive coordinator.

  3. Stop putting together your Christmas wish list. It’s way to early to start with this crap. No point in making a hire till the college and NFL seasons are over. (Both are only 1/3 of the season through)
    Have no idea who is going to be available then. (Look how great that turned out for Michigan)

    This next hire has to be done RIGHT. let’s just hope Helton doesn’t embarrass us the rest of the season

  4. Just a thought. Carrol having gone back and proved himself in the nfl. Tired and need a change of scenery. Feels bad about how he left the program. What if he wants to come back and resurrect the prigram.

    • Bad idea, didn’t work for Bill Walsh, John Robinson, and others. Never go back to a school you had success at. All you can do is fail

  5. Whoever the head coach is, pat haden should have nothing do to with the selection process. This whole fiasco is at the feet of Haden, who has made a mockery of this entire sad episode. The whole athletic department administration needs a complete house cleaning starting with Haden.

  6. None of the above. Who knows?– But it should be done by committee and not left up to Haden by himself. He has struck out too many times.

    And Sark. I know alcoholism creates an irresistible craving, but drunk in the morning before a practice?– If you were to rate alcoholics on a 1 to 10 scale, 1 being the worst, I hate to think what Sark’s rating would be.

    • Of course I have no evidence, but honestly, I think it’s more than alcohol, having dealt with alcoholism in my family.

  7. Listen, USC has always had the philosophy of hiring a head coach who has yet to prove he can win big. And then if he does, then pays him the big dollars. Well, USC has gotten burned more times than not with this attitude and is now going nowhere fast. USC needs to find a big name coach who has already proven he can win championships and pay him the money.

    • i have just consulted with a clubhouse lawyer, and Bruin Rob says the trOXans cannot legally fire borrOcho. he is job-protected by a NUMBER of statutes, so when he is deemed cured, he MUST be returned to his job.

      #ItsTheLaw

      • I have no horse in this race. However I think there is likely to be something like a morals clause or other loophole to shove Sarkisian out. They will give him a payoff of some kind doubtless to make it go more smoothly. But they aren’t gonna keep him and I’m betting they have a buyout in the contract anyway. But in this case I think a smaller buyout is in the cards.

        • KU hired a budding alcoholic that developed into a full blown problem. A smart lawyer can blame the problem on KU and the pressure to win at all cost.

          Sark didn’t actually do anything illegal, he just exhibited a severe alcohol problem and poor judgment affected by alcohol.

          Hey, alcohol was made available in the LR after KU games, so Sark might claim KU facilitated his drinking habit.

          Nobody hires a junkie to inventory pharmaceutical supplies.

          Bit of a sticky wicket for the KU legal team.

          • Well lawyers will argue anything they can. Doubtless there will be a negotiation. But the pressure to win at all costs is exactly in the job description; especially at SC. They can’t get traction on that. And I was in management for 30 years, a guy shows up drunk to work he is eligible to be fired for cause. Lots of other factors might come into play here but their case for firing for good cause and no termination is at least as good as his. I call it a draw at worst.

          • The bottom line is Sark was hired with a pre-existing condition – a drinking problem.

            It’s not smart showing up to work juiced, but not illegal. Sark should have been relieved of duty, for medical reasons, after the rally incident, but Haden failed to act for a host of reasons.

            In short, KU is stewing in a mess of its own making, and if it comes to legal pugilism, I’d say Sark’s side holds the high ground.

          • I don’t care too much but….

            I don’t know that a “pre-existing condition” means you can’t be fired for coming to work drunk. The second time. Did they know of this condition and hire him anyway? That probably makes a difference. If it was known to them that is something they can be held to, but if not…

            ADA says you have to make “reasonable accommodation” for a disability and the first claim SC could make would be that there is no reasonable accommodation for this; the employer is still entitled to have the job performed; and his absence and the nature of the problem severely harms the program from performing and recruiting, impacts revenues, etc.

            And coming to work intoxicated is not protected, period. It is bad conduct and justifies a for-cause dismissal. I managed enough employees to know all that.

            The biggest question is what the contract provides really. Termination for bad cause (not defined as failing to win games) may not be treated differently but I would bet they have some sort of an out for behavior that discredits the school or the program. Look back to Alabama…these are high dollar contracts, they put something in there.

      • I will bet Sark is want to do the right thing and that will be to resign with some sort of buyout. There is a time when you finally admit you are over your head and in trouble.

  8. Until USC decides to hire a qualified experienced athletic administrator, which is something they have not had in decades, they will continue to walk in place, and struggle with basic decision making skills . The problem may be deeper than Pat Haden, and may fall square on the lap of Max Nikias .

    • You are right about that. Pat Haden’s replacement is #1. See what Helton does. Then decide who the next Football coach is. Nikias sure hasn’t handled things in San Diego very well either.

  9. take a KNEE wolfman i GOT THIS!!!!

    you have KILLED IT with scoops today, so allow ME to break this news: UCLA downed Southern Cal in Mens Water Polo to REMAIN ranked #1!!!!

    i was ALREADY feeling TINGLY all over wolfman…and when i say all over, i mean ALL OVER, if you KNOW what i MEAN!!!

    #ItKeepsGettingBetter

  10. It turns out Pat Haden’s decision to hire Sark was THE most altruistic coaching move in history of college football. It not only helped UW get rid of the drunken coach to replace him with a REAL coach in Chris Petersen, but also rewarded Sarkisian with millions for his services that have done more harm to SC’s program than good. Yep, I bet Haden is one helluva guy. lol.

    • I’m not sure Chris Petersen’s one victory qualifies him as a better choice. Ask the people in Washington. Verdict is not quite in on this yet.

      • OK, one victory doesn’t make him a world-conquering hero. But as far as I know, he doesn’t have a substance abuse issue, and that’s something Sarkisian cannot claim.

  11. First off I disagree with those of you who want Haden’s head..He came into a mess and has had to make more tough decisions in 3 years than most have had to make in ten. He has not been perfect, but we are lucky to have him. Most people like him even though most hate USC. The fact he is on the CFP committee is evidence of that.The funny thing is most UCLA people I know hate USC but respect Pat Haden. In addition, most UCLA people I know don’t like their own AD Dan Guerrero.

    Lastly, with Ed Orgeron. We all love what he did for USC. However, these are the three facts you should know why Haden did not choose him to be our Head Coach:

    1)The team he took over at Ole Miss was better than the one he left.

    2) The teams that followed him at Ole Miss were much better than the team he left.

    3) He won three conference games in three years at Ole Miss.

    We can argue Haden choosing the wrong coach in Sark, but he made the right decision passing on Orgeron.

    • Agreed. Whatever is being said now, two years ago no one in college football had any reason to believe or predict that Sark was going to self destruct. So, although it’s easy to blame and criticize Pat today, the truth is he selected Sark on the best available evidence at the time —including Sark’s familiarity with the University and PAC 12 recruiting and recruits (i.e., Pat played the hand he was dealt and he played it well —unforseeable circumstances notwithstanding).

      And, don’t forget, Pat could come out of this smelling like a rose if Helton goes on a tear—which is not inconceivable given the talent he has to work with.

  12. Cadre Question Of The Night: is dog-piling onto Southern Cal wrong???

    1) No, they made fun of Jack and Vanderdont’s injuries

    2) Not Sure

    3) How can it be wrong, when it feels so RIGHT????

    #ClickToViewResults

    • Wolf didn’t break the story.
      If you ever used any other source for Southern Cal info you’d be aware of that.

      • Really?? Please tell who broke it before the wolfman, I want to congratulate them!!! Takes a super journalist to beat the wolfman to a scoop!!

        I furiously googled it when wolfman’s post appeared about Sark not being at practice, it was clear he sniffed out the story BEFORE Paddy Boy make the announcement.

        #Waiting

        • LA Times had it on their website before Wolf was reporting
          “Steve Sarkisian fired?” and you got all exited.

          Like I was saying earlier, you should get out more.

          • sorry, first thing i did when i saw wolfman’s post was check LAT, and ESPN for corroboration they had nothging….i didn’t see anyone break the story about him missing practice, everyone else’s first story was after the presser at about 2:20 when Paddy Boy put Helton in charge.

            FURTHER, while the other reporters sat there like statues, only the WOLFMAN pressed O’Hadden for more info, which he declined to answer.

            CLEAN SWEEEEP for the wolfman on this one!!!!

            he ALSO broke the tarmac story!!!!

            why don’t you man up and give the Devil his DUE???

            #Wolf>Satan

  13. Quick Thought: isn’t HELTON the guey who kept calling pass plays in the loss to U-Dub even though the two RB’s were rolling thru the Dawg D like a fridge going downhill on roller skates???

    well, i guess having the world’s worst play caller is better than….

    well, i guess it was him or Wilcox!!

    #LesserOfTwoEvils

  14. People are assuming a proven HC wants to come to USC… would you? CA Taxes, traffic, RE prices and the USC politics all suck… no way comparable to a HC job is midwest/southern locations.

  15. There are no Bear Bryant’s,Bud Wilkinson’s,Frank Broyles,etc…but there are some real good ones available;they will inquire if they feel qualified;and SC should begin looking,he needs to be one that can command a great staff also;sorry it came to this for the coaches,and especially the current athletes and potential recruits;it will set SC football back as long as questions linger;a wise AD would already have a list,based on last year and this year…a wise one would…a wise one…

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