USC Morning Buzz: Recruits Wanted

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Norm Chow used to get a kick out of the way Pete Carroll stressed out the nights before Signing Day about whether he would have enough scholarships for every recruit he wanted to sign.

Does Clay Helton have the reverse problem? USC has seven scholarships available and at this point it is questionable whether there are enough recruits to fill those scholarships. Remember all the complaints about NCAA sanctions keeping USC from signing a full class? Now USC is off sanctions and might not sign a full class. Yes, cornerback Jack Jones will likely commit just like all Long Beach Poly players USC covets. But what happens if Concord De La Salle duo Boss Tagaloa and Devin Asiasi go to UCLA or elsewhere?

Even if defensive end Connor Murphy of Phoenix signs with USC, will there be many others? Will Jonathan Kongbo spurn Tennessee for USC?

At least USC used a 2017 scholarship this week when it got a commitment from kicker Michael Brown of Linfield Christian, who apparently is a blue shirt, which means he can enroll in the fall but his scholarship counts against the 2017 allotment.

70 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Recruits Wanted”

  1. It was just a couple of weeks ago that you were telling us a coach’s recruiting ability is largely irrelevant, as USC recruits itself. The narrative apparently changes to fit the situation?

  2. There are still JC linemen available,and high school seniors too and that is what they need the most ,maybe a defensive back…if these are very good coaches ,they can develop them…lots of Denvers’ super bowl team were 2-3 star players in high school…and those guys play 4yrs of ball,not 2 and gone…I’m not worried.

    • Very true, however this is not the USC MO. USC has sent more first rounders into the NFL and more All-Americas into the NFL to become more NFL HOFamers than any other school in history. USC didn’t do this with 3 star recruits. We did this with 4-5 star guys. From the days of Howard Jones, we’ve won because we had the best players. McKay used to literally stockpile the best with unlimited rides just to keep talent from playing elsewhere. Robinson had insane amounts of talent and so did Carroll.

      Now suddenly, we’re gonna become the school that develops 3-stars. I might buy that argument were it not for the fact our OL and DL looks like total crap on the field half the time. Too bad we couldn’t sign the big-time guys in the trenches we needed. Indeed, the best in the trenches went to other schools this year.

      • I have been going to games since 1951,and have seen players of all calibers and stars be coached and go to NFL; if they are not coached they are going no where;some 4-5 star ones were coached and went no where or tried and failed;of course on avg a 4-5 star should out perform a 2-3 star coaching being equal quality…I know SC IS COMPARABLE TO ANY PROGRAM,like track and field they sent the most to the Olympics for decades,until equal outcome stupidity took over,ncaa limiting scholarships,etc…if the coaching is not there top10 classes mean nothing,refer to last few years…SC teams in the 50’s and 60’s had 50 athletes,and they had to play both ways…they had excellent coaching most of those years,and back to Howard Jones,it was coaching 1st,players 2nd.SC has developed 3 star players…Denver Broncos have lots of former 2-3 star and some no star…it is the coaching…SC has xlnt current athletes,does it have the coaching???

      • Those guys in the trenches were not all 3 stars. The way I see it, as long as USC is training coaches they may as well do the same with players. Who knows, a new way to climb back up.

  3. Bluntly if Sarkisian were still HC the situation would be the same and maybe worse because the results wins and losses would be the same or worse – there is a real ‘sea change’ in assistants and that’s a plus for everyone.

  5. Awesome upward progress has been made inside the FB program in just a few short weeks.

  6. As usual, a little loose with the facts.

    Pete Carroll routinely did not use all of his scholarships and was not worried if he had enough scholarships to go around. Carroll saved enough scholarships for those recruits announcing on signing day and when some of those recruits went elsewhere, he was left with unused scholarships. Perhaps Carroll was just excited to see how a year of recruiting would turn out?

    The sanctions placed a reduction of 10 scholarships each year so clearly there is no comparison to having a couple unused scholarships.

    I thought commitments were worthless? Better explain that to Michael Brown.

    • So true Carroll actually under recruited a couple of years because he missed on some top recruits and didn’t have back up plans. He didn’t like to bring in guys just to fill spots.

  7. Amazing drama surrounding USC’s incoming class – in large part because not one recruit (except this walk on kicker Brown) has committed to Helton since Sark stumbled out of the job. Pretty shocking and doesn’t paint CH in much positive light. He’s a work in progress who’s learning on the job. SC’s become a proving ground for those types lately. Hope this one finally works out.

    • Jack what are you smoking. We already have 6 guys that are enrolled and one is a 5 star that committed to Helton. Helton is a great recruiter. With the staff change over at the end of the year we had some losses but that is expected. Come tomorrow will be fine.

      • Everybody is freaking out over nothing – if we sign Betiku (which we already did), get the best WR class in the nation (which looks locked up), get a Connor Murphy or ANY decent Dlinemen, a good Safety, along with CB Jack jones, that will be just fine considering the limited rides available this cycle

      • Who’s the 5-star who committed to Helton who wasn’t coming to USC before Helton was named? Nobody, that’s who.

        Bottom line is Helton hasn’t closed any deals on new commits yet. Tomorrow, which is a big question mark, will be day 1 for CH.

        As far as the already enrolled guys, they all committed to Sark and would have signed with USC if a monkey was in charge.

        USC, a school in desperate need of depth, still couldn’t fill all its low number of slots because the Trojans had another very mediocre year, ended badly, named a nobody as HC who lost his #2 recruiter to ucla, and he had a tough time getting other assts, naming numerous fall back choices. This dragged on and only hurt USC in recruiting.

        If you think USC did “fine” in recruiting, you must be on their payroll. USC did fine for a mid-level Pac-12 team. USC did very poorly if you look at USC’s needs and usual ranking stature.

        • Lol.. USC will be fine, they recruited a talentrd 2015 class with many of them being Red/Blue/Grey shirts.. The offense is steller and the defense R/B/Gs will all be a factor in 2016.. The team has plenty of rotation depth from both sides.. 10 win season is not out of the question..

          2017 is the more talented recruiting class anyway!

        • Betiku committed to Helton not Sark. This class will end up in the top 15 which is not bad considering all of the turmoil and losing recruiting coordinator in January. Its not the sky is falling class. I’m not sold on Helton but your read on the assistants is way off base. This is a good group of coaches who have a nice base of players to work with. Come next fall will see how that works out but i’m not losing any sleep over this recruiting class.

          • The problem is USC always has the top Pac-12 recruiting class, so when they don’t – some people think that is a letdown. If they end up being #3 in the Pac-12 as projected, that stills a very good class. I’ll take a #3 recruiting class with better coaches any day.

          • Nobody’s losing any sleep over USC’s class. It’s just not that good. Happens to every team once in awhile.

            They’ll just be a little delayed in returning to power, unless Helton proves to be another bomb. His last two coaching efforts weren’t exactly inspiring. In fact, I’d say the first half against Wisconsin was the worst USC team I have ever seen since 1962.

            Dream on if you think USC filled its needs in the trenches. It looked to me like USC needed 5 more OLs, not 2. I’d say the same for the DL.

            Serra’s Betiku was a well-known lock for USC in recruiting circles once he decommitted from ucla. He announced for USC even though it had no DC and no DL coach. He publicly said he didn’t care who the coaches were at USC and that while coaches come and go, you choose USC because its USC.

            USC has a decent-to-good group of assts, most of whom come in as well-traveled non-distinguished guys. Nobody, except Baxter, has anything other than an ordinary rep, which is why nobody was excited by USC’s hires other than Helton and some total die-hards.

    • Helton has been recruiting for USC for 5 years so he’s not learning on the job on recruiting. Unlike Sark and Kiffin, Helton is well-liked by local high school coaches. And this is very important for recruiting in California.

      • Most coaches can figure out how to recruit in about a month. I was obviously referring to Helton as a HC and his performance so far clearly shows he’s got a lot to learn. Just ask Stanford and Wisconsin.

        Both Sark and Kiffin were actually very well-liked by HS coaches here. Not sure where you picked up otherwise. Kifffin was always a total recruiting gym rat, who, as Carroll’s boy and Monte’s son, was very well-received by So Cal HS coaches. Sark was also very well-liked being very friendly and a local success story and all.

        In fact, Helton is no better liked among HS coaches than either Kiffin or Sark. He’s probably a nicer all-around person, certainly more so than the Kiffer, but he hasn’t commanded any respect as a head coach yet.

        I’m sure USC will recruit a much better 2017 class, but I don’t see why we have to pretend USC filled its needs with this class when it clearly didn’t in the eyes of the analysts and even most casual observers. I think ND and ucla fans are very happy with USC’s effort, which tells you a lot.

        • I think a good recruiter can sell igloos to eskimos. You either can or you cannot sell, there is a learning curve, but personality is a big part of it.

  8. Not only is recruiting down at USC, but can the current coaching staff develop the players that need developing? Because the previous two staffs didn’t, and several lineman look like Tarzan, but played like Jane, over the last five years. Lane Kiffen, and Steve Sarkisian signed several 4, and 5 star players, but they both thought you just had to line them up, and plug them in, but that’s not how it works . Nobody gets more out of his players then Michigan state football coach, Mark Dantonio, and that’s because he’s experienced , and knows what he’s doing, unlike what we’ve had here at USC the last 5 years.

      • Without a doubt, and I’m comfortable with the OL coach, and the defensive coordinator. But I’m still concerned about player, development.

        • That is the question that will be answered next year. Can this coaching staff get these extremely gifted kids to play to their potential. If not, Helton won’t see a third year, and here we go again.

        • Fred I am with you, player development has not been part of the programs the last few years. I give you 5stars that cannot tackle, block, or execute routes.

  9. Optimally you’d want to be able to refill coaching vacancies quickly for recruiting reasons; however you don’t want to fill the coaching position just to please recruits. I think Helton was thinking long-term in waiting offer/hire certain assistants, some whose seasons ended later (BKU the exception). Yes that’s gotta hurt building relationships with recruits THIS year, but going forward as a HC you gotta trust the guys you hire! Coach up the guys that are here, and winning makes recruiting easier. Coaches should be coaches first, recruiters second…”Built it (a winning program) and they will come.”

    • So true. First, you have to give Helton credit for planning long term (getting the right coaches and firing the dead wood before the bowl game). Second, adding coaches a couple weeks earlier would have no effect on recruiting; recruiting is a multi-year, relationship building task and not just walking in with a resume.

    • Normally, new asst coach hires bring along recruits to their new school, just like Tui is taking his guys to ucla and away from USC. For some reason, unless tomorrow is filled with surprises, USC’s new coaches didn’t bring anyone along.

      I’m not saying Helton should have hired coaches sooner just to fill gaps for recruiting. But the truth is, it took him longer to fill spots he wanted because he couldn’t nail his initial targets (BKU for instance was obviously way down the list initially).

      I always said getting the right coaches now was way more important than signing certain players and I still agree with that. However, it’s still shocking USC got hammered in its trench recruiting efforts (both OL and DL) – a big need area – so badly. It just shows that USC has really fallen in the eyes of recruits and because we brought aboard a bunch of no-names, this year we got taken to the cleaners – unless there are some great surprises tomorrow,

  12. Vavae Malepeai…
    An Oregon RB commit 4-star and Army All-American was USC’s secret visitor this past weekend, and Oregon fans are going nuts because they believe USC might have stole him under their nose the same way DeAnthony Thomas was stolen under ours. This could be some payback for DAT.

  13. What if God and Superman got into a fight? What would happen then? If Superman won, would SC lose their ability to recruit the South? And what if the earth failed to rotate on it’s axis? Would we still get enough D-linemen in this class? What if I told you we may not sign a full class in 2016? Would you go insane? Well, would you? I want answers!!!

    • GOD would put a chokehold on Superman and choke him out. I’d Grease up the Axes and get Big BERTHA rotating again, we’ll get some D-line men, and if we don’t sign a full class in 2016, not a problem, we’ll celebrate what we do have over some beers and buffalo wings . Your invitted,I hope I answered all your concerns Monsta!!!

      • 3XL, you’re a life saver! My chest pains are gone, there’s color back in my face, and I’ve canceled that 911 call! Thank you! Beers, wings, and Trojan talk here I come-

      • Well, many people would say Batman isn’t really a superhero because he doesn’t possess powers beyond a normal person. So logically Superman should tear him apart. But there’s something about Batman… he’s like Felix the Cat. Whenever he gets in a fix he reaches into his bag of tricks.

  14. This is NONSENSE – Enough recruits to fill scholarships??? It is 100% GUARANTEED that there are way more football recruits wanting a $200,000 education for free then there are spaces available – it ALWAYS comes down to the coach and his decision on how to use the schollys available, which is why you leave a half dozen empty seats for the top dudes that are last minute-minded (like so many are nowadays)

  15. take a KNEE, woIfman, i GOT THIS!!!!

    this just in from Iowa Caucuses: HIllary is CONFIRMED the WINNER!!!

    AUUUUUU-WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

    take that, you old commie!!!

    oh, i feel so ALIVE!!!!!

    #Can’tStopThisFeeling

    • Would you trust your kids with any of these Bozo’s running for president?
      #HilaryLikesToWatch

    • Are you actually proud of that result? She tied a 74 year old socialist? Did you see old Bill in the background during her speech? He could hardly stay awake and his mouth was open the entire time. And then there was Chelsea…what a family of losers!

        • Mad? Why would I be mad if that hog tied a socialist? Hillary doesn’t give anything, that is why Bill has been chasing skirts for 40 years. She is a dried up prune.

      • Creaky old Bill looked like he just snuck off the set of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Somehow I don’t think he be diddlin’ around anymore with the younger girls. Creepy matchup – he and Cankles. Chelsea’s a real prize, obviously. Look for her to run for some Senate office in about 15 years.

  17. USC has an image problem. Until they clear that up, they’re going to have a hard time recruiting.

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