In my analysis for today’s paper, I write about the constant turnover on the USC coaching staff. That does not mean keeping a bad coach, but making sure you get it right when you hire the next one.
Excerpt: For the defensive linemen, Ed Orgeron taught one system. He was replaced for two years by Chris Wilson. This year, defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast is coaching the defensive ends while Kenechi Udeze handles the tackles.
For a fourth-year senior, that means four different coaches. A similar argument could be made by USC’s offensive linemen. Senior offensive tackle Zach Banner’s had a different offensive line coach every year. Full story here
So you’re finally falling in line with the Helton loyalists, huh? Good for your Scottie. Hopefully he beats UCLA and Notre Dame for you.
Helton does need to upgrade his staff, will he, who knows. Every coach out there knows Helton is on a short leash, do they want to move to LA and all that goes with it only to be unemployed in a year ?
Who would you replace? And if he replaces anyone again, doesn’t that kind of enforce Wolfs point?
Do you keep idiots ? Do you keep people who can’t coach ? If you’re running a business, do you keep non productive people ?
I’d can the idiot Martin, the can’t coach em up OL coach and the conditioning coach
I do agree with the conditioning coach. Don’t think we need another OL coach, these guys have been through to many already.
The OL can’t coach, this OL is awful. He has to be replaced with someone who can coach. Problem is, Helton can’t attract that coach
Martin an idiot? Why? He was the lone voice trying to plead Helton to start Sam Darnold. His play calling is getting better. Oh and by the way Adoree Jackson and Juju Smith sign with Florida and Oregon if Tee’s not here.
I’m inclined to your outlook. It’s not reasonable to propose the replacement of assistants, unless the HC has a long, successful tenure and lots of talent himself.
As to replacing Helton, maybe or maybe not, depending on who really wants the job at the end of the season. What is the point in replacing Helton with other than a super-promising candidate with relevant experience.
Setting aside for a moment whether tentative interest would have led to accepting the job, I only heard mention of two extremely desirable and supposedly interested candidates–Peterson and Chip Kelly. The guy at TCU or Sumlin might have been promising, but only Peterson and Kelly seemed highly likely to succeed.
Totally risk-free candidates are almost never to be found, but given the recent history of too much change, it’s not reasonable to make a change, except to someone whose talents very likely portend great things.
Hopefully, Lynn Swann is investigating the actual possibilities.
The problem is, Helton doesn’t have the resume’ to attract better position coaches. Who wants to work for a HC who worked under disfunctional HC’s and himself learning on the job? You see what he was “able to hire” for this season…
Oh I know, that’s why he has the coaches that he has now
USC has only had two legitimate coaches on their staff over the last five years, Tim Drevno, and Ed Orgeron. And guess what? SC didn’t want either one if them, Drevno who had complaint’s from the athletic administration for being too abrasive to the staff, and he also had conflict with Steve Sarkisian about his coaching methods. So quite naturally he jumped when Jim Harbaugh came calling, and now we can see first hand what the Michigan Wolverines are doing. And we all know Orgeron’s story , and where he is today. That’s why USC is where tgey are today, and are a underachieving, Joke .
It’s about having adults on your staff, men who will tell you what you DON’T want to hear. That’s what sunk PC in the end, he surrounded himself with children and USC has paid the price since he left because they kept hiring the children.
That’s very true. Pat Haden… Smh
But rah rahs only want Happy News!
Bravo, well said. Oh, thanks Pat Haden. Grrr.
No way Drevno was going to stay at USC. Even if he had the opportunity he was gone as soon as Jim Harbaugh had a job. Drevno was in between jobs.
Drevno first met Harbaugh at the University of San Diego in 2004. At the time, Drevno was 35 with an already impressive coaching resume that featured stops at six different schools. Harbaugh — as has always been the case — was venturing out on his own path to begin a head coaching career.
Just four years removed from his playing career at the time, Harbaugh ignored the advice of some around him who suggested he take a more traditional path as an assistant coach, and took a chance at non-scholarship USD. When he arrived, he talked with several staffers about future jobs with him. Two stayed. Drevno was one of them.
And outside of one season at USC in 2013, Drevno’s remained by Harbaugh’s side ever since — as he’s been on his staffs at USD, Stanford, the San cFrancisco 49ers and now at Michigan.
After 11 seasons together, Drevno and Harbaugh think alike. They work alike. They even talk alike.
Obviously…I think the current crew is working well together …now.
I guess last spring and fall practices they were clueless. I don’t see how anyone could miss the differences at q/b…I saw it when I finally watched them both play…glad they found out before it was too late.
But man, after the 1st half of the first game, it became too late. You think a Saban or a Meyer or a Stoops would have stayed with Max this long?
They wouldn’t have started him to begin with. Look how long it took Saben to pull his QB and go with the new guy, not long.
Hell no!
We are playing really, really bad teams now.
Not nearly as much as it helps having a fantastic QB leading the Trojans now. The entire team plays different today and that’s not just because of the competition. Stanford wasn’t that good – and they completely drilled us. With Darnold we easily could have won that game. With Browne, we had no chance.
Best of luck to Browne at wherever his next stop is. He’ll leave USC with a grad degree in business. Not bad. He just wasn’t good enough to lead the Trojans out of the muck. I’m betting Darnold is. And if the coaches get smart and emphasize the of signing talented OLs and DLs, we can return to power.
That seems to escape most of the posters here
timmay, We are looking good on both sides of the ball and IMPROVING each game, something not seen for AGES, Typically, under Kiffin and Sark, the performance of the Trojan Football Team deteriorated as the season progressed. Not good then. Much better now.
I don’t think Colorado was a bad team. But the AZ teams did kind of suck.
we have played good teams hurting at q/b…we have ours,finally…I think we would have beat all of them BUT Bama…if…
SW makes some good arguments on the state of the USC football program. Your “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” in making coaching changes with this present condition of the program. It is a very hard question to answer if you go along with the instances Wolf states. My gripe is how the administration allowed this program to evolve where it is today in making poor choices in HC, lying to the public in making those choices and ignoring the signs of disaster until something had to be done since PC left. It is almost reasonable to think the administration allowed the football program to crash or whither away. This post is about the players having to contend with more coaching changes than normal. this is a symptom of that carelessness. As for those players like Porter, who changed playing positions, it is a matter of team needs or, the coaching staff not using their scholarships proportionately to develop the depth needed in important positions like the D-line (not WRs). You better bet the farm if Swann brought in a defensive minded HC, the lines on both sides would have sufficient depth.
Nikias is chasing billionaires trying to get into their wallet and the BOT is loaded with do gooder PC liberals who couldn’t care less about football. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next coach was a homeless transgender recovering drug addict
Lmao
LOL
Oh no you hurt Clay and sas’s feelings.
2 bend over ankle grabbing libs
Did you see that the PC Liberal do gooders like sas and Clay and Jethrahrah are now going to get rid of the Sooner mascot at Oklahoma?
Well put David
The hemorraghing of assistants under Pete Carroll cost us some ‘nc’s in the last 3 years of Pete’s stint – it truly did.
The comments by SW are legitimate and true.
For the record, this was a good, thoughtful article. Good show, Wolf.
On man, you are actually going on record praising Wolf? Please consider never, ever, doing it again. lol
Just giving props to the article, but look at Wolf working bye week like a mother.
Anyone else think Kenechi Udeze and the DLine play are flying under the radar? Besides Nwosu getting his sacks on blitzes we really have no sacks. Gustin is playing well on the edge and is just a missing, we’re young and Noah Jefferson is missing, but I thought BKU would somehow be a quicker upgrade over Wilson.
Story is out that an NFL source indicates that one (and possibly two) College Programs have expressed an interest in Norv Turner. Wonder who?