USC Recruiting Weekend

Defensive tackle Jay Tufele, tailback Stephen Carr, linebacker Gary Johnson, defensive end Hunter Echols, athlete Tony Wallace and defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu are among the recruits visiting USC this weekend. Carr and Echols are committed to USC. Johnson is committed to Texas, Wallace to Arizona and Tuipulotu to Washington. Tufele is uncommitted.

149 thoughts on “USC Recruiting Weekend

    • More like a week late and a c-note short.

      Birdcage has a tough enough time keeping up with the Kiffer, the booger eater, Skinny Jeans and Carroll. That’s a full-time cut-n-past job right there.

      Alert to all USC fans with real recruiting knowledge – please post frequently. It should be fun keeping track of the new USC class which has been completely and quickly re-arranged since USC returned to power.

      Again – a great day. The libt*rds and ucla-types are out and Trump is in. Ya baby. Fight On!

      • Follow the Tuipulotu story.The back story of our recruiting him is like an athlete defecting .If we land him ,Peterson and all Dawg fans will be jumping off bridges.

        • It would be amazing to rip away a great Oregon DL prospect from UW and Petersen, in part because Nansen, his in-home visitor, isn’t even viewed as a strong recruiter. That’s just crazy.

          Does he have any connections to L.A.?Wonder what set him off from UW? Often, there is something going on behind the scenes.

          • Interesting events.I was surprised to read on R.v..s. Scott S who is highly respected,truthful recruiting expert said Nansen is much like coach O. ,and is relentless..
            I love how the Poly kids have developed so much over years.Both UW and USC are strong in Poly tradition and family.
            I have no idea his connections here.SS did drop the hint after Army AA game this might happen.Kids for years have respected ,and talked to SS.
            As with every 17 year old,it’s a rollercoaster.
            So we will see.

          • I love it, you “…love how the Poly kids have developed so much over years.”

            Kindly Petey, fill us curious SW bloggers in what the “Poly kids” have developed that so tickles you.

      • With all due respect, Jack, what does being a liberal have to do with anything? I usually try and stay away from politics as much as possible. I enjoy your insight, humor, and wit even if you keep bashing people like me (a dumb libt*rd).

          • Thanks. I respect Republicans if only because my property taxes went through the roof when I bought a house in the middle class neighborhood of Granada Hills. I can see how big government might not always be the answer.

          • I can see we have hope for you yet. I was at one time a hair on fire liberal till I started to see the light. (where my taxes were going)

        • It’s a great day for us conservatives. We’ve waited a long time and are very grateful for the policies and changes which will hopefully be implemented.

          I don’t mean to offend you and sorry about that. The insufferable little gutty Trolls are my target.

          • I get that. No offense taken. You are always classy. Congratulations. We all want what is best for the country. Hey, the last time a Republican was in office, it was a great time to be a Trojan and a Trojan fan.

            Here’s to good times and great health.

          • Trump will be a very interesting, if unpredictable, experience.

            I’m really looking forward to a massive reduction of the many regulations which currently strangle so much of American business and enterprise. Will be exciting to see what we can do with the ridiculous handcuffs off.

            Great health to you too. And a fantastic recruiting class would be very sweet!

        • Actually, it’s mindset. In the words of P.J. O’Rourke, “Liberals are perpetually like spoiled children. Constantly whining, complaining, and throwing a tantrum when things don’t go their way.”

          • I prefer Churchill (paraphrased): If you are young and not a liberal, you are a coward. If you are old and not conservative, you are stupid. Something like that. I hope I never become too whiny and complain too much, or throw a tantrum.

        • ” I usually try and stay away from politics as much as possible”…Ha! that’s a laugher. You were on here pontificating on Hillary before the election. The when Hillary lost you had zero to say. Now you are all butt hurt, I bet you were teary all day watching the Inauguration.

  1. If Tuipulotu actually shows up, I think we might get him. Washington has a policy(under Petersen) that once you commit, they don’t let you take anymore visits(as I understand it). If he shows then he has clearly broken the rules of coach Petersen. Petersen could make an exception for this one guy but he doesn’t seem like the kind of a guy who would do that. Tuipulotu is obviously very interested in SC. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be willing to break the rules to take this visit. If Petersen rules him out at Washington, you would think that SC would be the place that he would want to come. I’ll believe it when he actually shows up.

    • Nansen flew up and did in home I think it was Wednesday.That freaked Washington.Thursday Tui was to meet with a Husky coach,Tui didn’t show.
      Now he planned visit here.Dawgs trying to talk him out of visit.
      What Tui wants is to still enroll this month in class USC. Some say USC has worked a way.Classes start end of month UW. So the intrigue is on.
      Regardless Nansen shook the tree pretty hard.

      • I hope they get him. I was looking at some of his film. This guy is a beast. He’s in the other teams backfield on every play. He just bull rushes and runs over people. Then once he gets into the backfield and starts roaming around, he’s pretty quick.

        • They must have some way to get him in early because if that’s his condition(that he get is as an EE) then why even bring him over here if they can’t meet that condition?

    • In his mind, Chris Petersen probably thinks he’s going to control what verbal commits do… lmao and what are the consequences for a 5 star if he takes another visit? Petersen has zero leverage with that controlling, nonsense, because he’s not going to cut off his nose to spite his face.

      • Agree Fred, the ‘no-visit’ position at UW will be tested…and I recall quite a few eyebrows were raised when Iowa lost one of their most coveted recruits due to the same “no-visit” policy.

        My thinking-if you are a confident program, as USC should be, why care if the kids perform due diligence??

        • I think Chip Kelly had a policy like that when he was up at Oregon. Weird. If my kid were ever in a position like that and some coach told him that, I’d tell him to run away and not look back.

          • Further Fred, many of these kids may not have the means or opportunity to travel at a young age…a time when we are all impressionable. These trips are an amazing opportunity to enjoy being treated well…something we all enjoy. And these recruits deserve…

            This policy may well have a finite shelf time…

      • I would say that either Petersen sticks to his own rules or he must abandon them. You can’t have rules for everyone except one guy. I hope he sticks with his rules. That way SC will get this guy. The guy really did look good on tape.

  2. I hearing Tuipulotu is all USC. Will be enrolling next week. Recruiting is blowing up. Just a matter of finding the space for people who want to come. Clay spent the week flying around on private jet closing deals.
    #ABC #Gonnabegreat!

  3. Looking forward to signing day. Cautiously optimistic, but I am not about to get over my skiis and think we are going to get all the big targets we go after. Will be interesting to see who of the “informed” will be proven right and who will be shown to be blowing smoke.

      • I have been reading about sports and listening to sports & watching sports shows for over 40 years. I am at a total loss as what to make of our host. I have never come across another writer like him. Is he truly a bitter , negative person? Is his perspective sincere or is it all a calculated sctick? (sp?) . I appreciate this blog as I get some interesting news from some interesting guys, so I don’t want it to go away. But I sometimes think it would be nice to get something Inside from the Insider.

        • You called it pretty much as it is.Calculated sctick.Who believes its his niche.Small fish in a small bowl…I enjoy most who post here.I think it stays small,only because of the sctick.
          Again you see it for what it is.

          • Bayless makes millions for being an Ahole. Cowherd makes millions for having hot takes. Russo in NY makes millions for being a wild man. I get why someone would exaggerate their personality to advance their career. But to be the guy who intentionally antagonizes an entire fan base just to get internet clicks for a local paper; is that who you want to be? I can’t believe, or maybe don’t want to believe someone would consciously do that.

          • The people you mentioned,have still cultivated coaches and players and others inside the industry.WW has very few.What you read is who you get.

          • It’s been this way for many, many YEARS. It’s Birdcage’s personality and life station – an outsider fighting to be relevant in the media when he can’t write well and isn’t connected.

            USC is his only lifeline. Not a bad gig at all if you can get it. And he keeps it by being negative. We could all turn him off in a second. But he’s the only game in town, so he sticks even though USC deserves a lot better.

          • It sure seems to me that in years past he would have information on recruiting. He has absolutely zero input this year. Only what he cuts and pastes.

        • Birdcage has the greatest blog gig of all time, just riding on USC’s coat tails.

          He’s here to stir the pot with negativity and pessimism every day while Trojans with actual insider knowledge come in to stomp him down and balance out his bitterness.

          It’s a very unique set up that only works because USC is such a big deal as both a school and an athletic program.

          Now that football is back big again, especially with Heisman frontrunner Darnold, Birdcage is swimming upstream all the way. The USC people just keep piling it on him and he has no way to sound reasonable – or connected.

          • Jack, based on what you know: does anyone at SC respect our host? Does he have any go to sources? Or does all his info come from sources available to everyone? I know it says something less than flattering about me if I am interested in this guy. But it is like a car crash I can’t look away from.

          • Birdcage has nothing inside. Nothing. But SC’s so exposed everywhere that he can cut-n-paste from dozens of outlets and put his negative spin on it and voila!

            I come here for the SC people’s input and to disparage the creepy Trolls. Otherwise, there literally would be no reason to show up to read anything here.

          • The blogger doesn’t seem to have his finger on the pulse things, as his blog title suggests. GM is plugged in to the pipeline and I feel as if there are some valid contributions from the solid SC crew on this thread…

        • Forty years to learn to spell shtik?

          Who said bozo u grads aren’t well read?

          “Master, wasn’t it Clarabell?

          “Correct Grasshopper.”

  4. Something I’ve heard from someone who doesn’t reveal much, and is close to program.Stevie T. has been very vocal in Poly community concerning USC. Kids look up to him.Assuming Stevie goes on to play pro,after I think he will have a place on staff.
    Love Darnold,Juju,Adorre yet think Stevie was our most unsung MVP

    • Spot on Peter…I can assure you that Stevie T has had a wonderful experience this year and will do his best to sell the program.

      His year was a solo win-win, as he indeed was essential to our success, and as he will point out to the young Poly kids-USC provided a HUGE stage for him…his stock to play at the next level has rallied.

      Oh, and he’s a really nice guy-he will actually graciously return your twitter messages if you have something intelligent to say;)

    • We would have been dead on D without him. He was a true godsend and I’m so happy he was also able to use USC to his great benefit.

  5. #1 TARGET TO CLOSE ON==DT Jay Tufele. We are in need of DT’S and he’s the real deal. Kenechi Udeze has to reel in an impact DT.

    • Utah offered his younger Bro a ride this week.His brother is in 8th grade.That got Jay’s attention.

      • He should go where he feels comfortable at. There’s no guarantee his brother will play ball for Utah, he may want to play for BYU, SC etc, Tufele has to do whats best for him. Hopefully he’s got his mind on his own future

        • Too bad southern cal was banking on Andrus to automatically commit to southern cal because he lives down the street from southern cal … but the boy was tired of living in the hood!

          • Andrus is a bust, bad tape and not to mention bad grades ..USC dropped him professor…He will be playing JC ball sooner than later.. Lots to fix with your 4-8 scrubs ..

          • Ted. I can honestly say that Andrus was completely lost in the shuffle. He probably strung SC along, but i haven’t heard anything on him all year. He was never on my personal radar. Have you noticed that Eddie Vanderdoes, Eldridge Massington, Jordan Payton, Ellis McCarthy, Kiley Fitts all went to UCLA because we couldn’t take them, Vanderdoes bounced when we started playing bad. Your welcome.

            Think about it….Mique’s dad forced him to Westwood. We dropped Lil Snoop but you all think you beat us for him. Chris Clark was a Trojan until Tyler Petite joined. Darnay Holmes dad hustled his son to you guys.

            Are you following me?

          • Dead on point Sam…Mique is a disaster and hasn’t been recently involved with the team…we’re fortunate to be rid of him. And frankly if a recruit isn’t on board fully SC has a century of history and hardware that says eventually we will find the personnel we desire

          • His dad wanted him to be a Trojan, then he after Sark was fired he pushed Mique to UCLA. Who knows if he even wanted to play in the Pac12, he probably wanted to play at Ole Miss or BYU.

          • Once again, Sammy, you know this how.

            Did Mique’s dad cry on your truck driving shoulder and tell you he pushed Mique to hard, like like Marv pushed Todd.

            If only your brain was 1/8 the size of big mouth you’d be in pretty good shape.

          • Osa Messina is an ugly disaster. B. Dixon is a disaster. Kiffy was a disaster, Sark was huge disaster, “St Pat” was a disaster.

            Mealy mouthed Rah-Rah’s claim bozo u is an elite CFB college program – 52 – 6 bozo public disaster.

            Reggie Bush was a disaster, Emperor Carrot, a huge disaster. The “unfinished bidness” season a stone cold disaster.

            The Boston College Massacre, a come from ahead disaster. bozo u’s BB program an 0 forever disaster, andyain’twinning is a disaster. Az vs bozo u BB attendance is disaster. bozo u men’s Volleyball team a disaster.

          • Not sure if they were massacred, since Custer started the fight, but the LS made sure Custer wouldn’t be back.

          • 50-0 is an embarrassment and a disaster. 4-8 is imploding. Losing the last two years to your arch rival and next year is a disaster. U Clowns/Commies Lose Again is embarrassing and a waste of money.

          • I know, according to you Sammy everybody wants to play for the bozos, but their daddy’s won’t let them.

            No wonder, the bozo FB staff is running planting large hickies on recruit booties.

            “Didn’t you see bozo u luck out and win the RB.”

            “No sir, but I did see the bozos lose to Alabama 52 – 6 w/o scoring a TD.”

      • Hunter Echols will be working on Tufele and Tuipulotu this weekend. He was recruiting for us at the Army Game, now he has to help Udeze close with these DT’S.

          • Ted, why don’t you worry about your crappy little bruins? Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll beat CAL next year and win more than four games.

            You might even be able to petition for a horrible bowl game. Slink back into your hole, where you little gutties roam free.

          • Maybe we could have one of their fathers coach a 7 on 7 team and pay him 100K. That might work.

          • Signing day isn’t here yet. On that day come back and see the haul that USC will have.

      • Offering an 8th grader, to me, reveals desperation on the part of the Utes…much akin to Kiffins kooky Sills offer

    • With Tui it will come down to if he can still enroll here this month.From what I understand Nansen took a plan up to him Wednesday.Nansen’s visit,Tui missing a visit Thursday from UW is Freaking out UW.

    • What I don’t understand, is why bozo u is groveling so hard for 3 star recruits.

      Sammy, according to the Rah-Rah crew, the RB win should’ve locked up every available 5 star recruit for bozo u – no sweat.

      Apparently, some recruits want extra hickies, and bozo u is happy to oblige.

      Sammy, bozo u could also use a BB team.

        • Gosh Sammy, that score is irrelevant.

          What’s impressively hilarious is 4 – 8 UCLA is set to have a better FB recruiting year than the mighty bozos.

          Apparently, the best 2017 recruit doan’t give a Sh*t about your go to 36 – 14 whine.

          Instead, the recruits you want saw the 52 – 6 bozo u slaughter by Alabama.

          They remember 1) All mouth and no game bozo u; 2) no FB guts bozo u; 3) no TD bozo u; 4) blaming the game loss on MB etc. etc etc excuses.

          Now CS u wants to steal a U-Dub committed recruit. It seems CS u can’t recruit its own recruits or keep them.

          Didn’t CS u lose a player to Indiana U. LOL Sammy. Grovel on!

          • Burgess saw the writing on the wall. That’s a why he’s at Indiana.

            And UCLA won’t have a better class. And even if they do we’ll stomp the bruins out on the field.

          • What did the wall say Sammy?

            Well the bozo U men’s Volleyball didn’t tonight – losers!

          • Squatter, Thug U aka is worldly teknown for stealing. Every time I pay taxes, money how to that dump called ugly.

      • Yup. And USC gets the Stars. UCLA has to go to small schools like Jesuit High to get their 3Stars. Now Jesuit High is a 6-A in Portland. Doing a little research you will find Portland has population of about 633,000 with approximately a little over 2mil in the metropolitan area. Now the question is-How good is Jesuits’s competition vs schools like Corona Centennial, Narbonne or Vista Murrieta to name a few. This year USC will finally be up to full scholarships. UCLA had a golden opportunity to go up on USC in recruiting. What did Mora say, “We Own This Town” Ha-Ha. Seems like a long time ago….Fight On!

  6. Exciting to watch the class take form…but I try to keep a level head and wait it out. Some folks throwing barbs at Helton and Co when we know SC tends to close well.

    Ask yourself why Helton and staff are essentially incommunicado-on “information blackout”…cause they working like madmen to close…grab a glass and watch the next 10 days unfold;)

  7. Man, at the expense of sounding racist, those Polynesians are ballers. It’s like those guys were born to play the sport. I remember reading some SI article about how something like 1 out of every 6 (it may have been even lower) players from Tonga (it may have been some other polynesian island) went D!.

    I read it a long, long, long time ago.

    • It’s not racism…

      Humans, like great horses, have certain body types dictated by genetics…bloodlines mean something. And you are correct, at one point in time (not sure now) there was a significant statistical increase in Poly players making things happen in football. Meaning, the finite numbers Poly players represented in D1 were far greater than the tiny population of Poly folks should have theoretically produced.

      • You are racist… I guess you believe Blacks can’t swim because they lack buoyancy to swim well.

        Racist On!

      • On the woman’s side of sport,I’ve coached or been coaching director in Volleyball for many fine Poly players. 3 All American. 1 #55’s niece.
        Poly athletes also play great Rugby and Aussie rules football.

        • I’ve had the pleasure of many happy dealings with pacific islanders as friends and teammates in childhood, and now as associates and patients…

          • A blessing in life ,is it not?Family culture that enriches life.I was very fortunate to live in Hawaii late 70’s and 80’s..There I learned much of the Pacific Islands cultures, environments,Arts and Ohana. Its enriched my
            Life and Writing.
            Martin,we are both quite blessed.!

  8. Pili trending away from USC could be a positive…perhaps he sees bigger names moving our way?

    • Probably, but after watching his tape, i like Tagovailoa-Amosa a lot more because he played against some big Hawaiian OLineman and he was killing them. Pili was up against small looking OLines from what i seen.

      • Agreed…a Pili loss is not a stressor.

        But Sam tell me, I see our interior D-lineas such-

        R Green-5*
        K Bigelo-5*(acl recovering)
        J Fatu-serviceable needs more size and tools
        Malik Dorton-4*-doesn’t fit our system
        J Daniels-4* big body from Clovis but hasn’t developed?? (Why?)
        C Rector-3* looked serviceable but needs refinement

        And another acl casualty I can’t recall…

        We need to close on these 5 star DL if humanly possible, but to your knowledge is there a residual issue or reason we can’t develop/rely on our current stock?

        Folks are sure edgy about this around here…

        • Malik Dorton isn’t a DT. He shouldn’t be inside. But he’s also not gonna play over Gustin, Betiku and Murphy. Heard he may consider transferring. Daniel’s was in tbe doghouse with BKU from what i heard, i could be wrong but i had high hopes for him, I’m not ready to give up on him yet.
          Kenny Bigelow bulked up and added some weight, he’s supposed to play NT. I think he can make an impact if he can stay healthy, whatever we get from him is gravy since he’s hardly seen the field at SC. But Green is gonna have a huge season, he really came on strong. Fatu is solid but i think Kenny Bigelow will win the NT spot, he got some experience and who knows. Rector was more of a project, he was a TE that was raw on defense, Wilson’s guy so he might have wait behind some more polished players.

          But that said i am a little concerned that Daniel’s hasn’t got going since he was highly rated. Noah Jefferson was gonna be a stud and he bounced (also heard NJ and Udeze didn’t get along). But Conner Murphy should might be moving inside.

          Kenechi Udeze has been under the radar so far as a DL coach and recruiter, our DLine really didn’t get to the QB until mid season so he needs to show that he can progress next season, for now he has to land these DT’S Tufele, Solomon, Tuipulotu, Farrell.

          • Thanks Sam…high hopes for Daniel haven’t panned thus far but fingers crossed…if Kenny B has bulked up and spent the last year working to return to form we could be playing with house money…former 5*, knows the system, has size and is hungry to get after it…post acl recon shouldn’t be an issue…

    • Better watch yourself fella… you haven’t earned the right to be even a little sarcastic.

      I see a ban in your future!

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