Transfer Talk

I mentioned two weeks ago that offensive lineman Roy Hemsley might be transferring to San Diego State. Linebacker Olajuwon Tucker is also expected to transfer and safety Jamel Cook, who always seemed to be at cornerback instead of his natural position, could also be departing.

114 thoughts on “Transfer Talk

  1. All things considered, isn’t having all three transfer a lot better for USC than having them “retire” three days before the Notre Dame game —the way Kenny Bigelow did.

    • Didn’t he become a ” coach ” of some sort for USC for like a week? Isn’t he now playing somewhere else ?

      • Correct, Gomer. [So let me amend my post: Isn’t having all three transfer ASAP better than having Helton designate them all “temporary coaches until they transfer in their own sweet time”]?

    • Bigelow will always go down as one of the all time USC busts.

      The fact that Helton anointed him as some special mentor/coach for the world’s shortest time before he split for good was strange to say the least.

      • I’m sure Helton thinks of that move as high diplomacy—but there are times when someone should be told to shove it.

      • Couldn’t agree with you more about Bigelow the bust.

        Helton might be more calculating than we think. I like the fact that he doesn’t throw his players under the bus- he does this almost to a fault.

        Long term and sometime down the road, Bigelow may have a moment of clarity and see how much Helton went out on a limb to protect him. That could be a good thing for the young man. It reminds of what Helton did with Nwosu, but with a less productive ending.

        Just my opinion, Jack.

        • …and it also possible that Coach Helton is so irrationally afraid of post departure criticism by players that he tries to buy them off with charity & good deeds….
          #…WhichResultsInLackOfTeamDiscipline…..
          #…TheResultsOfWhichWereSeen….
          #…InSothBend….
          #….andCottonBowl

          • Coach Helton is neither irrational or afraid. Michael, might you be the one who is irrational and afraid of the peckers ? To insinuate that Coach Helton would “Buy them off” is a catastrophic smear on Helton’s good name, something that delights the peckers, your buddies ??.,

          • Michael, I took a deep breath and counted to ten. schammer47 feels much better. Thanks.

          • I didn’t mean to offend you, schammer. I like Helton, too. He works his butt off for USC. I just wonder why bends over backwards for guys who haven’t given much back.

          • Bigelow wouldn’t have lasted more than 2 years at USC under McKay and would have been unceremoniously shoved to the curb.

            Of course, McKay wouldn’t probably survive in today’s new world coaching environs, but you either did what McKay said and produced, or punched you own ticket out – and that applied to asst coaches as well.

          • He ruled by fear. Even his assts were afraid. Some players barely heard a one-on-one word from him in 4 years. He always seemed to be on the other side of the street.

            Complex guy. Shy except in small circles. Conflicts all forgiven by the time was sitting in his booth at Julie’s. Suffered no fools and regretted taking the Tampa Bay job except for the fat wallet that came with it.

          • Great stuff, Jack.
            I do remember something in his book, “First and 15”, about “some players need a coach to be hard on them, while others need him to be gentle.” But, like you, I haven’t heard too many stories from the guys that fell in the gentle category.
            I only saw him once on campus and I said “hi coach!” and he gave me the nicest smile.

          • I talked with Bruce Snyder, his former asst, 74-75. Snyder’s a great guy. Nice as could be and eventually a solid HC at ASU.

            He actually didn’t have a lot that was nice to say about McKay. He did say he was very sharp and had great insight into the proper positions for kids.

          • McKay seems to have been the anti-Helton—-a man who told it as he saw it and really didn’t give a damn whether people liked him or not. There’s something to be said for both types —but, when it comes to football, I’ll take the Sabans and the McKays.

          • McKay was super confident. He knew he had an edge and he threw players under the bus if need be. I remember some of his quotes about our punter, Jim Lucas, when I was in school. It wasn’t pretty, but it also wasn’t treated like a big deal. Lucas had some bad miffs. McKay called him out on it. As I said, McKay ruled via fear.

            I also got the impression Snyder didn’t like coaching under him that much. He told me some interesting stuff about McKay on the plane back from the ARK opener we lost In ‘74, 22-7. McKay was ripping up pages out of the playbook and tossing them about the plane. USC didn’t lose another game the rest of the season.

          • April, 2009. Melanoma. Was an asst at ORE, UTAH ST, USC, UNLV and the Rams. HCed UTAH ST, CAL and ASU. Very friendly guy.

          • Michael, I did not carefully read what you had to say. My goof. You made a good point.

          • I’ve been blocked —and since any reply “waiting for approval” is condemned to hell forever —-let me just say ‘thanks’ schammer.
            #FightOn

          • Who doesn’t like the guy personally? The only question is: can he take USC back to the top?

          • I think I understand Clay, gt. He is a hard worker and a gentleman. He’s well adjusted & he’ll have a happy life. But, no, he isn’t the guy who can take USC to the very top.
            #HeMightGetUsIntoPlayoffs,Though

          • I hope he is but this season was a huge disappointment after the thrillng 2017 Rose Bowl victory. The magic of that win dissipated by the WSU loss.

          • WSU represented a let down —–but watching us sleepwalk through an entire game at South Bend was the real eye opener. The team knows when Helton is out of his depth. He wasn’t vs. Coach Franklin. But he was against Saban, Leach, Kelly and Meyer —and the team sensed it in advance each time…..and played like it.

          • True, when we had the ball with a minute left and only needed a field goal to send the WSU game into OT, I fully expected the Rose Bowl magic to kick in. Instead the worst happened. And then the ND game first half meltdown was replicated against Ohio State.

          • The funny thing is —-I thought for sure that, after being embarrassed thoroughly by Alabama and Notre Dame in the first half, USC would not play a dumb, mistake filled first half against Ohio State. And it turned out to be just another self destruct job.

          • It’s definitely a pattern now. I thought the Rose Bowl was the new normal but it was an aberration.

          • Wow –I never looked at it that way. But you’re exactly right. We captured lightning in a bottle that day.

          • At the time I thought the Rose Bowl win was due to our greatness I wonder how much was a total meltdown by the Penn State coaches? Perhaps it was Fool’s Gold.

          • Franklin has a reputation for losing control in the last four minutes of games where he has less than a TD lead. It’s like he wants tough games over at the 56 minute mark. Helton, Dantonio and Meyer have been beneficiaries.

          • Turnovers, all Heltons fault? A huge part of our 17 season. I too would love to see steam coming out of his ears once in a while other than toward the refs.

          • The turnovers aren’t ALL Helton’s fault —-but, honestly, steveg, they are emblematic of a loosey goosey approach to football. Disciplined offenses —and that’s really the part of the team that Clay’s most involved in—-don’t make the # of mistakes —let alone turnovers—that we made in 2017.

          • The ND game was an absolute disgrace. The Rah Rahs have lots of excuses for the 35 point beatdown, which could have been fitty if the Irish hadn’t stepped off our necks. Swann stepped in after that fiasco.

        • There’s a big difference between giving someone an undeserved mentor/coach label and throwing him under the bus. No reason for Helton to make himself look like some lame fool just because a flop player can’t cut it. Big distinction there.

          And who cares what Bigelow thinks in the future? He’ll be in year 6 now somewhere, now that he’s put his “coaching career” on hiatus.

          And to use Nwosu and Bigelow in the same sentence is just laughable. You’ll have to excuse me. One’s a great player. A true Trojan MVP. The other’s a big fat toad who last played 3 senior HS games somewhere in Maryland at some Christian Academy back in 2012.

  2. It’s college. 5 stars sometimes turn out to not even be practice squad worthy. Anyone remember Whitney Lewis?

  3. With the scant amount of posts by the blogger recently, one wonders if his time is coming to an end at the newsgroup ?

    • Perhaps all of us are replacing the blogger. We seem to have better information and insights collectively….

      Where’s my check from the Daily News?

    • What’s there to write about, its the same crap going on with the idiots in charge at USC. The Trojan athletic director is a joke, the university president is a nerd who couldn’t care less about football, probably because he was never worth a chit at sports and he’s managed to convince the Land of Troy to do it his way when it comes to sports, even though he doesn’t have a clue…and the USC Trojan Alumni are just sitting back watching this clown Max Nikias make a mockery of USC Trojan athletics, all because this Nikias can beg, pander and grovel to corporations for handouts.

      • Poor baby, got nothing to do on Saturday night but hit the moonshine?? Poor hillbilly troll..

  4. None of these guys would be contributors. Tucker especially, nothing against these guys but if they want to play collegiate football it’s the right move for them. It’s definitely what’s best for SC.

  5. Good for Roy Hensley, because he has a better chances of developing into an nfl lineman under Rocky Long, then he would with Clay Helton

    • If Hemsley did get the so-called good coaching at USC, he would still be behind the other players because they would be getting good coaching as well. Maybe…..Just maybe, this is the natural weeding out of inferior players who can’t contribute at a place like USC.

  6. If Chris Brown was moved to LT, the LG position would be Roy Hemsley’s for the taking.

    • If he could have played there, he would have this season..best leave we’ll enough alone sometimes.

      • Pudly76, Pay attention next time. Mid way through the First Half, our LT Toa left the game. #63 Roy Hensley replaced Toa at LT and played solid. Early in the 3rd quarter, LG Chris Brown left the game and did not return. Toa came back to LT, and our Roy Hensley was moved to LG and played LG the rest of the game. Mr Hensley apparently was our 2nd string LT and LG. Pudly76, You need to leave well enough alone when the facts elude you, resulting in your implied degradation of a quality USC player.

        • Fact of the matter is the Mr Hemsely was passed over by freshmen who happened at that time to be hurt…per chance your the one who doesn’t follow closely. One game a season hardly makes. And the fact that you THINK something doesn’t make it factual. That is a fact.

          • Pudly76. Yes, I do believe that a Sophomore offensive lineman rated 2nd string at two positions, late in the season (in the UCLA game), has earned his spot on the USC Trojan roster. No doubts. However, this has been a difficult day of overreaction by schammer47. Please scratch out the last sentence of my commentary. it’s over the top. Thanks.

  7. Been waiting for this info, I was curious as to why Tucker would return to be a #3. My original list of possible transfers:

    Cole Smith
    Chris Tilbey
    Nathan Smith
    Jacob Daniel
    Dom Davis
    Jamel Cook

    • I don’t buy Cole Smith, JT, or Jamel Cook transferring. Jamel Cook, this coming season, will be a Redshirt Freshman who will take off at Safety or Cornerback, just like WR Michael Pittman Jr took off and played exceptionally well this past season. Jamel is actually a year behind Pittman Jr, Mr Cook should be ready.

      • Who is JT? Do you mean JD or CT?

        I would maybe add PIE Young.

        Cole Smith (JR RS) could easily be the #4 in 2018, except for hope that Dedich redshirts. I haven’t heard his name since he signed, so I assume he was only listed ahead of Nielon for Nielon’s redshirt. His chances of ever playing seem remote to me.

        Jacob Daniel (9646 composite) seems to be a bust and is not significant on either line.

        Budrovich was far better than Tilbey and Tilbey only has 1 year of eligibility left.

        Cook just seems to be on all the (few) lists I have seen. Both he (at DB) and PIE seem to have big competition at WR and CB.

        Would Wole or Murphy consider, since Pendergast basically jerked them off last season, calling them #2s yet playing them as if they were injured walk-ons who had stolen from his grandmother.

        • Whoops. I messed up. JT should not be in my post. My mistake. Not exactly having the greatest of days today.

  8. In other news, USC has hired an athletic director to replace Pat Haden…you would never know it because the replacement has been worthless.

    • Much like your commentary, totally worthless??? Not so. Swann has actually accomplished something in his life. Why else would you be so jealous of him?

    • Just a mistake to bring him in in the first place. Addition by subtraction at this stage.

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