The New Math
USC will have six tight ends on scholarship next season but zero punters. I ran that past Coach Pete Carroll but for now I'll let the readers make their own observations.
For those keeping score at home, the tight ends are Fred David, Dale Thompson, Jimmy Miller, Nick Vanderboom, Gerald Washington and Anthony McCoy.
The current punter is Taylor Odegard now that kicker Troy Van Blarcom is no longer considered a viable candidate. There's always a chance Odegard would earn a scholarship in the fall, which would make it 6-1.
Scott,
Pete knows what he is doing. By recent trends three of the six will be sidelined with injuries and/or academically ineligible. That will leave three active, eligible TEs, which is exactly the number a team needs. Its an absolute JOKE the amount of talent that never sees the field at USC.
Will you please go after the so-called strength and conditioning coach Chris Carlisle, and whoever the academic advisor is. The losers on the message boards are convinced Carlisle is Sampson. Well if he is so great at getting players strong and in condition, why is there "No Vacancy" at the football infirmary? I would love to hear Carlisle explain why he thinks so many players are hurt.
I will divine Pete's reply: "Well, I'll tell ya, Scott, with the kind of scoring our monster tight ends are going to ring up this season, we don't anticipate needing to punt the ball at all. Now, please quit lurking outside my office door or I'll have to slap you silly with Don Winston's toupee."
Of course, it's not uncommon to have walk-on kickers in D-I programs, but what have you determined is the appropriate punter to tight end scholarship ratio, we wonder?
DB
I don't know if this is a trick question or if you just aren't aware...
- Fred Davis came to USC as the #2 WR recruit in the country (class of '04).
- Dale Thompson came that same year, as a top TE prospect.
- Miller was recruited as an "Athlete" and was more likely to play DE than TE.
- Vanderboom was a walk on that earned a scholarship, but I think it was just a 1yr offer.
- This is Gerald Washington's first year with us.
- McCoy is an incoming freshman.
Had Davis not converted to TE, it would have cost us big time this year (not to mention last year when he stepped in for Byrd).
We need all the TE's we got.
I think the Carlysle comment is right on. I can't remember a season since Carroll's been at USC were injuries and I mean a LOT of injuries werent big issues every season. We're just lucky that PC and the rest of the staff are great recruiters because they've needed the depth every year.
Yeah, Carlisle's doing a terrible job. I guess that's why Leinart missed so many games. Or Bush. Or LenDale. How many games did the starting O-line miss to injuries last year? Zero. SC doesn't have any more injuries than any other team. To complain about one of the best in the business is idiotic.
I also believe the Carlysle commentary to be significant. How many "hip" injuries, how many "hamstrings"? There seems to be a flood of them during the Carlysle tenure..
Carlisle, is doing a fantastic job as the S&C coach. Most of the injuries are because they play tackle football, not touch. JDB had a pre-existing back condition, Byers has been having hip problems since he arrived, and HD hurt his hammy running on the beach.