On Criticism

Thanks for blowing the Rose Bowl kid Kif!

Real smooth Lane....you know what?

You sound EXACTLY like people who are about to be canned sound like...whether at the collegiate level or in the pro ranks! All this gibberish about not caring about the media and fans, etc. is BS!

You are trying to deceive the public with all your crap about not changing the way you do your job! In reality, you actually concede the veracity of all the statements made about you by us! Do all of us a favor...move to Florida and do something there, OK?

I heard Noel Devine's HS will need a new high school coach after this year....you would be PERFECT! That is approximately the level of football intelligence and coaching skills you possess. While you go to Florida, go to your pops in TB. You can cry on each others' shoulders, along with that schmuck Gruden!

As my best friend said Sunday morning at the gym, and after $500 less in his wallet (thanks to your weak offense vs. U of A), "I hate Lane Kiffin".

I couldn't agree more with my boy!

P.S. Why the hell is Kiffin talking so much to th media? None of the other coaches do that except PC, and Chow hardly talked either! Stop wasting your time talking to news outlets when you could be thinking of better ways to get Steve Smith, Chris McFoy, and Patrick Turner the damn rock you imbecile!

You guys are the types he can afford to ignore - who cares when somebody loses $ on a bet?? Your buddy thinks he's smarter than the pros who set the lines in Vegas? That's why he loses $, dufus. Kiffin didn't blow the Rose Bowl either - that was a whole team effort, and yet it could've gone either way in the last few minutes.

It takes time for a young offense to gel, and the playbook is being opened up every week. If the FBs (& DJ) could stay healthy it would help too. Chill...

Internet message boards ...

Where the trolls roam free.

John Redcorn. Gambling on 19 year old kids. Way to represent. Stay classy, John.

Who gives a rip about you and your whack, wanna-be scrub buddies.

Let's just hope Kiffin leaves before Carroll retires - sure don't want the throne handed down to this guy. He may be a tireless worker and a great recruiter, but he does not have the total package necessary to run a top tier program.

Can we wait for at least one loss (other than a National Championship game) before we start calling for people's heads? I'd hate to hear the comments if you all were Buffs fans. Have a little loyalty...

John Redcorn, If you're buddy lost $500 betting on the Trojans, he's an idiot just like you appear to be for your b.s. remarks. Sounds like you lost some money too.

Some of the excessive criticism of Kiffin makes me think about Garrett's quote when Pete was hired, "Joe Blow doesn't know football." (paraphrasing)

Sure the offense is a little more conservative (new QB, frosh RBs), and not as explosive (no Reggie and LenDale). Duh, what did you expect?

Turnovers and mistakes have been minimal and we are moving the ball. We just need a couple of plays here or there to break open drives and set up more favorable down and distance situations that we can attack from. Overall, the O has been competent against a pretty tough early schedule. Watch it pick up in the next few weeks.

Also, why is all the criticism heaped on Kiffin? Isn't Sark the "Assistant Head Coach for Offense"? Obviously, some "Joe Blows" have decided they don't like the way Kiffin carries himself or the way he got the job so young and they are never going to give him a chance.

Some of you guys are funny to read. Thanks for the laughs.

Scott, someone posted that you are now operating under new rules while doing interviews on campus. Is this true?

Note to Kiffin: watch some of the playcalling Chow did when he was at USC. That's imaginative playcalling. Chow would run a bunch of stuff in the first half to see how the defense would react and then during the second half exploit the weakness.

P.S. I still blame you for calling a bad Tose Bowl game.

THE (REDCORN) RANT IS SO OFF THE EDGE AS THE USC OFF. IS DOING BETTER THAN THE "SHOWTIME OFFENSE"DID IN THEIR FIRST 3 GAMES?? USC IS PLAYING CONSERVATIVE WITH A NEW STARTING QB AND FR RB'S WHICH I ENDORSE 100%...THE OL IS GETTING COMFORTABLE AND DON'T FORGET THE LOSS OF 3 FB'S IN 3 GAMES...I WILL TAKE WINNING GAMES ANYDAY OVER HIGH ENTERTAINMENT FOOTBALL....

Hey, Redcorn - how much money did YOU lose on the game? Anbody that bets point spreads in college football is just asking to get ripped in the wallet. I'm sure "your friend's" affinity for gambling is a good reason to think less of Lane Kiffin.

Geez... Sorry, Scott -- I have to stop coming to this board. Too many Trojan fans giving other Trojan fans a bad name. Whiners, haters, complainers... Look, I see the warts on the team and the coaching staff, but the nature of some of these attitudes is baffling to me.

In my very uneducated opinion (as I do not make a living at coaching football and never will), it seems to me that the philosophy in this early season behind the play-calling is one based on TRUST. The past two years, the coaches could trust more daring plays on first down because they trusted that they had the skill level at the QB and tailback positions to make up a 2nd and ten if the play did not work. This year, we just don't know if a QB who hasn't started a game since high school three years ago, or a quarry of freshman tailbacks, can make up that defecit as readily at this stage of their development. Eventually, they will rise to that level where they can be asked to do what Matt and Reggie and LenDale did. But not yet.

Bottom line, they've won. They're doing their jobs right.

Now, when they lose (not IF, because they will --I'm not that myopic to think this is 2004 all over again -- it isn't), the Redcorns of the world will thump their chests thinking they know all and demand for something ridiculous to happen in the coaching situation. Frankly, I've been around it too often and over a course of too many years to have to read this kind of ignorance with my morning coffee. Bad enough it's out there in the real news and in government, I won't put up with it in what is supposed to be a fun distraction, football.

Good luck to the Trojans. Fight On! I'll see you in the Chamopionship game in '08! Pete -- you're the best. And Kiffin -- you keep on telling these dudes it's your call, not theirs.
Finally, Scott, I don't agree with you sometimes (West Vrigina #1???), but you're doing a good service.

Late...

I think John Redcorn is more concerned about his gambling debts than Trojan victories. Yeah, Kiff really wastes a lot of time by talking to a reporter for 30 seconds while he's walking off the field.

These coaches spend hours every day watching film, recruiting, game scheming in meetings.

And what do you want him to say? You want him to say he reads every article and message board and the criticism makes him lose his appetite?

Knock off your jealousy. The guy has been getting prepared for this position for since he was little kid.

Oh, and ten different players caught balls against Arizona so he obviously knows how to get the ball to various people. Lane is obviously not Norm Chow, but remember, Chow had been coaching for 30 years before he came to USC. And if Kiff is so bad, which OC out there would you rather have?

How funny...basically Lane is telling Wolf, 29Power and Redcorn to shut their trap. This is great!

And Redcorn, Lane is 2-1 against the spead this season. Not bad, huh! But my guess is your buddy hates Lane because Lane can't cover his gambling addiction. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Shame we can't monitor blogs. So much venom around here I need to take an antidote after reading it. First of all, I guess Kif told Reggie to lateral on the Texas 20 in the RB. I guess he told blitzing linebackers to let VY slip out of their grasp when they had him nailed ten yards behind the line. Oh, that's right, Kif's the OC. It was the DC, Pete Carrol. Maybe he should join Kif in Florida.

Sorry about your buddy losing his shirt on the AZ game. I guess Kif told Danelo to miss that chip shot and for sure he had Fred Davis let that TD pass go through his hands and Chauncy fumble on the AZ 26. Huh? Oh, yeah, and he made PC call Turner's wide receiver pass.

I have two words for all this Kif venom you're spewing - Grow Up!

John me boy....chill. Don't bust a guy just yet. Times they are a change'n.

Your friend has nobody but himself to blame for giving up so many points given the recent history of SC's struggles in Pac10 road openers.

I gotta pile on with this guy too.I mean he sounds awfully conceited for someone who has'nt done squat except benefit from nepotism..its a crying shame we the fans have to suffer from this guy being absolutely clueless..I'll always have sour grapes for this dude cuz of that statement he made regarding the rose bowl..how he could'nt picture having bush on the field for that play..Hey Einstein..how about changing the play..college playa of the year standing on the sidelines while history slips through their fingers..Ouch!!

As you can tell I was a SC during our glory days of football. Since then we’ve had a flash here and there, along with a lot of pain for a lot of years. Just look at what we have now.

Lane Kiffin lived across the street from me on Long Island when his father and Pete were with the Jets. Lane was friends with my son at the time etc. etc. At the time I would never thought I’d see the day that he would be the OC at my alma mater, but he has lived and breathed football all his life. I knew Pete was the right guy as soon as it was it announced that he was going to coach our team because of the attitude he and Monte tried to bring to the Jets. I never doubted for a minute that he was the perfect fit.

Pete has brought us a long way and I don’t think that anyone out there should be bitching and moaning about any of his decisions. He has complete faith in his assistants, including Lane, and ultimately he is the one responsible for our teams’ performance. And, we are winning even after a loss of such great talent. You may think we’re entitled to it, but we’re not. It’s because of Pete and his whole coaching staff, including Lane, working long hours to achieve that.

My pocket also is lighter because we have not covered the spread, but that’s called gambling. If you bet and lose, don’t whine and make stupid comments as an excuse for your stupid decision. The team is about winning. And, we are winning because of Pete, Lane and the rest of the coaching staff that Pete has put in place.

I have no problem with his job. Just wish he was doint it at Idahoe State.

Thank you geusc69 for your knowledgable perspective on PC and Lane Kiffin.

I have been a die-hard USC fan since the days of Jon Arnett and C.R. Roberts. I have witnessed the great John McKay and John Robinson teams' successes while suffering through Jess Hill, Don Clark, Ted Tollner, Larry Smith, J.R.II, and Paul Hackett.

True Trojan fans know that they are experiencing something very rare and very special, like nothing else in the annals of USC football.

The rest of you who don't know your ass from your elbow, enjoy it for God's sake and try to have a take that doesn't suck.

The offense isn't that good. Certainly not as good as Palmer's last year or as good as Matt's first year. While Chow made great calls, the new system has little flare. Chow constantly had players wide open. The new system is average and considering the quality of the players perhaps below average.

Thankfully, the defense seems to have returned to form and last year was an anomoly. The true return to glory is PC's defense... It should carry the team as they compete for the NC.

Hey Ronald Martinez
You hit the rock right on REDCORN'S nose with the gambling addiction. Good one!

Booty is not at fault for the tipped passes. He is asked to throw too many short inside passes right over the D-end's head. The D-end and linebackers know exactly what's coming becuase USC runs the same play repeatedly. The passes can't be lofted or thrown high because the route is too shallow. And the receiver is Booty's primary receiver on a short drop, so he doesn't have any alternatives. Didn't anyone notice that the final tipped pass in the UCLA game was the same play as in the Oregon State game? The fault lays with Kiffin. Not even Peyton Manning could throw that short inside pass so often without getting a high percentage tipped.