February 2007 Archives

We hear Nebraska kicker Jordan Congdon reassured USC coach Pete Carroll this week that he would transfer to USC next year.

One of the intriguing prospects invited to last weekend's unofficial junior day was Venice tailback Curtis McNeal, who is just 5-8 but considered one of the top tailbacks in Southern California.

Freshman Joe McKnight will receive the first Frank Gifford scholarship, which goes to a running back, quarterback or wide receiver who emulates Gifford's "life, success and spirit."
Maybe Kathie Lee Gifford can endow a scholarship for the song girl who emulates her annoying qualities.

Sophomore Allen Bradford has been told he will remain at running back when spring practice begins next month. Bradford currently weighs 226 pounds but his body fat has dropped from 11 to 9 percent since the end of the season.

You might have seen today that point guard Venoy Overton committed to Washington after previously being considered a USC commitment. What's interesting about this is that Overton committed to USC last summer before officially being offered a scholarship.

Checking in the topic of Arkansas quarterback Mitch Mustain, sources said to remain patient for a decision, especially since USC has an extra scholarship and is in no hurry to award it.

Anyone interested in walking on the football team must attend a meeting Thursday at 4 p.m. at Heritage Hall. Kickers are especially welcome. You might become the next Rocky Seto, a former walk-on who became a USC assistant coach.

Servite tailback D.J. Shoemate wants to serve as an unofficial recruiter to help convince other prospects to come to USC.
It's a role similar to one served by Chris Galippo this year and Mark Sanchez and Jeff Byers previously.

Unless he gets a scholarship offer from another school, Brook Van Muijen of Monte Vista High in Danville is also expected to enroll at USC as a walk-on.

With David Buehler the only kicker on scholarship, a coach at El Camino College told us that their kicker, Joe Houston, might walk-on next season. He would be eligible immediately.
The Trojans would like to add another kicker before the season, besides Nebraska kicker Jordan Congdon, who must redshirt.

We mentioned Friday that we heard Dorsey wide receiver Rahim Moore might commit to UCLA soon. Well, armed with our information, USC quickly responded and offered Moore a scholarship that same day.
We don't know if it's too late, but just like that, there's another crosstown battle heating up in recruiting.

With 10 tailbacks currently on scholarship, it's ironic that one of USC's four commitments from the Class of 2008 is Servite tailback D.J. Shoemate. But during Saturday's junior day at USC, Shoemate talked about switching to wide receiver in college, a position he would prefer to play.

Rancho Verde offensive lineman Tyron Smith said he was offered a scholarship by USC and is also considering Notre Dame among other schools.

Did you notice during tonight's USC-Cal basketball game that Redlands East Valley wide receiver Chris Polk was getting the royal treatment? Polk sat next to USC coach Pete Carroll and committed tonight. Since offensive lineman Matt Meyer of Stockton committed earlier in the day, it turned out to be a good day for the Trojans and worth two commitments.

We hear Nebraska kicker Jordan Congdon might take a trip to UCLA too. USC still believes Congdon will enroll in the fall, however, but he might be looking around since he doesn't need to go anywhere until the summer.

When Pete Carroll spoke to the basketball team before Thursday night's game, several USC football players were also supposed to address the team. But they showed up too late, forcing Carroll to do a solo act. Maybe they were part of the hundreds of fans who arrived late because they were stuck looking for parking in the nearby structures.

Some of the top high school juniors are scheduled to show up at USC tomorrow. One who might be there is Dorsey wide receiver/cornerback Rahim Moore.
We only mention him because word around town is that UCLA believes it might receive his commitment soon.
A UCLA official said this week that relations between the two programs are deteriorating for reasons we will detail later. At the very least, it should make recruiting more interesting.

With quarterbacks a hot topic, it's interesting to note USC is recruiting Dayne Crist of Notre Dame High.
With 10 tailbacks on scholarship, including Joe McKnight, maybe it's possible Crist would not be turned off by the quarterback glut if Mitch Mustain transfers to USC.

It looks like it could be awhile before Arkansas quarterback Mitch Mustain officially announces where he will transfer, according to sources. There's really no rush for Mustain, since he is enrolled at Arkansas for the semester. USC remains the frontrunner.

Actor Denzel Washington, a regular at Laker games, attended the USC game and got mobbed by the team in the locker room after the game. Washington signed autographs outside the locker room and then visited the coaches' offices afterward.

USC coach Pete Carroll delivered a pre-game speech to the USC basketball team before its victory over Stanford. Not surprisingly, Carroll stressed defense as the key to winning and the Cardinal shot only 37 percent in the first half. The Trojans held Stanford to 41 percent in the second en route to a 69-65 victory.

Tight end Gerald Washington, who redshirted last season, is moving to defensive end. It's the second time Washington will try defense.
He preferred offense the last time he tried defensive end.

Word in the NFL is that the San Diego Chargers effectively ruined their own chances of landing Pete Carroll when GM A.J. Smith insisted on hiring Ted Cottrell as defensive coordinator. Cottrell, a former defensive coordinator with Minnesota and Buffalo, is close to Smith and was always going to be hired.
That meant any coaching candidate would need to accept outsiders on his coaching staff and everyone knows Carroll prefers complete control, something he spoke to the Miami Dolphins about last month.

Former USC and NFL offensive lineman John Michels wearing a stethoscope at the USC Health Sciences campus. Michels is in his second year of medical school.

NASCAR Chairman Brian France will speak on Thursday night at 6 p.m. and he's supposed to bring a NASCAR show car with him. The event will be held at Town and Gown.
For more information, read on:

Our spy at Orange Lutheran informs us that offensive lineman Michael Reardon also gained admission through USC with no problems and only awaits NCAA Clearinghouse approval.

Arkansas quarterback Mitch Mustain still has not officially announced where he will transfer. He's considering USC and Tulsa.

Now who questioned the idea of the diversity presentation? Not when USC coach Pete Carroll made a critical comment about a newspaper (not the Daily News!) reporting about him and the NFL.
In the interest of commerce, books were being peddled afterward. And they took credit cards!

Nebraska kicker Jordan Congdon is expected to enroll at USC in the fall but we hear the kicker will probably visit Cal next month.

According to reports, police used tear gas on Manchester United fans who tried to climb a barrier because of overcrowding at their Champions League match with Lille.
Sounds a little bit like the USC-Nebraska game.

Tonight is the big diversity presentation at USC. Diversity is a buzzword for the administration these days and they figured inviting Pete Carroll would draw a crowd.
(Maybe if he promises to talk about recruiting).

Luckily, we have a spy at Orange Lutheran that informs us quarterback Aaron Corp already breezed through the admissions process at USC. Now Corp will just need to wait for the NCAA Clearinghouse, which is considered a formality.

The NCAA appears set to move kickoffs to the 30-yard line next season and eliminate the controversial time-saving measures from last season.

Last week, when I asked Pete Carroll who would get the Chargers job, he replied, ``I hope Norv Turner.''
Now, a normal question today would be, ``Will Turner try to hire Steve Sarkisian again?'' like he did with the Raiders.
Turner wants to call the plays in San Diego and Sarkisian is currently meeting with new assistant coach John Morton, so the answer appears to be no.

New wide receivers coach John Morton, who is also the passing-game coordinator, had second thoughts last week about leaving New Orleans but arrived in Los Angeles today and should sign a contract tomorrow.

USC is already rated No. 1 nationally in four different pre-2007 magazine or internet media polls.

When evaluating this year's recruiting class, the football coaches will closely monitor the academic progress of about seven prospects who are considered ``at risk'' academically. Usually, most of them make it, but as history shows, at least one will probably not get cleared by the NCAA in August.

Fox Sports West failed to get to the USC basketball game until well into the first half, missing the first 12 minutes, instead showing a faceless tennis match featuring Andy Murray (the Kings coach?) and somone named Ivo Karlovic.
Just when you wanted to know who won the tennis, they left it and switched to USC basketball. If you don't get multiple Fox sports channels, it had to be a frustrating evening. By the way, who won the tennis?

Looks like Matt Leinart and Tom Brady now have something else in common.
http://journals.aol.com/thecoolerblog/AOLNewsCooler/entries/2007/02/18/fumble/1688

Across the country, 75 players signed a letter of intent last week that participated in the Play It Smart mentoring program, which supports “academic” coaches that work with high school football teams in underserved areas.
Former USC wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett was a participant in the program and this year's only incoming Trojan to experience it was wide receiver/sprinter Bryshon Nellum.
``Play It Smart helped me in a big way,'' Nellum said. ``Knowing all the requirements to get to college, taking the SATs, meeting the clearinghouse and the credits to get to the next level, without Play It Smart I would have not known what to do.''

Someone within the football program who spoke to Arkansas quarterback Mitch Mustain said, ``I think it's a done deal'' regarding his transferring to USC.

We hear incoming freshman defensive end Everson Griffen is already being discussed as a starter for next season. Maybe he should have been given a retired number when he signed with USC.

USC coach Pete Carroll said Thursday he was not interested in the San Diego Chargers job despite speculation he could be a candidate.
Earlier this week, Carroll refused to comment about the Chargers job. But Carroll said Thursday that was not a sign he could be lured to San Diego.
``I just got tired of answering questions about the NFL, because there’s always a follow-up question from (the media), no matter what I say, so I decided I wouldn’t say anything,’’ Carroll said. ``I wasn’t looking at it. I like where I’m at. I’m not going anywhere.’’
Sources indicated there was communication between the Chargers and Carroll this week, but Carroll said he was never interested.

Arkanas quarterback Mitch Mustain attended a winter workout today as part of his tour of USC.

Arkansas quarterback Mitch Mustain is still visiting USC but has not officially committed . . . yet.

We almost forgot that when Pete Carroll was hired by USC in 2000, NFL sources in Boston claimed the San Diego Chargers did their ``due diligence'' on Carroll as a prospective coach. The front office change since then although the Spanos family remains in charge.
Another interesting connection is that Carroll attended Pacific, just like Chargers owner Alex Spanos.

Our Laker spies tell us Pete Carroll will attend tonight's game against the Cavaliers. It should be a chance to relax and escape recruiting/NCAA/San Diego Chargers speculation.

Freshman offensive tackle Martin Coleman is supposed to start running next week as part of his recovery from a broken ankle.
If he can get cleared, Coleman wants to participate in spring practice. Coleman said USC coaches told him his spring performance will determine if he redshirts next season.

For what it's worth, two sources offered the same answer when asked whether Arkansas quarterback Mitch Mustain would transfer to USC after he arrived Wednesday.
``It looks like he is,'' they both said, unaware of the other's answer.

Arkansas quarterback Mitch Mustain is out with former teammate, current USC wide receiver Damian Williams, right now as part of his visit to the campus.

Next Tuesday, USC coach Pete Carroll will moderate a discussion at Bovard Auditorium on diversity and athletics featuring John Papadakis and Sam Cunningham. You, the general public, can attend for $15.
None of these guys is hurting for money, so my question is why isn't the event free?