April 2007 Archives

You probably heard former USC quarterback Matt Leinart recently severed ties with Creative Artist Agency regarding marketing opportunities.
But why did he do it?
Two sources said Leinart's complained for several months that he was not getting as many endorsements as Reggie Bush, which brought about the change. Somewhere, his former agent Leigh Steinberg is probably laughing.

Wide receiver Travon Patterson is on crutches and will be sidelined for at least six weeks after pulling his hamstring during team 40-yard dash trials. Here's a few more 40 times from people we bumped into last weekend.
Alex Morrow 4.67
Kyle Moore 4.70
Rey Maualuga 4.55
Clay Matthews 4.57
Kaluka Maiava 4.60

Offensive tackle Kyle Williams signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Ravens.

USC wide receiver Chris McFoy signed a free-agent contract with the Raiders.

USC coach Pete Carroll picked a good weekend to take his staff to Cabo San Lucas. We're presuming the phones work a little better than his last vacation in Costa Rica and he was kept abreast of the weekend picks.

This from someone who played with Dwayne Jarrett.
``He had a second-round attitude, a second-round everything except production. He was a system receiver and the NFL didn't buy it. Maybe if he ran 4.5 it would be different.''

USC wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett informed the media (through his agent) that he would not speak tonight about his draft selection because he wanted to spend time with his family. Those 10 minutes answering questions can really disrupt one's schedule after all.
Jarrett also announced he might speak to the media Tuesday or Wednesday. Well guess what, the Carolina Panthers will have him talking to their media tomorrow. That's how it works.

The SEC had 11 first round selections, which was the most of any conference. The Big Ten was second with seven, followed by the ACC with six and the Big 12 with four.
During the first day (three rounds of the NFL Draft), the SEC led with 21 selections, followed by the Big Ten with 18, ACC with 14, Pac-10 with 12, Big 12 with nine and the WAC with seven selections.

Sometimes, our timing could not be better. We ran into former USC wide receiver Mike Williams today, who got traded from the Detroit Lions to the Oakland Raiders.
``There were three or four teams interested,'' Williams said. ``A lot of people were calling me today telling me I was going to get traded.''
The trade reunites Williams with Lane Kiffin, who recruited him to USC. And one of the other teams interested in Williams was Tennessee. Williams said today was the first time he's been back to a public event (the track meet) at USC since he left. All those Lyon Center basketball sessions don't count.

An NFL source reiterated Dwayne Jarrett's work ethic was questioned because he did not seem to work out heavily in the offseason. Of course Ryan Kalil and Steve Smith did work out hard and are still waiting.

So USC upsets UCLA 84-79 in the dual meet.
"Track isn't dead yet," USC coach Ron Allice said. "This is good for track, to be on TV and have a full house. This is personal. Track needs this dual meet."
Now if Fox Sports just knew DeSean Cunningham ran the 4x400 relay instead of "DeSean Jackson." It always comes back to football.

Its early but a USC walk-on won the javelin and volleyball player Juan Figueroa earned a siurprising victory in the long jump for the Trojans.
If everything went as planned on the dope sheet, USC could pull off a 2-point victory, but it's real early.
UPDATE: Jamere Holland pulled up in the 100 with a groin problem, costing USC an anticipated sweep. That's a setback.
UPDATE: USC remains ahead of schedule on the dope sheet, nine points ahead of projection, but needs to avoid disasters in the triple jump and could have a problem in the 200.
Disaster strikes as USC hurdler Kai Kelly, who is won the 400 hurles, was disqualified. That could cost USC the meet.
But if USC gets at least second in the triple jump, it will come down to the 4x400 relay.
And it does come down to the relay, with USC winning for an 84-79 victory. Track coach Ron Allice did something Pete Carroll and Tim Floyd did not this year: Beat UCLA.

We hear one reason for a possible decline in Dwayne Jarrett's draft status is he did not work out as hard as necessary following the Rose Bowl.

Wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett's "people" are already warning he might not speak to the media tomorrow if he slips too far in the NFL draft.

Here's USC tailback Michael Coleman's list of five schools he asked to obtain a transfer release to: Florida, Cal, Nebraska, Notre Dame and Fresno State.
That's a lofty list but if Coleman doesn't settle his academic situation this spring, a better bet might be San Bernardino Valley College next fall.

Answers to this week's questions:

Here's some more 40 times from a few people we bumped into.
Jamere Holland 4.3
Vidal Hazelton 4.5
Patrick Turner 4.5
Stafon Johnson 4.51
Note: We also hear that Taylor Mays was clocked at 4.25 in addition to 4.28

USC tailback Michael Coleman is expected to transfer following a difficult spring semester, according to sources.
The sophomore from San Bernardino missed most of the Trojans’ spring practice because of a recurring hip injury and also missed a large number of classes since early April, which would cast doubt on his eligibility.
Coleman’s been hurt most of his career. He enrolled in January, 2005 and injured his hip in spring practice. He tried to return in the fall but strained the hip twice during the season and required surgery.
He said during spring practice he wanted to get healthy and return next season.
``I just want to be healthy and contribute, those are my goals right now,'' Coleman said.

Former USC wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett on former USC wide receiver Mike Williams from the Best Damn Sports Show: ``If you watch my film, there is no comparison.''

When he isn't acting, Will Ferrell apparently is a full-time USC football sycophant.
http://usctrojans.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/042507aac.html

Justin Wyatt (Arizona Cardinals) had four tackles, an interception with a 25-yard return and a deflected pass while John Walker (Houston Texans) had three tackles, a deflected pass and a special teams tackle to lead Hamburg, Germany, over punter Tom Malone's Berlin team in NFL Europe action.
Malone punted four times for a 40.0 average with a long of 52.

If it's dual week, there must be a controversy.
UCLA lodged a protest with the Pac-10 Tuesday demanding that USC replace the 3,000-meter men's race with the 5,000-meter race for Saturday’s track meet between the crosstown rivals.
It's generally accepted that schools run the 3,000 meters, as Stanford-Cal and Washington-Washington State are doing with their dual meets, especially with the time constraints of a televised meet (not to mention the boredom of a longer race).

USC players were timed today in the 40-yard dash and for some reason, wide receiver Travon Patterson participated in the event.
Why is this a problem? Because Patterson was scheduled to run a leg on the sprint relay in Saturday's dual meet with crosstown rival UCLA, which often times comes down to one or two events. Well, Patterson reinjured his hamstring during the 40, which effectively knocks him out of the relay.

Junior guard Gabe Pruitt said he will probably wait until Friday before making an official announcement on whether to make himself available for the NBA draft.
"I'm talking to my father still about everything," Pruitt said.

Now we know how safety Taylor Mays caught wide receiver Travon Patterson in the final scrimmage.
Mays said he was clocked running 40 yards in 4.28 seconds today in the end of spring workouts.

Kicker Brad Smith from Davidson College is transferring to USC. Smith made 11 of 12 field goals last season and was named to a Mid-Major All-American. He will be immediately eligible under NCAA rules that allow players to transfer without sitting out if they are obtaining a graduate degree.

Florida coach Urban Meyer hired Taft High football coach Troy Starr as his director of football operations Monday. Starr coached at Taft for 14 seasons, producing USC players Gregg Guenther, Steve Smith and Jamere Holland.
Starr will oversee the ``overall coordination of recruiting'' for the Gators according to a statement released by the university. Does this mean Florida intends to invade Southern California?

It appears Martin Blencowe, the rugby player who ran a 4.3 40 during his tryout, did not make the walk-on cuts. Punter Parker St. Clair was another casualty. But my favorite new player, safety Michael Igbokwe, who claims the distinction of being a London native who roots for Manchester United, did make the cut.

Post questions here for answers later in the week.

We previously reported that the university rejected admission to El Camino College kicker Joe Houston.
But we hear USC will now admit Houston if he obtains a 3.5 grade-point average this semester.
UPDATED: It might be a moot point because Houston is getting interest from other colleges who may offer a scholarship.

Notre Dame picked up two commitments in Southern California this week, but whether they raided the local schools is debatable. Quarterback Dayne Crist committed to the Irish and was recruited by USC but not considered a vital pickup with Aaron Corp and Mitch Mustain arriving in the fall. And our sources said Crist was upset UCLA did not recruit him harder.
We're guessing Irish freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen might be more upset than USC or UCLA over Crist's decision.
The Irish then picked up Crespi tight end Joseph Fauria, who was not offered a scholarship by USC and recruited with some skepticism by UCLA. Maybe Charlie Weis knows something Pete Carroll and Karl Dorrell do not. Or maybe he doesn't.

Reggie Bush said he did not like politics when he was at USC but he couldn't resist an invitation to the White House Correspondent’s Association Dinner last night as a guest of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, telling Editor & Publisher, “I am just trying to broaden my horizons.''
Asked about how the post-Katrina rebuilding in New Orleans was progressing, Bush said, “It’s still a mess,” but thought President Bush was doing his best. “I’m pretty sure being president has got to be tough.”
When asked by a reporter at USC if he supported Bush because they shared the same name, Reggie Bush said, ``No.''

If you were on campus today, that was former USC wide receiver Mike Williams and former USC basketball player Roy Smiley playing basketball at the Lyon Center, one of their favorite hobbies when they were in school.

Some of you wondered about sophomore tailback Emmanuel Moody's hamstring injury. He said he should be fully recovered in about three weeks.

Kicker Brook Van Muijen assured USC he will not go to Cal next season and join the Trojans.

Former USC center Ryan Kalil on 570-AM Tuesday: ``Pete loves Scott.''
At least Kalil and I provided some interesting content and got the Petros-Money show off its Lakers fixation for one day.

Here's answers to this week's questions. I tried to answer most questions in the order they were asked in the Open Forum entry, in case of confusion over the question.

Former USC quarterback coach Carl Smith was on campus this week. He was the offensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars until coach Jack Del Rio fired him after the season.
That means former USC assistants fired in the NFL this season include Smith, Greg Burns, Jethro Franklin and Kirby Wilson.

Looks like quarterback Matt Leinart has no problem hustling around Scottsdale, Ariz.
http://www.kpho.com/news/12430585/detail.html?taf=pho

Notre Dame High School quarterback Dayne Crist makes his college announcement tonight. Although there appears to be little reason for Crist to select USC (think of Aaron Corp and Mitch Mustain), the actual indications are that Crist could commit to the Trojans.
USC made a favorable impression during his campus visit and he spoke highly to friends about playing for the Trojans. It's not a prediction, just a sense that the Trojans remain at or near the top in this battle.

Arkansas quarterback Mitch Mustain will arrive at USC in about three weeks, making his much-anticipated transfer official. Mustain must still announce his decision formally, but that is expected to only be a formality.

Former Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, who is one of Pete Carroll's closest friends, has been on campus lately. But Donatell, who is currently looking for a job, is not interested in USC. He's always been an NFL coach and will probably take a year off before returning to the league, where he would command far more money next season.
But maybe we can start a rumor that Donatell will be Carroll's first hire when he leaves for the NFL next season!

A concert celebrating the 90th birthday of Ella Fitzgerald will take place at the Galen Center on April 29th, featuring an all-star cast of performers.
One performer will miss the celebration: Fitzgerald. She died in 1996.

Kicker Brook Van Muijen, expected to walk-on in the fall, might go to Cal.

Several ex-USC players are playing in Germany for NFL Europe. Safety John Walker, from Van Nuys and allocated by the Houston Texans, had 5 tackles, an INT and one pass defensed for the Hamburg Sea Devils. His Hamburg teammate, cornerback Justin Wyatt, allocated by the Arizona Cardinals, also saw game action. In addition, former USC punter Tom Malone, allocated by the New England Patriots, had 3 punts for 136 yards (45.3 avg.) including a 52-yarder.

If tailback Hershel Dennis was a surprise of spring practice, the disappointment had to be tailback Emmanuel Moody, who missed nearly the entire three weeks with a hamstring injury. Moody was the only player on the current roster with breakaway speed out of the backfield and this was a prime opportunity to show it before Joe McKnight arrives.
A Pac-10 coach told me last season Moody was the only tailback that worried him, although he played only sporadically in the second half of the season.

Petros Papadakis will actually talk about spring football (which some of you told me he rarely does) today when I am a guest on 570-AM at 4:50 p.m.

If you look at the spring depth chart, Michael Coleman is listed at tailback when he should be a fullback.
By the way, Coleman was kicked off the team in January and banned from winter workouts, apparently to motivate him, before being reinstated before spring drills. He was unable to do much because of his long-time hip injury.
Coleman said he's always been willing to do whatever it takes to be a team player and wants to play at USC.
``I just want to be healthy and contribute, those are my goals right now,'' he said.

Deposit post-spring practice questions here and we'll post answers later this week.