Weekend Forum

Hi Scott and good morning:

I observe you don't generally take questions about individual recruits re our chances with them--so let me try it this way:
Since Patrick Johnson has apparently lost interest in the Trojans, and since Jurrell Casey and Chris Polk are on board[please correct me if I am wrong anywhere]--that gives us 16 recruits. I calculate we have about 6-7 left to give, so, wishes aside, at this point, do the coaches have a pretty good idea of about 4-5 who will end up signing with us--or is everything still pretty much up in the air re our remaining recruits?

Scott, if you don't want to answer that question, could you say a few words re our recruiting at this point in time, like are the coaches happy--or unhappy--so far,----- do we see 3-4 de-commits from other schools heading our way,etc.-- anything you feel comfortable saying would be appreciated--I think a lot of us are interested in recruiting right now and would like, in addition to my first question above, a general summation of our 2008 recruiting to date,and, since you are on the inside, and unbiased, it's especially valuable to us coming from you--thanx, Scottie Wolfman, the confidant of Ceasar!

Hey Scottie---you posted the open forum at around 10:20pm last night--and now it's after 4am--and I'm apparently the only one to have read your blog---since we all love to ask questions---don't you think such loyalty should be rewarded, heh heh?

Hello Scott. How do you do? I have a question I hope you can elaborate on. I have read several reporters, including you, as well as Pete Carroll, say that it is evident that Mitch Mustain and Damian Williams have a very strong chemistry on the field due to having played with each other a long time. So my question is, what exactly is this chemistry that jumps out? After all, isn't the job of a quarterback to throw to a receiver and for the receiver to be in the spot he is told to be? What does it matter if they went to high school together? How exactly is it different for Mustain and Williams on the field than say another quarterback and receiver? What is it that they do which is so special and shows "chemistry"?

So thank you in advance.

How does Mike Garrett and SC feel about this new book about Reggie Bush & Loyd Lake being published?

Do you think that any Notre Dame recruits still remain vulnerable to de-commiting??

Hey Scott,

With a lot of our players on the preseason's award watch lists, do you feel that this seasons conservative play calling hurt their chances of winning or becoming Finalist!? Next year since we're returning more experienced players, do you see Ceasar Scrapping that strategy for 08?

Sorry Scott, I HAD to ask this last question.. The Naive posters on the Bball board would never acknowlege this, but in instances like last night where Pete brings FB prospects 200 miles to watch the Unity(less) Hoops team lose by 21 to a NAIA school, doesn't this Hurt our chances!? Can't see how you can "Woo" a recruit by losing a "gimmie" game! The recruit doesn't realize that was the 4th string playing!

Is Mitch Mustain an option quarterback?

Scott,
I don't understand the recruiting process in relation to prospects who verbally commit to a school and continue to take recruiting trips to other schools (eg, Chris Polk, Patrick Johnson, Rahim Moore, etc). What's the point here in making a commitment ... can you shed any light on this process?

With your several years of covering USC now, do you sense there will be a mass exodus of football recruits from UCLA now with the coaching change? And do you think UCLA is also losing out on some good choices (Paul Johnson, etc.) by not having somebody lined up right away to step in and take over? We all kind of assumed Dorrell would get fired so doesn't Dan Guerrero look kind of stupid for handling the situation this way?

Just considering what you currently know about coaching changes and player losses on teams for next season, what is your predicted top 10 for the beginning of next season.

Its looking more and more likely that Reggie Bush is going to be found guilty of breaking rules by the NCAA and retroactively stripped of his playing eligibility for 2004 and 2005. If by some miracle the school avoids any culpability, does this still automatically mean the USC forfeits all of the games for those two seasons? What would be the impact on SC's bowl appearances those years? Would the school have to return the Orange Bowl trophy? What about the money the USC/Pac-10 received for being in the BCS Championship Bowls? Granted the NCAA doesn't control the BCS, but wouldn't there be some sort of cry to change the record books? What about the Championship rings the players received? I can find no precedence in modern D1 football for a school being stripped of a national Championship and all of the benefits associated with being in Championship game.

Are you surprised that Justin Fargas is having a better year than Reggie and LenDale?

SW, earlier in the week you posted a story about the graduation of Sed Ellis, and how much of a loss it will be to the "D" for 08. Didn't the Trojans feel the same way at the end of the 04 season, when one Mike Patterson graduated? And sure enough, someone stepped in to those shoes (that would be Sed). I would think that PC has a plan in place for the departure of Sed (?). Your thoughts. Fight On!

We'll have another cluster of healthy RBs next year fighting for time. A good problem to have, indeed, but we are facing the same heavy rotation scheme that ensures that no one player works into a groove until later in the year. In % terms, what is your prediction on carry allocation for next year, realizing that everything could change by summer? Here's my prediction:

35% Stafon Johnson
25% Joe McKnight
20% CJ Gable
10% Allen Bradford
10% Brod Green
0% Marc Tyler

Why is PC so obsessed with stockpiling RB's, QB's, WR's and TE's rather than recruiting linemen and DB's?

just4sc:
If you anything about FOOTBALL think about injuries. Football is a violent sport therefore when when someone gets injured you have a competent player to re replace the injured one. Where were this past season? Didn't JDB, Rivers, Turner to name a few got hurt? Don't you have a spare tire in case you get a flat one? Are we talking about rocket science? UHM?