January 2008 Archives

We spoke to a Long Beach Poly source tonight prior to the televised announcement by safety Vaughn Telemaque that he was committing to Miami.
``He told USC he was coming because he wanted to get them off his back,'' the source said regarding Telemaque's Sunday commitment.

Now we hear Long Beach Poly safety Vaughn Telemaque committed to Miami. What happened to that verbal to USC over the weekend?

You might notice when USC plays games at the Galen Center that public-address announcer Petros Papadakis does not have a nickname for guard O.J. Mayo.
That's because a member of the athletic dept. forbids any nickmames for the special one.

Demetrice Martin accepted a job with UTEP this morning, but don't be surprised if UCLA weighs in here before it's over. Martin's departure sets up the strong possibility that former USC cornerback Kris Richard will join the staff as a graduate assistant.

USC secondary coach Demetrice Martin was offered jobs by UTEP and Tulane on Wednesday night. And there's always the chance he might get offered by UCLA, where he recently interviewed with Rick Neuheisel.

It's that time of the week, which means one question per person please, brought to you by Roman Meal, the official bread of top five, er, top 20 recruiting classes.

Pete Carroll was flying across the country last night recruiting. With only days to go, two of USC's big question marks are defensive lineman Nick Perry of Detroit, Mich., and linebacker Jurrell Harris of Gadsden, Ala.

USC guard Marcus Simmons did not practice today and is unlikely to play tomorrow against Arizona because he re-aggravated his sprained ankle. Point guard Angelo Johnson also did not practice because of illness but is expected to be available.

Nathaniel Hackett was hired as the Buffalo Bills’ offensive quality control coach to be reunited with quarterback Trent Edwards. He was in Tampa Bay before and previously worked at Stanford with Edwards.

The CBS Sportsline mock draft currently lists nose tackle Sedrick Ellis as the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft.

Long Beach Poly recruits Vaughn Telemaque and Jurrell Casey officially make their college choices tonight at 10:30 p.m. We hear they already committed to USC a couple days ago. This would hardly be a surprise, especially because Casey's pretty much been locked in to USC since last spring.

A USC commit from Southern California spoke to another school this week and one of the first topics that came up: Pete Carroll's interview with the Washington Redskins.

EA Sports will visit the Galen Center tomorrow night to gather information on the arena for its March Madness video game.
``Everything that makes the Galen Center, its fans, and USC unique will be captured, including arena architecture, student section seating, crowd chants, school fight songs, cheer team, and mascot routines.''
Five arenas will be selected for the game and one will be available before the others online for free download, depending on who receives the most votes at this website: www.marchmadness08.com
Maybe the Pauley Pavilion version can include the USC band and song girls when you pit the crosstown rivals against each other.

When safety D'Anton Lynn of Celina, Texas, showed up to take a picture at the Dallas Morning News, he arrived with a USC hat, Oklahoma hat and a Penn State sweatshirt. Lynn is officially considered a ``soft verbal'' for Penn State.

USC assistant coach Sam Anno is a candidate for a job on the coaching staff at Texas Tech.

A memorial for former USC coach Larry Smith will be held on Monday at 2 p.m. at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Ariz. The church is located at 7650 N. Paseo del Norte.

We hear there's a handful of secret commitments for USC right now as signing day approaches in a week.

USC is an unimpressive 18th in the latest Scout.com rankings, but I've consistently said that team rankings are too subjective in recruiting. When USC was always No. 1, it was a dose of nice publicity, but that's not what makes the Trojans a perennial title contender.
Besides, I'm reminded of Billy Packer's recent quote. ``This may make all the recruiting experts angry but (O.J.) Mayo is a good player, he is not a great player . . . he could be a good player. He is not a great player.''
That was a criticism directed at the recruiting experts, not Mayo.

I asked a USC history expert where Larry Smith would be considered among the school's coaches.
Here's one opinion: ``USC has had Great Coaches, such as Howard Jones, John McKay, and Pete Carroll. It has had Good Coaches, such as Elmer Henderson, and John Robinson (first stint). And it has had what might be called transitional coaches, who had a few key wins (almost always including a Rose Bowl, at least), but ultimately fell short of the standards set by the Great Coaches, and were dismissed. Think Don Clark (although no Rose Bowl victory), Ted Tollner (Rose Bowl victory over Ohio State), John Robinson (second stint), and Larry Smith. Then there is the Paul Hackett level.''

USC secondary coach Demetrice Martin interviewed with UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel. His most likely destinations are either UCLA or UTEP.

Regarding the St. Louis meeting with Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. I don't find any problem with Caesar talking and listening to an NFL owner. It's part of the business in coaching.
I might find it somewhat hypocritical to constantly deny interest in the NFL or refuse to comment on meetings with teams, but we're past the point of merely believing those farcical statements anymore.
What's funny is the segment of people at USC who smugly talked about the Falcons' situation being overblown while a meeting was taking place with the Redskins. But I digress.
Ultimately there is a more important audience: The players, who are enjoying those 6 a.m. workouts right now, might like a word or two on why these conversations with NFL teams consistently take place if USC is such a wonderful place to work. No, they haven't been told anything so far. And they probably won't.

Does this sentence disturb anyone?
``Snyder and Carroll met in St. Louis “early in the process” following coach Joe Gibbs’ resignation on Jan. 8.''
This is the AP story and was leaked by a Redskins source.

USC athletic director Mike Garrett on Larry Smith: ``When he came to USC, he brought a tough-minded approach and solid fundamentals and he produced some very successful teams here. Getting his first three teams into the Rose Bowl is unprecedented in our history. We'll remember Larry dearly and will long appreciate his contributions to Trojan football. Our sincere thoughts go out to Cheryl and the family.''

USC coach Pete Carroll discussed the Washington Redskins coaching vacancy with owner Dan Snyder earlier this month but is no longer a serious candidate for the job, a person familiar with the selection process told The Associated Press on Monday.
Who will the zealots blame for this report? The biased AP?

I didn't really know the late Larry Smith, but I was a student during his first year at USC. One day after the season was over, a friend of mine wanted his autograph on a football, so we went to the football office. The secretary was gone so we walked into Smith's office unannounced.
He was sitting at his desk and I asked for his autograph because my friend was afraid he might say no. But Smith was gracious, spoke to us for a few minutes and signed the football. It made my friend's day.
Sometimes little moments like those say more than talking about a game.

Former USC coach Larry Smith died today after battling leukemia since 2000. He also recently contracted lymphoma and pneumonia. He was 68.
Smith was 44-25-3 from 1987-92 and took USC to three Rose Bowls.

Former USC assistant Greg Burns was hired by Arizona State. Caesar crony Ed Donatell is going to become defensive coordinator at Washington. USC secondary coach Demetrice Martin is an outside shot for a job at UCLA.
It's getting harder and harder to find a school in the Pac-10 without some USC connection.

Here's the next round of answers.

It's answer Monday!

Here's the initial answers minus the Fat Booster, who we already discussed.

Does it say something about the current recruiting class that USC fended off Fresno State (Malik Jackson) and Washington State (Brian Baucham) for its past two commitments? This isn't a slight toward any recruits, it's a question geared toward the only program in history to win at least 11 games for six straight seasons.

Lane Kiffin wore a black Under Armour jacket while his assistants all wore Raiders jackets for the Senior Bowl.

Someone asked in the Weekend Forum what happened to the fat booster? It's something I've been meaning to address. He was on double-secret probation and banned from the sidelines for several games but as the season wound down, he made his way back to the sideline.
This is USC after all, where a financial donation usually forgives all transgressions.

A Notre Dame wide receiver drops a touchdown pass in the 1955 USC-Notre Dame game. Note that both teams are wearing their dark jerseys in this game at the Coliseum. Do any readers know when this practice ended?

A former member of the USC basketball program emailed about the foolishness of Fox Sports/Prime Ticket or whatever it's called these days for using Dave Miller as a basketball analyst.

Here's some Tim Floyd quotes on the Oregon victory.

Here's O.J. Mayo on the Trojans' overtime win over Oregon.
``Over the last three or four weeks we’ve been talking about being more of a team and playing together and I think tonight that really showed.''

How come no one is asking whether USC can bring back Lane Kiffin with his Raiders future in doubt?

It's been a busy week, so time to take some more questions. One per person please.

Ed Donatell is expected to become the defensive coordinator at Washington, which is significant for USC because Donatell is one of Pete Carroll's closest friends in coaching and part of the inner circle that also includes Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin.
Donatell was the defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons and worked for the New York Jets last season. We hear he's become a big fan of the 3-4 defense recently, even though he and Caesar are primarily 4-3 guys.

Here's the last batch of answers.

Now you know why we wrote before the Oregon State game that O.J. Mayo was eligible. From USC's official press release on O.J. Mayo.
``The NCAA ruled it a violation, therefore at that time USC declared him ineligible and petitioned for his reinstatement.''
From the beginning, we expected USC's aggressive compliance office to do this. And they proved us right.

Friday night sighting: Matt Leinart at the Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach.

Here's another installment of As USC Turns . . .

There are reports Al Davis wants Lane Kiffin to resign. This follows Kiffin being overruled by Davis when firing defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. We previously mentioned Nick Holt's name was mentioned for that job.
But don't gloat about Kiffin getting fired, if it happens. He got what he wanted. He was an NFL head coach and now gets to put that on his resume. And he made a few million dollars.
All in all, he came out ahead.

Here's the second installment, brought to you by TrojanTV subscribers, the few, the proud, the non-existent.

Here's the first installment of answers.

I've sensed a huge amount of interest this week in the Norm Chow-Pete Carroll falling out judging from my email, so I wanted to add a footnote to the sequence of events.
This was probably the most difficult story I've written at USC because of the subject matter and who it involved, and the fact no one really wanted to talk about it in the open.
But once the story came out, both sides read it, and neither disputed anything. In fact, about a year ago, a former USC football player told me that Chow said it was the only story that accurately portrayed what took place before his departure. I only add this to emphasize Carroll and Chow's reaction to the story.

There's an injury update with some recent surgeries including for safety Taylor Mays, under the USC Headlines to the right.

Center Kris O'Dowd underwent knee surgery as a follow-up procedure to the injury he suffered against Washington that sidelined him for most of the season. The operation was considered a ``clean up'' according to Pete Carroll.

USC quarterback John David Booty on the difference seeing Lane Kiffin as an NFL head coach instead of an offensive coordinator.
“Now he’s the big dog,'' Booty said. ``You’ve got to respect that.''

Secondary coach Demetrice Martin is a candidate for a job at Tulane, which is coached by Bob Toledo.

You might have heard that USC coach Pete Carroll and staff went to the Senior Bowl in Alabama yesterday. But more interesting is that it also allowed Carroll to visit two of the top recruits in the state -- wide receiver Julio Jones and linebacker Jerrell Harris.

USC quarterback John David Booty discussed the Trojans' BCS title hopes while at the Senior Bowl this week.
``After the Rose Bowl we knew, and I think a lot of people around the country knew, that we should have been in that game,'' Booty said. ``And we would have been if we hadn’t hit a little rough patch there during the middle of the season.''

We hear from an NFL source at the Senior Bowl that it appears less likely right now that former USC safety Mark Carrier will end up as the secondary coach at UCLA.

Time for questions. One per person please.

O.J. Mayo remains eligible for tonight's game against Oregon State, according to a school spokesperson. There were some fears following the Lakers ticket controversy that USC's compliance office would declare him ineligible and require him to be reinstated by the NCAA.

Just one more word on the alibi that there were no tickets available for the USC band to play at Pauley Pavilion last weekend. So why is USC's band prevented from appearing at Drake Stadium for the USC-UCLA track meet? There's always plenty of empty seats available that day.

The transfer of UNLV's Shane Horton to USC is on one level a slapback to the Rebels because USC feels it illegally contacted Rocky Hinds before he transferred.
We recently heard a former USC football player was pretty much banned from the program for his role convincing Hinds to leave USC for UNLV before he turned in an official release form.

UCLA's coaching staff is quickly turning into the who dislikes Pete Carroll more club? As if hiring Norm Chow wasn't enough, the Bruins hired Wayne Moses as running backs coach. Talk about a small world. He was fired by Carroll after USC's first season (largely due to a falling out with Lane Kiffin) and pretty much became the first coach to become disenchanted and end their friendship with the soon-to-be successful Trojans coach.
We've already documented Norm Chow's falling out with Carroll and defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker experienced his own differences in his once-close relationship.
Who's the next UCLA hire? Keith Uperesa?

Quarterback Matt Barkley of Mater Dei announced he will attend USC. This is not exactly big news, except it dashes the hopes of UCLA fans who thought Barkley would reconsider his choices once Norm Chow got hired.

USC coach Tim Floyd talked about the ticket situation after practice today. Floyd blamed himself for the Mayo controversy because he said he told Mayo it was OK to go to the game.
I want to give him a complete response, so click after the jump:

O.J. Mayo said he spoke to USC's compliance office today about the Laker tickets he received from Carmelo Anthony that were worth $230 each.
``No I ain't worried. I'm worried about Oregon State,'' he said. ``Yeah, just a little bit, just asked me what happened. They wanted to know what happened.''
He also said he attended a Clippers-Cavaliers game.
``Yeah, I also went to the Clippers and Cavs game.''

Marcus Johnson, a 6-6 guard-forward from UConn, practiced with the Trojans this afternoon and will be eligible next Christmas. He was supposed to transfer to Oregon State before Coach Jay John was fired.
Johnson appeared in 51 games in his two-plus seasons at UConn. He averaged 4.9 points per game and shot 50.0 percent from the field.
He was a consensus top-100 recruit when he graduated from Westchester High School.

Defensive end Malik Jackson of Birmingham High, who committed to USC, needs a sizable improvement on his test scores before gaining admittance.

USC's compliance office is not commenting on O.J. Mayo's courtside Laker tickets from Carmelo Anthony the other night and whether it violated NCAA rules.
``Compliance does not comment on anything before, during or after (or even if they are looking into something, etc.), nor do they make hypothetical interpretations,'' a school spokesman said.

Pat Kirwan of NFL.com writes favorably about John David Booty at the Senior Bowl, saying, ``A strong finish to this week and Booty could work his way into the second round.''
No reason to doubt that, except that Kirwan is perhaps Pete Carroll's closest friend and in 2003, an attorney alleged in sworn testimony that Kirwan received more than $100,000 from Carson Palmer's agent. Carroll denied that Kirwan was paid that money or that he delivered Palmer to the agent. But we thought you might be aware of this when reading Kirwan's reports.

USC lost out to Florida on JC wide receiver Carl Moore last fall and knew one reason was that Moore's girlfriend, gymnast Maranda Smith, received a scholarship too. But Smith inadvertently told the Gainesville Sun last week she talked with Gators coach Urban Meyer "every day back in November when he was recruiting Carl.''
Florida's compliance office is now in damage control because coaches from one sport are not supposed to contact recruits in another sport and during some parts of the season limited to one call per week.
Florida is investigating, so expect Smith to say she was misquoted.

Pete Carroll spoke to former Michigan and current Louisville defensive coordinator Ron English last month, but said it was to help secondary coach Demetrice Martin find a job. But sources said that a potential job was also discussed if Raiders coach Lane Kiffin fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, which we discussed last week.
USC defensive coordinator Nick Holt was believed to be a possible candidate but the Raiders announced that Ryan would return. Whether or not English would become defensive coordinator is something we'll never know, but it's an intriguing choice.

Tight end Fred Davis could now be one of the top two players from USC drafted according to NFL scouts at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. It seems a general consensus that nose tackle Sedrick Ellis will be the top Trojan but Davis is now impressing NFL teams in practices.

UNLV safety Shane Horton of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks is transferring to USC and could enroll this semester if he gets cleared in the next two weeks.
Horton, the older brother of USC commitment and Notre Dame defensive end Wes Horton. Under NCAA rules, Horton can enroll at USC in the first three weeks of the spring semester. Otherwise, he would need to wait until the fall.

Defensive end Malik Jackson of Birmingham High committed to USC. He was also considering Fresno State. More details are on our prep blog, href="http://www.insidesocal.com/prepsports/2008/01/malik_jackson_to_usc.html

I'm the first to admit I have a standing policy of ignoring shows on Fox or Prime Ticket or whatever it's called these days. But I was caught in a restaurant last weekend when a USC Lexus Gauntlet show included former USC basketball assistant coach Dave Miller as an analyst.
Last time I checked, his contract was not renewed following guard Nate Hair's claims of sexual harrassment during a practice at the Sports Arena. Hair was given free tuition for several years as part of USC's settlement of the case following a lengthy investigation.
So who's more culpable? Fox? Or USC for not realizing what's going on here? Apathy is not really an excuse, is it?

Not surprisingly, Sedrick Ellis and Sam Baker are drawing lots of buzz at the Senior Bowl in the early going as NFL teams scrutinize them in Mobile, Ala. They are expected to the first two players drafted from USC.

UCLA still has an opening for a secondary coach and USC's Thorpe Award winner, Mark Carrier, is being mentioned for the opening. He spent the past two seasons with the Balitimore Ravens.

A colleague emailed UCLA's response to the omission of the band and song girls from Saturday's basketball game at Pauley Pavilion. ``USC was provided the opportunity to purchase 100 tickets we hold for each Pac-10 opponent by conference rule. They bought the tickets. It was USC's choice how to use their tickets.''
This is not even good spin. Since when do USC and UCLA, 12 miles apart, treat each other as just another Pac-10 opponent? Why doesn't UCLA provide USC with 5,000 tickets for next season's football game at the Rose Bowl like every other Pac-10 team? Not likely, because UCLA wants USC fans' money on that day.
It's a shame that as the rivalry appears set for great interest in football, the petty minds of UCLA administrators take control.
And this statement does not address why the song girls were banned, when they don't take up any of the precious seats at Pauley Pavilion.

Former USC quarterback Matt Leinart was booed at last week's Lakers-Suns game at Staples Center. The question is why? Did they think he's a Suns fan? Were they UCLA fans? Was Petros Papadakis controlling the crowd? We'll let you decide.

Here's a few more answers to questions not involving Norm Chow.

Here's a little history lesson on Norm Chow's departure from USC and his falling out with Pete Carroll.

Many of you are asking the circumstances over the departure of Norm Chow from USC. I'll have a post later this afternoon that will hopefully address this issue.

Here's some more answers on Norm Chow day.

With Chilo Rachal gone, Zach Heberer becomes the starter at guard, but Pete Carroll said he wants to try out different players at the spot during spring practice before he officially commits. But looking at the roster, it's hard to see anyone beating Heberer out if he plays hard.

Here's a few of the Weekend Forum answers, brought to you by the Tennessee Titans, who will pay for the bulk of Norm Chow's salary at UCLA the next seasons.

The NFL released its list of underclassmen who renounced their college football eligibility and USC offensive guard Chilo Rachal was on it. The underclassmen are given a grace period to change their minds before the NFL releases the list, so Rachal will not change his mind.

Discuss Norm Chow's move to UCLA here if you wish. Whenever Chow speaks to the media, expect there to be questions about USC and answers that bear no grudge toward Pete Carroll. His departure was so acrimonious, however, the truth is a different story.

Virginia announced quarterback Jameel Sewell, who threw for 2,176 yards as a sophomore, is one of four players not enrolled for the 2008 spring semester. The university would not comment on whether Sewell or the other players would return next season.
But USC plays Virginia in its season opener and Caesar usually benefits in these games. Remember, he already played Hawaii before it named Colt Brennan a full-time starter (2005) and Arkansas when tailback Darren McFadden was recovering from an injury (2006), not to mention two meetings against Oregon State without Yvenson Bernard, the Pac-10's No. 6 all-time leading rusher

Linebacker Uona Kavienga of Leuzinger High told other recruits on his visit to USC this weekend that he wanted to play for the Trojans. Keep in mind he previously committed to UCLA and last weekend said he would go to BYU.

Defensive end Nick Perry of Detroit, Mich., visited USC this weekend and lists the Trojans, Michigan, Michigan State and Miami as his finalists. Getting the top player in Michigan would revive the ``wow'' factor of this recruiting class. We'll see.

From last week's Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
``A fan shooting contest was held next, and a woman contestant, after starting too soon, was ordered off the floor and insulted by Petros Papadakis, USC's public address announcer and former football player. The home crowd loudly jeered the annoying man behind the microphone, who got up, waved to the crowd and walked out of the playing area.''

In honor of the crosstown rivalry here's a USC-UCLA basketball game from the late 1960's with Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) in the background.

I'm really tired of the life being drained out of the USC-UCLA rivalry, with the exclusion of the band and song girls by UCLA administrators on Saturday just the latest travesty.
Over the course of attending USC-UCLA games, here's some of the traditions erased by the bean counters and pinheads I've witnessed:
1. Both teams wearing home jerseys for football games. Each school is to blame for this one for refusing to an agreement that would return the tradition.
2. The stadium being split 50-50 for the crosstown rivalry instead of the current ``let's stuff the visiting teams fans in the end zone'' policy.
3. No longer allowing opposing schools' students to be on the floor level at basketball games.
4. Sticking the other school's band in the nosebleed section for basketball games. Now apparently a privilege based on Saturday's action.
And here's a question: If UCLA did not have time for the song girls to perform, why couldn't they just sit behind the basket and cheer?

Even USC coach Tim Floyd went with Davon Jefferson over O.J. Mayo as player of the game against UCLA.
``I would say the player of the game today was Jefferson,'' Floyd said.

This might be the most pathetic action ever during the crosstown rivalry, but UCLA told USC before the game that the band and song girls would not be allowed in Pauley Pavilion for today's game.
Talk about draining the atmosphere out of a historical rivalry.
UCLA said it wanted to sell the seats where the band sits and claimed there was no time during timeouts for the USC song girls to perform. In years past, the two cheerleading squads always alternated, so this is typical spin from paranoid administrators.
In return, UCLA said it would not bring its band or cheerleaders to the Galen Center. Great, a sterile, one-sided environment for the big local game.
With the schools 12 miles apart, it's absurd not to have the bands at each game. No one I know ever remembers this before. Then again, fans remember the scoreboards at Pauley Pavilion in 1992 said, ``U$C.''

``We all fell like we were going to win this game just because of the intensity we had in practice but we knew it wasn't going to be easy. We definitely grew from this win.''
-- USC guard O.J. Mayo

``If he sat out, there was a reason and it's good for him. Coaches just don't sit out guys because they don't care. Obviously they care and they want to get the kid right so we were proud of him today.''
-- Daniel Hackett on Davon Jefferson's 25 points and nine rebounds.

Four players were ejected from the USC-UCLA women's game, three from UCLA and one from USC for leaving the bench. There were also four technical fouls called after USC's Alison Jaskowiak accidentally elbowed UCLA's Lindsay Pluimer in the chin. Full details in the sports headlines to the right.

``This may make all the recruiting experts angry but Mayo is a good player, he is not a great player . . . he could be a good player. He is not a great player.''
-- CBS analyst Billy Packer

That did not stop CBS from making Mayo its player of the game, in spite of Davon Jefferson's 25 points and nine rebounds.

USC just completed a double over UCLA in basketball, as the men upset the Bruins at Pauley Pavilion while the women defeated the Bruins at the Galen Center.

One question per person please.

So John Harbaugh, who was primarily a special teams coach, gets the Baltimore Ravens job?
If the Ravens wanted a Harbaugh, maybe they should have hired Jim. At least he's been a head coach.
But this shows how NFL teams think. They would rather have a coach they can control than Caesar, who wants control of personnel moves.

Here's some more answers brought to you by Wonder Bread, which reminds us that it's a wonder how USC lost to Stanford this season. Your move, Roman Meal.

This segment is brought to you by the agents who swarm USC's underclassmen but only when they are not within sight of assistant coach Pat Ruel.

Here's the second installment of answers.

USC coach Tim Floyd says the Trojans average 0.6 years of experience while other Pac-10 teams average 1.5. The problem is the Trojans might not be dramatically more experienced next season if they lose anyone else besides O.J. Mayo to the NBA.

Here's the first installment of answers to your questions, brought to you by Billy Packer, who will make a rare appearance at a USC regular-season game Saturday when the Trojans play at UCLA.

From today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the Falcons' coaching search:
``(Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason) Garrett, former Steelers coach Bill Cowher, USC coach Pete Carroll and Colts assistant head coach Jim Caldwell told the Falcons, and other suitors, that they were not interested in the head-coaching job.''

There's been speculation in Louisiana that USC coach Tim Floyd could become the next coach at LSU. But Floyd reiterated tonight that USC will be his last job and he would not consider going to LSU because his friend, John Brady, is the coach.
``I have the best job,'' Floyd said.

Point guard Angelo Johnson jammed his finger but was able to practice with no problems and should not be affected for Saturday's UCLA game.

Forward Leonard Washington is waiting to hear back from the NCAA Clearinghouse to see if he met all academic requirements. Washington signed with USC in 2006 but did not meet requirements. He is currently back in Louisiana.
If cleared by the NCAA, he could play for the Trojans next season.

USC coach Pete Carroll ran into UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker this morning at Crenshaw High School. There's a lot of things they could have talked about, but the Norm Chow/UCLA situation was not among them.
We're hearing right now that Chow is talking to UCLA but undecided on his next move.

Many of you ask about the status of former USC defensive line coach Ed Orgeron. He is currently being considered for the defensive coordinator's position at LSU.

The basketball team's fall semsester grade-point average was 2.37, nearly identical to the football team. It was down from last fall's 2.70 GPA.

USC safety Taylor Mays already faced UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel several times, when Mays played at O'Dea High School in Seattle and Neuheisel was a volunteer assistant coach at Rainier Beach.
``We won when we played them,'' Mays said.
That wasn't the only connection.
``My brother played on the same team as his son,'' Mays said.

Questions, questions, questions. One per person please.

C.J. Gable, Josh Pinkard, Kevin Thomas and Chris Galippo are supposed to be able to participate in limited action for spring practice, which is supposed to begin March 25.

We hear USC assistant coach Ken Norton was not particularly interested in the title of defensive coordinator at UCLA during interviews with Rick Neuheisel. Of course, the position was taken anyways, but the idea of going to UCLA as assistant head coach was to be groomed for the eventual transition to defensive coordinator.
But really it was more about getting a Bruin grad away from USC. We were told by friends of Neuheisel that he said he wants to ``compete against USC on everything'' instead of just giving ground. Hiring Norm Chow makes sense on that level and many others.

USC secondary coach Demetrice Martin did not get hired by Nevada. Ironically, we hear Nevada hired Oregon State's Nigel Burton. Burton was considered a frontrunner to become the secondary coach at UCLA with the Bruins looking to hire a secondary coach.

The football team compiled a 2.36 grade-point average in the fall semester, down from a 2.43 in the fall of 2006. It was also slightly down from the 2.40 average in the spring semester.

Alabama is making a run at Norm Chow but UCLA remains the frontrunner.

We hear UCLA is working on a deal with Norm Chow and things are reaching an advanced stage. If it gets done, the coordinator combo of DeWayne Walker and Chow will get Caesar's full attention. Who would have a better staff in America?

USC is the odds-on favorite to win the BCS title next season according to Bodog. Odds listed before the Titans fired Norm Chow and UCLA began negotiations. Here's the odds:

We hear Falcons owner Arthur Blank tossed figures of between $5-10 million to Pete Carroll last week, but crucially, did not offer complete control over personnel decisions.

We hear former USC cornerback Kris Richard is a strong candidate to join the coaching staff if Caesar decides to add a secondary coach as a graduate assistant.

Here's the top five schools in bowl appearances:
Alabama 55
Tennessee 47
Texas 47
USC 46
Nebraska 44

ESPN reports Norm Chow was fired by Tennessee. Where will he end up?

Linebacker Keith Rivers has signed with agent David Dunn, who also represents Carson Palmer.

Here's the third installment of answers, brought to you by Thomas Paine's Common Sense, which declined a chance to sponsor TrojanTV.

Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said he would not have taken a similar position with the Baltimore Ravens if Coach Brian Billick had not been fired. Sarkisian said he did not want to uproot his family from Southern California and said he would not be interested in any other NFL jobs.

The Atlanta Falcons hired Tom Dimitroff, the New England Patriots’ director of scouting, as their general manager. Dimitroff hung around USC last month during bowl practices while working for the Patriots.

Pete Carroll said offensive guard Chilo Rachal informed him that he would make himself available for the NFL draft. Carroll was disappointed Rachal did not consult him before making his decision
``I asked him who he confided with and was real disappointed we were not part of the decision,’’ Carroll said. ``There’s a lot of information at his disposal. He did not go through the (NFL early) evaluation process. He didn’t want to.’’

Linebacker Kaluka Maiava underwent thumb surgery after breaking it against Illinois in the Rose Bowl.

Assistant coach Ken Norton was not on campus today because of personal issues and Pete Carroll said he thought a decision would be made soon about a job offer from UCLA. He didn't seem worried.
``We'll see before too long,'' Carroll said.

Fullback Alfred Rowe did reverse his academic issues and was enrolled in school today.

USC coach Pete Carroll did not want to say much tonight about the Falcons job.
``I have no comment. There's nothing. I'm not saying anything about anything.''

We asked someone who works with Pete Carroll why last week's flirtation with the Atlanta Falcons took place despite Carroll's stated intention to never leave USC for the NFL.
``Ego fulfillment,'' the co-worker said.

Here's the second installment, brought to you by Roman Meal, which is glad it doesn't have to feed Caesar or his legions in Atlanta.

Here's the first installment of the bonus round of Weekend Forum questions, brought to you by the students of USC, who are grateful the spring semester starts today.

USC football players Vincent Joseph and Alfred Rowe were academically disqualified following the completion of the fall semester and are no longer enrolled in school, according to sources.
Joseph, a cornerback, and Rowe, a fullback, are sophomores and were also teammates at Long Beach Poly. They were eligible for the Rose Bowl because grades were not officially posted at that time.
Sources said there remains a chance Rowe could improve his academic situation and be readmitted to school. Rowe said before the Rose Bowl he did not think hewould have any academic issues. Last year, kicker Troy Van Blarcom was academically disqualified.

We'll have a news update around 11 p.m.

USC secondary coach Demetrice Martin should know this week if he will be hired by Nevada. Martin spent the weekend in Nevada interviewing for a job on the coaching staff.

Raiders coach Lane Kiffin was told to sign a contract extension if he wanted to fire his defensive coaches.

There were several reports that Raiders coach Lane Kiffin wanted to fire defensive coordinator Rob Ryan before the club issued a statement last week saying Ryan would return. This is rich on a few levels, with the idea of a 32-year-old first-year coach firing a respected assistant.
But we mention it for another reason. The rumor among league coaches was that Kiffin was interested in hiring USC defensive coordinator Nick Holt as Ryan's replacement.

Halfback Jon Arnett (left) and fullback C.R. Roberts (right) pour cups of water on each other in the locker room following USC's 42-20 upset of fifth-ranked Notre Dame in 1955.
Photo courtesy of USC Digital Library.

That was relatively painless, so we'll take more questions here. One per person please.

Here's a bonus answer for our stragglers.

Here's the next installment of answers, er, answer, brought to you by Ronald McDonald, who supplied the basketball shoes to USC this season.

Here's the fourth installment of the answers.

Here's the third installment, brought to you by the $5 polish sausage, available exclusively at the Galen Center.

This edition is brought to you by Paul Hackett, who refused to take wide receiver Chad Johnson because he only had one year of eligibility. Johnson went to Oregon State and the Beavers won the Fiesta Bowl. Hackett lost his job.

USC basketball players huddle courtside beneath the old Sports Arena scoreboard during a game from the 1960's. Photo courtesy USC digital library.

Here's Round 1, brought to you by the National Football League, the official sponsor of Pete Carroll's January vacations.

Forward Davon Jefferson on USC coach Tim Floyd.
``We get along very well. He talks to me a lot. He knows that I go through little freshman deals. Sometimes I just get lackadaisical, sometimes he gets on me about my defense. But I just listen to him because he's been on the next level and I know he's got more experience in the game so I just listen and try to get better at it.''

The Atlanta Falcons asked USC coach Pete Carroll to consider a follow-up interview this weekend, although sources said it was unlikely things would progress further barring a change of heart by Carroll.

Freshman forward Davon Jefferson's been suspended from about a third of USC's first 15 games.
``Obviously it's going to be hard when we lose a game and not everyone is able to contribute,'' guard O.J. Mayo said. ``I don't know, he wasn't out there, we really can't tell, but it would have made a difference.''

Reggie Bush talked about Pete Carroll on Sirius NFL Radio.
Q: "What if Pete Carroll ends up in your division?”
Reggie Bush: “That would suck. (laughs) I would not want to have to play against Coach Carroll.
“Whatever the formula is, he’s got it. You talk to people who have played for him or who have coached with him, [they’ll say] he’s a great guy. Whatever that formula is he’s definitely got it. Now I know college and the NFL are two different levels but I feel like football is football and the same formulas apply at each level. Whatever it is, he’s got it. He’s a great coach. I loved playing for him.”
Q: “You know he’s a defensive coach by trade. He’d have to try to figure out how to stop Reggie Bush.”
Bush: “Yeah, I know that. That’s one of the reasons why I said that would suck if he got back in our division. I would not want that. So, hopefully, Coach Carroll stays at SC.”

Nearly everyone I ran into at the basketball game asked me about Pete Carroll's future, so I think it's worth recapping the subject. I don't think he's going to the Atlanta Falcons and I heard from someone who spoke to him that nothing else will probably happen.
I expect him to remain at USC, but there's always two things to consider. You never know what some super-rich owner like the Redskins' Daniel Snyder might throw at somebody if he really wants them and even people within the football program believe Carroll enjoys the attention from NFL teams.
So Carroll remains at USC, but never say never.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany is possibly the most powerful commissioner in the country. Here's what he told XM radio about the plus-one format for a college football playoff.
``We just have never seen a plus-1 plan that addresses the Rose Bowl and its relationship to the Big Ten and Pac-10 in a way that would be acceptable to us. So we’ve been having a relationship with the BCS for a decade and we have a 60-year relationship with the Rose Bowl.
``The Rose Bowl relationship, to be honest with you, is the most important one we have-although we appreciate the BCS, we support the BCS.We’ve never seen a four team playoff stay as a four team playoff. So if you are concerned, and we are, about an eight-team,12-team, or 16-team playoff and what it would do to college football, we don’t believe that you allow the camel’s nose under the tent with a four-team playoff.''

USC freshman center Mamadou Diarra said he asked Coach Tim Floyd if he could redshirt on Wednesday and Floyd agreed with the decision. Diarra underwent hernia surgery before the season and played in just three games this season.

In case you missed last night's appearance on the Petros-Money show, where the words ``Caesar,'' and ``scumbags'' and ``boobs'' were used, just click on the longest link in history after the jump.

Here's a rumor making the rounds in the NFL. Tampa Bay GM Bruce Allen and coach Jon Gruden go to the Redskins, which opens the door for Tampa Bay to hire Pete Carroll, where his life-long mentor, Monte Kiffen, is already the defensive coordinator.

Forward Davon Jefferson did not play tonight against Washington State in arguably the most important game of the season to date. USC coach Tim Floyd said it was a ``coaches decision'' and got angry at the post-game conference when asked about it.
``That's all I'm going to say,'' Floyd yelled.
But we don't sit on our hands here and we did some digging tonight. Floyd suspended Jefferson for poor grades and a poor attitude, according to our sources. We also heard there might have been an argument during last week's road trip in the Bay Area.
This is the second time Jefferson's been suspended this season. He also sat the start of the season for unspecified problems.

Not exactly the best music lyrics to play in the Galen Center after USC's 73-58 loss to Washington State, but the Traveling Wilburys ``End of the Line'' which features the chorus, ``Well it's all right'' blared through the building.

Time to take questions. I'm sure our new blog format will make it harder than ever, but I will answer questions if you ask them.

Former USC kicker Troy Van Blarcom is making himself available for the NFL draft. Van Blarcom made nine of 14 field goals with a long of 50 yards and also punted for Kansas Wesleyan this season.
``I already sent my name in,'' Van Blarcom said.

USC linebackers coach Ken Norton met with UCLA yesterday and right now he's probably more likely to stay than leave. Not that it's official, of course.

If you don't think any USC underclassman would go pro, think again. We'll have details shortly.

OK, we hear USC coach Pete Carroll and Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank spoke yesterday and had what was described as an ``extremely cordial'' conversation, according to a source. The Falcons informed Carroll they would interview other candidates and no job offer was discussed.
At this point, it seems unlikely Carroll winds up in Atlanta.

We'll have a Caesar update later this afternoon.

I'll be on ESPN around 12:30 p.m. to discuss you know what.

If you're having trouble submitting comments, and many of you have told me you have, there's going to be another attempt this afternoon to fix the problem.

All the attention on Pete Carroll allowed another day to pass with offensive guard Chilo Rachal keeping a low profile and not returning some teammates' calls regarding his decision whether to return to USC or turn pro next season.

LSU coach Les Miles made his feelings known about USC's case to be No. 1 during an interview on The Best Damn Sports Show.
``I don’t want to create a South vs. West issue here but you have to play the whole season and, you know, there were some unexplainable losses there that they really had a difficult time getting beyond,'' Miles said.

Here's our story on Pete Carroll and the Atlanta Falcons for Thursday's paper.
http://www.dailynews.com/usc/ci_7927752

If Nike were as influential as Adidas during its role in the hiring of Ben Howland at UCLA (i.e. paying off part of his Pitt buyout), then you could just look at the coaches speaking at its March clinic at USC for a list of potential head coaches.
Mark Richt of Georgia, Mike Riley of Oregon State, Jim Leavitt of South Florida and Troy Calhoun of Air Force are scheduled to speak. It's an interesting list, other than the fact Leavitt seems like a complete lunatic on the sidelines.

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank was approached by a reporter from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution at tonight's Hawks-Cavaliers game and asked about whether he spoke to Pete Carroll: ``Have you ever heard of radio silence,'' Blank said.

USC guard Kyle Austin's transferred to UC Riverside. It makes sense because Riverside coach Jim Wooldridge is a crony of USC coach Tim Floyd.

Expect USC assistant coach Ken Norton to speak to UCLA at least more time in the next few days. I won't lie and say I'm interested in this subject, but new UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel wants to impress the influential boosters that he had dinner with on Tuesday night in Anaheim and Norton would satisfy them.
Norton's always coached linebackers but he might have to go to UCLA as associate head coach/defensive line coach or associate head coach/asst. to the linebackers coach because the Bruins already have a linebackers coach.
So he needs to decide if that is what he really wants.
Here's the real question: Who will USC get to jump around in the huddle if Norton leaves?
UPDATED: If Norton turns UCLA down, expect Oregon State cornerbacks coach Nigel Burton to become a strong candidate to join the Bruins staff.

It looks like USC secondary coach Demetrice Martin could be headed to Nevada.

USC coach Pete Carroll reiterated to sports information today a quote from the day after the Rose Bowl.
There's nothing going on, no reason to even talk about it," Carroll said on Jan. 2.

Here's a brief story on Pete Carroll on our web site, with an original quote regarding the Falcons from before the Rose Bowl.
http://www.dailynews.com/ci_7923899

Here's what ESPN's Beano Cook thinks of Pete Carroll going to the Falcons.
`` 40th anniversary (of the song girls) coming up...there will be a reunion. That should be incentive alone for Carroll to come back.''

Just to review, in case Pete Carroll left USC, the top three candidates on a list put together last year by USC were Jacksonville Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio, Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher and Oregon State coach Mike Riley.

Here's a statement from USC sports information to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"As Pete told our beat reporters last Wednesday, he understands that his name is going to come up for NFL jobs, as it has in each of his past years here, but that he was not going to comment about NFL openings because it would just lead to speculation.There's nothing going on, no reason to even talk about it."
Nothing going on . . . except an interview with the Atlanta Falcons today.

Caesar, who is in Hawaii, is expected to speak to the Atlanta Falcons by phone today. Maybe he should change his website to AtlantaFalconsRipsit.com.

Former USC assistant coach Ed Orgeron at the coaches convention in Anaheim. Orgeron is looking for an NFL or high-profile college job if he can become defensive coordinator.

I've been away from the computer, but ESPN.com reports the Atlanta Falcons are interested in Pete Carroll.
About two weeks ago, I spoke to Carroll about the Falcons job and he was not bullish on it or the organization.
So that means he is not interested, right? Right?
One would think Carroll would not even interview for the job, but we shall see.

USC did well in the human polls, finishing second in the coaches and third in the AP, but the BCS computers were not as impressed. In the five available rankings, USC finished third in Billingsley, but sixth in Colley, Massey, Wolfe, and the Sagarin ratings.

We hear that initial reports are Norm Chow probably is not interested in the Hawaii job.

The BCS title earned a 14.4 rating and 22 share (23.1 million viewers) last night, with 52 million Americans tuning in to see at least some of LSU’s win over Ohio State. That's a 17-percent decline from last year's Florida-Ohio State game, which confirms the fatigue over an anti-climatic championship game.

LSU won its second BCS title in five years. That only further underscores that USC should probably have four by now instead of the lone crystal football that sits in Heritage Hall.
Thanks to a horrendous fourth-down decision in the Rose Bowl against Texas, getting outcoached by overmatched UCLA last year and losing to 41-point underdog this year, the Trojans can only think of what might be. Win Forever.''
Four crystal footballs might make it worthwhile to buy a ``win forever'' sweatshirt.

Remember all the LSU fans who said the AP title did not matter four years ago? Are they advocating returning that portion of the national title this year?

Defensive end Everson Griffen was named to the Football Writers Association of America's Freshman All-American team. Here's the whole team:

Offensive guard Chilo Rachal's kept a low profile since the Rose Bowl and has not spoken to coaches regarding his possible early departure to the NFL.

USC quarterback Jim Contratto gets his wrist examined by trainer Kearney Reeb during a practice in October, 1951. Reeb was USC's trainer from 1945-58 before going to the San Diego Chargers. He died in 2001 at age 98. Photo courtesy USC digital library.

Here's the top 25 poll just sent to the Associated Press.

As LSU polished off Ohio State, it only served as a final reminder that USC blew perhaps its easiest chance to win a national title. All the Trojans needed to do was beat Stanford and it could have been the one waxing Ohio State in New Orleans.

From the Las Vegas Review Journal: ``Reality show star Kristin Cavallari celebrated her 21st birthday in the company of former flame NFL quarterback Matt Leinart early Saturday at Pure Nightclub at Caesars Palace. When Cavallari, in town to serve as Pure's celebrity host on Saturday, and her friends showed up at Pure about 1 a.m., Leinart was waiting in the VIP section with a group of friends, including former USC teammate Chauncey Washington.
The former Heisman Trophy winner and former star of "Laguna Beach" were seen leaving together about 3:30 a.m., when both groups left together.''
Well, at least they've progressed from the days Leinart left the then-high schooler his apartment keys at Heritage Hall when she drove up from Laguna Beach.

It's not quite Costa Rica, but Caesar is currently vacationing in Hawaii, where he has a house.

Here's the final five teams in my AP poll.
21. Virginia
22. Clemson
23. Boise State
24. Utah
25. Tulsa

The Big East Conference has the longest current winning streak of any league in BCS matchups with three in a row after West Virginia's Orange Bowl victory over Oklahoma.

Norm Chow is now a candidate at Hawaii with June Jones leaving for SMU. I don't know what will happen, but I do know when Chow coached at USC he did not view Hawaii as an attractive fit for himself. And that was before Hawaii's success this season puts more pressure on the next coach. In the coaching world, you never want to be the guy who follows THE GUY. You want to be the second guy.