Caesar Lobby

"We" hear this do we?

Forgive me if I take "our spies" and "we hear" with a Titanic crushing, iceberg-sized grain of salt.

I would much rather have gotten sarkisian as opposed to kiffin. I think Sark is just more personable and just as talented (if not more so) than Kif.

It's a shame though. I was reading some reports and it sounded as if USC had pushed hard enough, Sark would have come back. And i'm guessing Orgeron would have been back anyway.

We'll never know so it's a moot point. I do wonder what Carroll REALLY thinks of this hire.

I read a good line about Kiffin. "the guy was born on third base and swears he hit a triple." lol

This blog has basically become a gossip column.

He should have pushed harder. Sark is ready for the SC job either, but he's smarter than Kiffin, and comes with a lot less BS.

Seriously, how did we not make a run at Chris Petersen?

Somebody's got to sneak into Garrett's office and add some qualified names to his Rolodex. That dude just spends too much time with his head up his butt.

I'm sure the folks up in Washington would be thrilled to hear that there new college coach was trying to jump ship, and that their new NFL coach was trying to help him. Fortunately for them, it's not from a credible source.

I'm not sure if Sark could've brought Monte Kiffin and Coach O. Certainly, NOT Norm Chow, if I'm correct about their relationship being sour. I'm happy with Coach O and daddy Kiffin. Just hoping that Lane doesn't try to take on the OC role without trying to hire a seasoned/proven OC.

It seems like Sark has a better head on his shoulder (comapred to Kiffin), but, I'm Armenian so I'm probably a bit bias. Maybe ALOT better...

Lane has the defense well stocked. A good OC and we'll be set. I don't see that with Sark.

My wife, the teacher, tells me that there are seven types of intelligence. How else would you explain George Bush (or U.S.Grant, for you history buffs)? Great artists sometimes can't balance a checkbook.

Just because someone is a slick speaker doesn't mean he'll be a good football head coach. I'm going to give Kiffin a chance to show me what he does with a good team. Wins, losses, grades, and compliance will tell more than a press conference after four hours on a plane with the family.

You can't judge him from his Al Davis years. Nor from a year at a second rate (in recent years) SEC school trying to regain lost glory.

Mike Garrett hired Pete Carroll when everyone thought Pete was a washed up loser. Aren't we seeing that criticism all over again?

People were saying Pete was a has-been. The criticism of Kiffin is that he's a never-will-be.

I don't like the hire. Not without Chow.

Petersen, Whittingham, or Patterson would have been much better choices in my opinion. The only thing that makes it tolerable is that Kiffin is a good recruiter so he should have a talent edge against most coaches. Because with a neutral playing field, I think he'd get out-coached by a lot of people.

Can we bring Coach Harvey Hyde as the offensive coach?

Scott...post a source or STFU. you are the second biggest maroon involved in "print" media in los Angeles (Number 1 is TJ Slimers....but it is a very close horserace).

So please....at least DESCRIBE the connections the source you are "hearing" has to teh program. you know.....SOMETHING?!?!?

Kiff is a great hire. He is a wunderkind. Exceptionally tallented. Your way off base, Sure.

Stu is right. The stuff we've gotten from you in the last few days is crap. You write something like this and the one about Carroll being "turned down by a couple coaches" is less than we would find in the Enquirer. You need to go back to Journalism 101 and re-invent yourself.

F all the Kiffin haters. He'll going to kick A$$. Plus, we don't care what you think.

SW, how long is Lane Kiffin's contract: 5 years, 3 years or 1 year? Is he planning on hiring an OC? Have any OC's names beeen suggested?

Are any recruits expected to meet on campus this weekend? If so, which ones? Any other recruiting news?

ha ha ha ha...can't stop laughing. Lame and the gang will bring USC down. Go Bruins!

Thank you Mr. Slyck and Mr Gatsby.
And to Scott "WHO GOOFED? I'VE GOT TO KNOW!

I think Kiffin is a solid hire and will mature at USC. But I must admit that I'm less excited about this without Chow. Sark would have been a rock-solid coach with no baggage and no maturation process. It will be interesting to watch USC and UW battle over the next few years.

rejn..."Eench bessess"
torpedoman..."shod lavem, doon eench bessess"
rejn..."shod"
LOL..

I agree @ Sark, especially as a QB guru and offense theorist. So, not that I'm anti Kiffin, but I do think that he needs a dynamic offensive innovator to maximize the talent that we'll get.

Why does anyone listen to Second-hand Wolf anyways. Most of his made-up rumours turn out to be made up. A Wunnerful Wunnerful

Any suggestions on where to find good information on who SC is recruiting and the status? fighton.com has different links like scout and rivals but I'd like to get the USC perspective. I'm not ready to pay for information like some of these spots that have monthly fees. Can't they get their coin by advertisers?

Check this out:

Here is the link to the 2005 season - Lane Kiffin, OC - With Lienart at QB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_USC_Trojans_football_team#Coaching_staff

Here is link to the 2006 season - Lane Kiffin, OC - with JD Booty at QB, Booty was a horrible QB (my opinion)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_USC_Trojans_football_team#Coaching_staff

Look at the scoring... With Matt at QB - Kiff was bombing... with JDB not so much, but scoring was good... save fUCLA game...

Here is Sark's first year at OC with JD Booty (2nd year)... Scoring vs. Kiff - check it out...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_USC_Trojans_football_team#Coaching_staff

What I'm saying is - with the right dynamics - Kiff likes to put the points on the board...

Do your home work boys... Look at some of the scores from Lanes 2009 season... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Tennessee_Volunteers_football_team

In 2005, USC head coach Pete Carroll selected Kiffin to replace Norm Chow as offensive coordinator. Despite being new to the role, Lane Kiffin helped guide USC to a 23–3 win-loss record during his tenure- an 88% win percentage. During the previous four years under Norm Chow's play calling, the Trojans achieved 41 wins and 9 losses (82%). Under Kiffin in 2005 the USC offense produced school records in virtually every dimension, averaging 49.1 points and 579 yards per game. USC’s potent offense that season became the first in NCAA history to have a 3,000 yard passer (Matt Leinart), two 1,000 yard rushers (Reggie Bush & LenDale White), and a 1,000 yard receiver (Dwayne Jarrett). Steve Smith fell a few yards short of also surpassing 1,000 yards in receiving. With an all new offensive cast at the skill positions and in what was generally viewed as a rebuilding year for USC the offensive totals fell off to 30.5 point, and 391 yards per game, and 11 wins overall, he was promoted to offensive and recruiting coordinator while continuing as the wide receivers coach. In Kiffin’s three years as recruiting coordinator at USC, the Trojans had the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in college football every year. Under Kiffin leadership in 2006, the Trojans finished first in the Pac-10 in passing efficiency by averaging 142.8 yards per game, produced two, 1,000-yard receivers – Dwayne Jarrett (1,105) and Steve Smith (1,083) – and a 3,000-yard passer John David Booty, with 3,347 yards. Injuries affected the team all year as three fullbacks went down to major injury by the third game of the year, several freshman running backs rotated as starting tailback, and wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett missed parts of the mid-season due to injury. Despite these losses and key injuries the team produced top 20 statistics in most NCAA offensive categories and concluded with a 32–18 win over the then #3 ranked team the University of Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

After an upset loss to the UCLA Bruins to close the 2006 season, eliminating USC from the 2006 BCS title game, there were reports in the news media that previous coordinator Norm Chow publicly criticized the young coordinator along with quarterbacks coach Steve Sarkisian. He was interviewed by the Orange County Register.
“ I know DeWayne Walker may be better than both of those guys, DeWayne Walker is a heck of a football coach, which is why I wasn't too surprised he did what he did at UCLA.[3] ”

Other sources however point out that Chow's comments were taken out of context in this regard and did not reflect his intended meaning. These reports indicate the following conversation ensued over the airwaves.
“ Host: Coach, here back in Los Angeles, USC, a couple of your proteges in Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian, taking over as offensive coordinators for the Trojans, they've uh, taken a lot of heat, and Joe mentioned especially after the UCLA game. Any thoughts on those two guys and the job they've done since you left?

Norm Chow : Nah, you know I don't get a chance to follow much, you know we're so busy doing what we're doing, um, you know LenDale keeps me informed of all that but I really don't, don't know. You know I know DeWayne Walker maybe better than both of those guys and DeWayne's a heck of a football coach and that's why it wasn't too surprising when DeWayne did what he did with UCLA.[4]
”

The contents of the interview are available for download at KLAC 570AM radio's website[5] Kiffin, Walker and Chow were all coaches on the 2001 Trojans team.

See Woofie, bring the data, show some facts... mix in a picture... Hey Scott, do you have any data for NueWeasle when he served as an OC? What's that Scott?? you want me to find NueWeasles first 3 years as an OC? oh, okay... BRB...

NCAA Rule Violations at Colorado Rick Neuheisel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Neuheisel#College_coaching_career

Slick Rick was a Full-Time Assistant Coach through 1993, in 1994 Slick Rick became the Head Coach at Colorado, at age 34.

He stayed for four seasons (1995–98) in Boulder as the Buffs coach. His best season was his first, in which the Buffs tied for second in the final season of Big Eight play and won the Cotton Bowl. His only losing season at Colorado was 1997; the Buffs were expected to be national title contenders, but never recovered from a blowout loss to Michigan on national television. After the season, the Buffs were forced to forfeit their five wins due to an ineligible player, though Neuheisel was subsequently ruled to not be affected.

NCAA Rule Violations at Colorado

After Neuheisel left for Seattle, Colorado lost five of 25 scholarships for one year, and was put on two years' probation for 53 rules violations, 51 when Neuheisel was the Colorado coach from 1995–98. "This was a serious case," the NCAA's infractions committee ruling said, "in which a football coaching staff, led by the former head football coach, in a calculated attempt to gain a recruiting advantage, pushed beyond the permissible bounds of legislation, resulting in a pattern of recruiting violations." [6][dead link]

It was during his time at Colorado that he first began to be known as "Slick Rick" by his detractors, as it reflected their belief that he possessed a disingenuous personality.

Washington

Neuheisel was welcomed into the Rose Bowl hall of fame before the 1999 Rose Bowl.[7] University of Washington athletic director Barbara Hedges took the opportunity to meet with him and recruit him back as a head coach into the Pacific-10 conference. She fired coach Jim Lambright and named Neuheisel as the replacement.[8] Neuheisel left for Seattle in January 1999 to coach at the University of Washington for four seasons (1999-2002). His starting salary was $1,000,000 annually, at the time one of the five highest in the nation.[8] In the 2000 season, the Huskies won the Pac-10 title and the Rose Bowl over the Big Ten champ Purdue Boilermakers, led by quarterback Drew Brees. Washington, led by senior quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo, the Rose Bowl MVP, finished the season at 11-1 and was ranked third in the final national polls. Rick became the first and only former Rose Bowl MVP to coach a winning Rose Bowl team.

During the 2000 season, Neuheisel and Barbara Hedges were accused (retroactively in a series of painstakingly researched articles by the Seattle Times published in 2008) of overlooking many examples of criminal conduct and hooliganism, while community institutions, including prosecutors, police, judges and the media, went along.[9] During that year, UW safety Curtis Williams was allowed to play despite being issued an outstanding arrest warrant for assaulting his wife, Michelle.[9] Linebacker Jeremiah Pharms was under investigation for robbing and shooting a drug dealer after police found his fingerprints at the scene, but was not charged until the season was over.[9] Jerramy Stevens, the Huskies star tight end, was under investigation of raping a UW freshman on sorority row.[9] When Stevens later crashed his truck into a retirement home, Neuheisel suspended him for half a game.[9]

His 2001 and 2002 teams posted records of 8–4 and 7–6 respectively--to date, the last winning seasons at the school.

In February 2003, Neuheisel secretly interviewed for the San Francisco 49ers coaching job without telling anyone at UW about it. The 49ers' general manager at the time, Terry Donahue, had been Neuheisel's head coach as a player and assistant coach at UCLA. A day after his interview, he issued a statement through UW's athletic department saying he wasn't interested in the job. However, a few days later, a Seattle newspaper reporter wrote that he'd seen Neuheisel discussing the 49ers job on his cell phone while the two were waiting for a flight at San Francisco International Airport. When Hedges found out about it, she and school president Lee Huntsman warned him that further lies would not be tolerated.[10]
[edit] NCAA infractions at Washington

Before Neuheisel coached his first game for the Huskies, he had already violated NCAA recruiting rules by visiting high school players before the NCAA approved date to do so. [11] In the summer of 2003, Neuheisel came under fire for taking part in a neighborhood pool for the 2003 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and lies he told about his actions. He first denied the accusation to investigators before admitting to it after consultation with school officials. The gambling case became a local sensation when it was revealed that he had received an internal UW memo which authorized gambling in off-campus tournament basketball pools. After Hedges learned that Neuheisel faced at least a two-year NCAA suspension, she gave Neuheisel an ultimatum--resign or be fired. He refused, and was fired on June 11.[12]

That fall, the NCAA infractions committee found Neuheisel violated NCAA rules against gambling but didn't sanction him, citing the memo by Washington's then compliance officer, Dana Richardson, that mistakenly authorized this type of gambling.[13] It also became apparent that the NCAA violated its own rules when questioning Neuheisel about the gambling. UW had its probation extended for failing to monitor its football program.[14][15]

Neuheisel sued both the NCAA and UW concerning the termination of his employment contract. Toward the end of trial, it was revealed that the NCAA had failed to turn over certain crucial evidence to Neuheisel's attorneys. The new evidence (updated NCAA bylaws pertaining to rules investigations) bolstered Neuheisel's claim that the NCAA acted improperly during its investigation that eventually led to his firing. With the new evidence revealed, the NCAA and University of Washington agreed to settle instead of proceeding to the jury. The settlement awarded Neuheisel $4.5 million, consisting of cash payments and some loan forgiveness. He served as a volunteer coach for Rainier Beach High School in Seattle for two seasons (2003–04).

Oh the horror!

Boy, PowederBlue, are you so desperate to slam the Bruins that

1) you have to go totally off-topic from the post, and

2) you have to dig up stuff from years past?

I'm sure we'll be hearing about similar stuff, if not more serious stuff, coming out of Heritage Hall concerning both the football and basketball programs, so I wouldn't be so quick to pass judgement.

The Donkey KNOWS Carroll recommended both Sarkisian and Kiffin to replace him.

@CrouchingBruin - Where did I pass judgement? - This is PUBLIC INFORMATION, based upon facts. However, lets remind those bRuin fans of the saying: People, who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

I love CrouchingRuin's retort "dig up stuff from years past?" - What are you, Mark McGuire... "I'm not here to talk about the past."

What kind of New-Weasel stuff should we talk about? Do you have a crystal ball? Do you know his future. The fact is, that his teams get worse every season he coaches them (this season excluded) and his players get in a load of trouble. The Jeramy Stevens incident (raping a girl on sorority row) was especially egregious and an indication of what he'll put up with to win.

I don't love the Kiffin hiring, but I thank God we don't have Slick Rick running our program.

Crouching turd...LOOK! The sanctions are basically coming from the hoops, Tim Floyd, OJ Mayo chaos. What's happening behind the scenes with the NCAA and Dr Sample are in he works, since the University already know what the NCAA's investigation produced. Institutional control is being rehabilitated now, part of it is changing football coaches, penalizing hoops including Floyds ouster, McKnight to the draft, and eventually ousting MG. Can't you see it that the NCAA needs a west coast juggernaut to contend in their BCS boMONEYnanza and there are none other than the mighty Trojans? Don't you get it that Roski,Buss and Haden went and procurred a whole new coaching staff, ready to be announced at the snap of a finger? Not MG? Hell, Tennessee's administration wasn't even pissed, just the fans were! Don't you get it that the Kiffin Staff could not have at the drop of a hat, just uproot and leave a banner SEC program? Don't you get it that they probably had security promises of understanding that the Trojans would not suffer debilitating probationary penalties or the death penalty? Don't you think that this wasnt quietly in the works for a couple of weeks? My money is on a stinging handslap, and carry on more carefully message from the good old boys in the NCAA!
Hell, the Kiffin thing was designed to happen fast so that most of the recruits wouldn't cut and run, and it appears that we lost few if any actually. Didn't you find it strange that Kiffin was actively recruiting Jessee Scroggins recently? Duh!

So, when it's all said and done, it'll be business as usual, and imho, sans MG, and the Kiffin & Staff run will be on at Heritage Hall!

The only folks that will be pissed will be the Ruins of Aclu, and Yahoo Sports, once it comes out that the NCAA had no actual EVIDENTIARY PROOF that our fantastic University had any knowledge whatsoever, as to the private living arrangements that Reggie Bush's parents lived under.
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