Reader Question
As promised, we asked Lane Kiffin tonight if he considered using Dillon Baxter as the holder on extra points considering USC's penchant for two-point plays.
``We're just trying to get Dillon to go to class, line up right and not fumble. The last thing we're going to do is let him do all our field goal plays,'' Kiffin said.
``There's a lot of audibles. That's why Mitch (Mustain) is there.
I guess the wildcat is not happening.
They're going to do all that BS on "field goals" too?!?!?!
"The last thing we're going to do is let him do all our field goal plays" ...yet.
Right question, wrong way to ask it! You should have asked why is Mustain still running the points after plays when he has failed more times than not?
I love the ``We're just trying to get Dillon to go to class" line, this from a guy with a Leisure Studies major
Look. Publicly, Baxter is on a very short leash. Privately, he's in the dog house with an earliest exit time of August, 2012. Coach Carroll would have dismissed him from the team. Kiffin is a first year coach with a new ass-kicker AD, and so is on a very, very short leash himself. Keeping or dismissing Baxter was Haden's call, and he made it known that he met with Baxter and that it was his (Haden's) call.
As a coach, Kiffin has to make sure that Baxter earns the right to be a star by doing all the off-field stuff right over an extended time, and that Baxter feel like he earns that. Kiffin has to do this to enforce team discipline, and, hopefully, to prepare Baxter to be a star without being an idiot. Baxter's late night escapade during training camp was being an idiot. Kiffin also has to bring Baxter along with game experience, which makes for a very tough balancing act. Running the PAT team would throw that way out of balance.
Bosco,
I don't know all the details, but I can't come to the conclusion that Baxter has done anything that would have caused Carroll to kick him off the team. Fact is, he is making grades...so far. He had some type of mishap during training camp, and he was punished for it. His statement about the five schools contacting him remains a mystery, but Baxter hasn't ever retracted it. Baxter has made errors in judgment as a result of immaturity, but he's not out assaulting cops or stealing laptops. Kiffin has him on a short leash, and apparently Baxter's father is on board with everything. If Baxter is supported properly, there is a very good chance that he will succeed. Time will tell. If you want to coach 19 year old kids, you've got to be willing to put up with this crap sometimes. And Kiffin is.
if that's the case, how come he didn't get rid of Sanchez?
Doncha think Baxter qualifies as a "high profile athlete" the NCAA says we need to babysit every step of the way? If Carroll were still around and dealing with the aftermath of the sanctions, I just don't think he would be so patient.
I guess my point is that it's too early to give this kid the keys to the car. He has a lot of growing up to do and he needs to prove it over a couple of seasons. Cuz if he's given a whole bunch of responsibility and hasn't paid any dues, he'll regress to being a knucklehead because he'll know he got over.
Bax is being saved for Oregon. They have speed. We have speed. SC is not showing the cards...
Baxter is exactly the type of "high profile athlete" that USC needs to babysit regarding compliance with NCAA regulations. But the NCAA does not seem to care about other off-field stuff, like the 30 Gators that were arrested (many for violent crime) under Urban Meyer's watch.
Of course, Florida is Paul Dee's alma mater, so it gets preferrential treatment. For example, the Tank Black scandel occured a mere 6 years before Reggie Bush. It was determined that 6 Gators received hundreds of thousands of dollars of benefits over a 3 year period from an agent runner, including a $150K Mercedes before a bowl game. Florida got off scott free...didn't even vacate the bowl win! The NCAA said in 2000 (and I kid you not...this is a direct quote), "The issue is does anyone at the institution know or should they have known. I don't know that just because someone has paid athletes for, let's say three years, it lends itself to, 'Well, because it went on for three years, they should know'.". It definitely helps to have friends in high places!
So...just because the NCAA has ignored 30 Gators pillaging Gainsville the past few years, that doesn't mean that the NCAA couldn't subsequently decide to slap USC with a two-year bowl ban and pull 30 scholies if a "high profile" USC athlete commits a misdemeanor in the future. After all, doesn't crime somehow tarnish the spirit of amaturism?