Kiffin Forecast

Memo to coach sunshine, you won't be around long enough to worry about it.

If he made that comment, it is inexcusable...5 to 6 years? Good luck recruiting with that comment in the rooms of potential recruits! That's ridiculous! Last I heard, USC sanctions are in place for 2 years!

O.K., say the Appeal is denied, and so SC loses 10 scholarships per year into 2012. So in 2013 normality returns and SC starts taking in its allotted freshmen. By 2015, with two years of seasoning, they should be ready to go.

So that is 5-years. Maybe Kiffin is right.

Postscript: College football, as is true with all athletic teams, needs marquee names. The Yankees sell, the Lakers sell, and SC used to sell. Now, what do you have, Boise St, Alabama, perhaps Ohio State and Oregon. Not enough sizzle to excite a less-than-totally-involved football fan.

If he said this, it's time to go. We don't need a leader who is making excuses and wants a pity party.

This is a shocking comment from our head coach. I really cannot believe that he said this.

that's BS! why can't he be optimistic? plus this is SC, theirs no honeymoon seasons when it comes to keeping SC as national power.

When Pete Carroll would make his rah-rah comments, everybody complained. Now Kiffin makes a sober and probably accurate statement, and everybody complains.

He's about as enthusiastic as a door knob. That's why the team looked so dead on the sideline against Washington. Glad Carroll didn't come in and say it was going to take 5 or 6 years to correct.

Earning $4 Million per season I suggest Kiffin make better use of the talent on hand. I do not want to see Barkley at wide receiver ever. Get Galippo back in the middle and put Kennard at DE.
Stop the complaining, put down that ridiculous play board during game (looks like instructions for a vacuum cleaner)and coach, coach, coach. Kiffin, a little enthusiasm would be a good start. No more, "we have a long way to go".

You nincompoops, the guy was asked when the program would escape the affects of the sanctions not when SC would be good or when the Trojans would win the Pac-12. Calm down. SC lost one game and the defense is not very good (lack of experience in the secondary, drop off in LB talent from 2 years ago, and a banged up DL). That's it. Be chilly.

sorry Lawyer John, CFB doesn't need SC at all. As evidenced by ABC's decision to bump the Furd/SC game in all but the West in favor of Miami/Florida State this weekend. One power exits (SC), another takes its place (UCLA).

Hahahahahahaha.... stop it Sped stop it...
Hahahahaha.... seriouisly stop it.. it hurts so good!!
Oh man, Monopoly was right, you ARE sped (special ed!)
I mean... UCLA taking USC's place?!
LAUGH!!!!! OUT!!!!!!! LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!

@NJ Trojan: Lane Kiffin STILL doesn't need to be making comments that will make top recruits think twice about attending USC and that is exactly what he did. That is inexcusable. All along I've been saying that LK would hurt our program and he doesn't even have half the PR skills that PC had.

Him saying that it it will take SC "a good five years, maybe six" recoup and to be good again is such an IDIOTIC thing for our head coach to say. I mean, seriously. What an idiot he is. I hope that Pat Haden is taking note because right now we need positivity and we need to play that take it to your nose kind of football we are used to playing. If Kiffin keeps f'in up and bringing this team down, he deserves to get canned, and he can take Monte with him.

Seriously Kiffin??? How disappointing.

@USConquer: You said, "Him saying that it it will take SC "a good five years, maybe six" recoup and to be good again"

Kiffin said, as per Wolf, "You're looking at a good five years, maybe six. Until you can have a full roster."

Kiffin didn't say anything about being good, dude. I'll give you that he's definitely not PR savvy, but stating the obvious about scholarship numbers is not bad for recruiting. What he needs to be telling recruits is that he doesn't have any scholarships to waste. That a kid has to be ready to go right away. Because SC's expectations are the highest. And they have to do more with less because of the evil NCAA. But with you pounding the rock/protecting the QB's blind side/rushing the passer/blowing up WRs, ruting kicks/etc., SC will be great even though we won't have as many scholarship players sitting on the bench.

Granted that I don't have the full benefit of the context of Kiffin's comments, but it sounds to me like he's laying the groundwork and creating a culture for excuses. These excuses may well be warranted under the circumstances of the sanctions but I believe that this type of mentality can quickly erode confidence at the team level and hurt recruiting. Kiffin needs some PR training. That has been clear going back to his Raider and TN days.

wow - its not like cupboard is bare right now Lane. get to work and stop making excuses.

Sad but true statement...at least Kiffin speaks his mind instead of some PR spin. Frankly, it is the time frame what most reasonable SC fans are expecting.

Section 12 Row 52: Your comments are obviously mired in your own lower expectations, but if you read the comments above & talk with Trojan alumni you will discover the expectations of Trojan fans & alumni are we expect our teams to be disciplined, competitive, well coached and to perform at championship level. Anything less is settling for mediocrity. USC doesn’t have a full roster this year, but if you look at the talent {4-5 star recruits} of the players on this team, we shouldn’t be leading the NCAA in penalties, have a defense ranked 50th and playing like we have no clue what is going on.

RBex4sc, well said.

@NJ Trojan and Section 12, I agree with both of you.

I am an alumnus, so I hate to break it to the other alumni who expect to go 12-0 every year, but those days are over. Yes, this year has been disappointing so far, but not surprising. Penalties and poor defense were in place last year and a new coach is not going to necessarily change that in a season. The scholarship losses are going to be devastating and will really hurt 3-4 years from now more than the next year. Any casual fan should be able to see that. Kiffin just stated the obvious. Recruits are going to hear that from everyone else, so denying it is silly. It is unfortunately going to be 2017 before we can be back at full strength.

Masonite:

Interestingly, there are multiple Division one teams who do not experience top 25 recruiting classes {Boise State, TCU, Utah etc…} but {recently} are able to field top twenty teams and win almost all of their games. The point is they are fielding disciplined, well coached teams that do not make excuses {lack of talent} they just go out and play hard nosed football. Even with less scholarship athletes, USC should produce a higher quality product on the field compared to what we have seen thus far in 2010. We have to many top tier football players to expect less.

As an alumnus, you should remember back in the early 1990’s when John Robinson said “USC will never be dominate like the old days” referring to the 1960’s & 70’s. Coach Robinson commented on the scholarship limits and the cost of tuition as excuses for his mediocre teams. Pete Carroll proved that philosophy was certainly flawed! USC is a special place and attracts top tier athletes, we simply need to continue to develop/coach and inspire our players regardless of the current challenges. I just won’t buy into the 7 year “poor us” mentality.

RELAX everyone!!!! Can you guys not read. Kiffin's statement is in relation to when our roster will be at full strength, not when we will win again. 5 -6 years is very accurate. So i say relax, Kiffin is a good coach (old man kiffin is a different story) give him some time. We are SC!!!

Fight On !!!

@lbctrojan, YUP UCLA is taking over as the new power in L.A. then the Pac-10 and the sooner you can admit this, the less shocking it will be to you...want proof? wait till Dec. 4th...you want proof sooner? just wait till you get blow out of the water this Saturday worse than UCLA did by Stanford...and the following week UCLA shocks the world for the second time this year by upsetting Oregon on their own turf...YUP.