Open Forum

Do you find these kids committing and de-commiting comical, nauseating or both?

I won't ask how SC could have been so confident over McCarthy when even I knew he was all UCLA.... but I will ask a follow-up to my question from a few weeks ago: now that McCarthy has committed to UCLA, SC fans are pegging him as over-rated, afraid to compete etc. You know, the standard stuff. Why do you think SC fans are unable to appreciate that not everyone wants to be a Trogan?

There's been articles that the sanctions won't affect SC, perhaps till 2015. The reason being is the number of transfers/going pro vs. the max 15 scholarships and this may put SC at the risk of having a roster in the low 60s or possibly high 50s. What do you think? Also, if SC falls short of the 75 man roster even after giving out the max 15 scholarships, can they replenish the open spots with players on academic scholarships (I don't know the key differences/limitations of the two)? Thanks!!

With the top 3 WRs being Woods, Lee, and Farmer, who do you see making an impact behind them? Blackwell, Flournoy, or another incoming freshman making an impact like Darreus Rogers?

What was the driving force behind the recent departures of players like Butler, Prater, etc. (other than Carlisle)? Did the players leave knowing they were low on the depth chart, or did the coaches nudge them out in order to get down to the 75 scholarship limit? Do you expect a similar exodus in January for the next three year?

As always, thanks for the forum Scott.

Do you think that Omar Gonzales will (acl injury notwithstanding)ever become a world class center back and producer for our MNT? How severe will his loss be in CCL in early Mar. On the same track, will Donovan and Keane return for CCL quarters and the MLS opener or are their loans extensive? Finally Will/can Marcelo Sarvas adequately supplant Juninho? Thanks in advance for answering although this assessment query is off topic.

@PUDjones... To answer your question. just look in the mirror douchbag.. WE TROJANS, you bRUINS... Says it all don't it PUD!
Fight On little Pud!

Can you give us a breakdown on how the recruits are evaluated, what determines who recruits which kid, how much film is watched, if the kids backgrounds are checked out etc and how Kiffin and his staff are different than PC was in their recruiting methods and evaluation process.

What do you think is the main reason why USC has failed to land some of the bigger recruits in recent years (DeAnthony Thomas, Ellis McCarthy, Teo, Burfict, etc)?

Are the beginning of the careers of both George Farmer and Whitney Lewis very similar when you take in account the high rating as a high school prospects, position changes, academic issues, and falling behind on the depth chart? Just as Lewis fell behind Bush and White, Farmer fell behind Lee. Also, there are issues with coaches over position changes. Farmer just as Lewis was supposed to be an instant impact star but struggled. What do you make of the comparison of Whitney Lewis and George Farmer?

Are you surprised that Steve Sarksian stole Tosh Lupoi from California? What are take of Sarkisian hiring Justin Wilcox, Tosh Lupoi, and other new coaches? He hired the California wide receiver coach and another coach from Tennessee.

Assuming the basketball team does not make a 180 in the next few games, we'll definitely finish with less than 10 wins and close to last in a terrible PAC-12 conference. Although the team should drastically improve next year with several impact transfers eligible and a healthy Jio Fontan, does KO deserve another season if his team finishes with 6 or 7 total wins? While the program is still recovering from the sanctions, as well as the injury to Jio and departure of Nikola, this entire roster (minus Evan Smith) was recruited by KO. Several of these players appear that they are not D1-level talent and this team seems to have not only regressed, but essentially quit on Sunday night versus UCLA.

USCFootball.com from Rivals.com reported that George Farmer threatened to transfer if he did not get to go back to playing wide receiver. What do you make of this? Is he unhappy at USC? Are you surprised?

Scott, what is your opinion as to why bRuin fans cannot accept the fact that their football program is inferior to USC? Sure, they beat us every so often, but they have 1/2 NC, 1 Heisman and lost its only BCS appearance over ten years ago. I don't know of one SC alum that doesn't admit, freely, that our basketball program is inferior to Fucla.

I'll answer that NOBS. UCLA fans do acknowledge UCLA football is not up to SC's level. But unlike SC fans re basketball, we don't just give up and abandon our team. Besides, we make the above recognition with a caveat - SC's prime years are always followed by NCAA sanctions. Unlike SC alumni, Bruins are smart enough to do the math.

Now that fucla has hired the Redskins' Lou Spanos to be Bruins defensive coordinator, what is your collective take on their assistant coaching hires? Is this more of Toledo, Dorrell and Neuheisel mediocrity or should we be worried they may actually narrow the 50-0 gap in the coming seasons?

What is going on with the spring game at the same time and date as Swim With Mike? Football has always been a good lead in to SWM but now it has become a rival. What does Mike Rae's caddy doing about this situation and is he out to hurt SWM? I guess it's the end of Song Girls in bathing suits because you can't be in two places at once.

PUDjones, laughable. bRuins ware Trojan wannabes. Admit it. You look like clowns in your powder blue, even national publications say you're the laughing stock of college football with your unis. You're a fool. Bagle On.

Scott, who would you recommend USC hire to replace Kevin O'Neill with? (One can dream, right?) Do you think he's the right coach for the job?

Did our trouncing Sunday end our chances with SC legacy Shabazz Muhammad? Rivals.com lists his interest in SC as low now. Is Shabazz the kind of athlete who wants to be part of a great recruiting class like Arizona is putting together or is he the kind who wants to have a program built around him?

Scott, assuming that Kiff brings in 15 guys in Feb. that can play well, and that he does the same in 2013 and 2014, but we are not allowed to bring kids in in Jan. anymore like you said you heard was the case, and assuming injuries to be normal, it's obvioua we'll be short-handed,and all of the problems that go with that, but do you think that scenario will still leave us able to compete to be a top 5 team, especially in 2014, 2015 and 2016? Thanx a lot for your input as to just how much the penalties will hurt us under the above scenario, which I expect might well happen.

Why does everyone hate you?

When Marc Tyler publicly embarrassed USC with his alcohol related incident, he was required to take part in some sort of counseling. Was Kevin O'Neill required to go into any sort of counseling when he drunkenly embarrassed USC last year, when he probably should have been watching game film before his biggest game of the year?

Can you please give us some prediction of committs? Who does USC sign?

@NOBS the problem with our football team isn't the uniforms, all-white or powder blue. The problem is the player wearing them and the coaches coaching them. When we actually beat SC back in the 90's we had the same power blue uniforms, just had better players in them. Petros Papadakis wasn't any better in an SC uniform than he would have been otherwise. When you put better players in your uniforms with Pete Carroll, the results improved. We need an upgrade in players and coaches, not uniforms.

I stand corrected on this, but I swear I read somewhere that there is a minimum (65) scholarship rule to qualify as a D1 eligible school. Do you know of any such NCAA rule?

I know the basketball team has much to work on especially with five new starter, but how often do they pratice free throws? Helloooo, it's a "free throw" for crying out loud! Their free throw percentage is downright horrible!

Scott, Shouldn't there be some accountability from the PAC-12 presidents that if they are going to get all this new money from mostly football games, they should put money into their football programs and make them successful rather than just holding their hands out for the money that the Oregons-USCs-Washingtons have put them into this position. I mean come on, why did this conference ever allow Oregon St. & Wash St. come into this conference just to be mostly cellar dwellers?

Scott, which do you think is more likely as of this early Thursday morning less than 2 weeks before signing day?
A. We have our 7 quality players already lined up, and our merely trying to improve our quality if a great prospect wants to commit. [You already said we have 2 silent commits--must be good quality--so only 5 spaces left to fill.]
B. We are really scrambling around for our lives, and may end up having to take some very marginal guys on top of possibly losing one or more of our 8 commits.
Thank you very much.

Scott, Any updated info regarding Geo. Farmer's pending academic status? Did that "specific grade" that was mentioned, get made up or changed? What would be his current status for spring practice? Is he still dramatically close to not qualifying for the 2012 season?
Thank You

With the wide receiver corps growing thin, would Kiffin consider drawing up more plays for the tight ends as they did for Andrew Luck up at Stanford and would the tight ends be able to step up and be successful?

If Chip Kelly had left would the Ducks and Phil Knight be throwing money at Chris Petersen, Do you think he'd be interested and if so, successful in the Pac-12?