TrojanNYC.com

"(Pete) Carroll Was Threatened By Pola's Strong Presence, Just As He Was Later Threatened By Norm Chow"...

Can't believe I'm linking to a Bill Plaschke column but this was too interesting to ignore:

Pola practiced what he preached when he left USC after the 2003 season, his fourth as a Trojans running backs and special teams coach. After USC won the AP national title in the Rose Bowl that season, he asked Carroll if he would ever have a chance at being an offensive coordinator, and he was told, no, that the job would go to the younger Kiffin.

Carroll was threatened by Pola's strong presence, just as he was later threatened by Norm Chow. So, like Chow, Pola left, honed his craft in the NFL, and proudly returned to USC's pro day two springs ago, where he was scouting for the Jaguars and asked for permission to compare notes with Trojans offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates.

"Pete said no, he said he was always competing," Pola says. "I kind of went, 'Wow.' And I just moved on."

Good ole Pete.

NCAA Sanctions: Pete Carroll Interview at Win Forever Camp

Continues to defend his belief that the NCAA had no basis for the sanctions: http://usc.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1098509 

Transfer: Jordan Campbell Requests a Release; Boise State Likely His Next Destination

The rumors I posted yesterday ended up being confirmed.  Jordan has officially asked for his release and is looking to Boise State as his next destination.

Jordan had a tumultuous career at SC.  He's always had a lot of passion in being Trojan, so much so that he got a SC football tatted on his arm, but after a string of off-field incidents, he sorta was the forgotten man on the depth chart.  The issues continued again when Lane Kiffin came on board when he accumulated too many negative points and forced to sit out of work-outs while the coaching staff evaluated his future.  It makes sense that Jordan is the 1st to transfer since he has the biggest slate to wipe clean.

In terms of how this impacts SC, although you hate to say it out of respect for Jordan, it's actually beneficial for the team.  With limited scholarships, Jordan's departure opens up a slot that can be filled with higher priority positions like offensive linemen.  We should be fine at the linebacker spot with an experienced LB like Glen Stanley coming in and a very promising recruit in Tre Madden who plays beyond his years coming in 2011.

Best of luck to Jordan wherever he ends up.

Sanctions: Pete Carroll Confident About NCAA Case

From ESPN.com:

"Everything went very well," Carroll said. "I think the university did everything they could to put all of the truth and information out there in front of the committee, and I think everyone there felt good about the process. There are still some issues that need to be determined in the next month or so, but I don't think we could have done any better than what we did."

Carroll says he believes USC will be fine after the rulings are revealed and will be glad when the cloud of suspicion that has been hanging over the football program for the past four years has cleared.

"It wasn't a very difficult process, it was a just matter of validating the information that had already been turned in because we had already done everything we could do beforehand," Carroll said. "There were some questions that the committee asked that I was glad they asked. I was glad I was there to help out because there was some stuff nobody else could have answered and nobody else could have commented on but the head football coach, so I'm glad I was there to contribute and more than anything to help the university.

Good sign.  It's never made sense to me that SC would get sanctioned heavily. There have been far more blatant cases in recent years that have ended up with lighter punishments than what some in the media believe will be handed to the program next month.

My prediction is we forfeit wins and lose a few scholarships.  Nothing major.

Recruiting: Update on the 2010 USC Recruiting Class

Quick updates on our current commitments:

• Dillon Baxter, RB
  Status:  Soft Verbal
  Prediction:  USC
  
  Dillon took the news of Pete leaving hard and has been looking around. He's scheduled to take an official visit to Oregon this weekend and Florida the following.  Chip Kelly is selling Dillon on being the next running QB in the Oregon spread offense; Urban is selling Dillon on being an all-everything back/receiver.
  
  In the end, I think Dillon stays committed to SC, although I'm not as confident about it as before. Right now SC has the advantage in that the competing schools are far from home and run a very different system from SC.  The cohesiveness of the current class should help, especially with kids like Kyle Prater and Robert Woods constantly in his ear.  I think a solid visit from the coaches will seal this recruitment.

• Robert Woods, WR
  Status:  Solid Verbal
  Prediction:  USC
  
  Robert didn't seem phased at all by Pete's departure.  Robert and his dad are set on SC, and with Damian headed to the draft, Woods has a solid shot to earn PT as a freshman.  My knock on him has always been his route-running, but watching him at the Army All-American game/practices, I was very impressed with how much he's tightened up his routes.

• Kyle Prater, WR
  Status:  Solid Verbal (Early Enrollee)
  Prediction:  USC
  
  After a shaky weekend, Kyle solidified his recruitment with the hiring of CLK and will enroll in classes on Monday.  It's always made sense for Kyle to come to SC due to our pro system.  Kyle needs to be in a pro-set to fully utilize his size and talents as a possession receiver.

TNYC: Random Thoughts From Week 14

Slick Rick, what were you thinking?  Here are my thoughts on Week 14:

• The hot post-game talk has been about Jeremy Bates/Pete Carroll's decision to drop a bomb on the Bruins after Slick Rick called a useless time-out late in the game.  All I gotta say is, if you take a jab, especially when it's in a RIVALRY game on the opponent's HOME turf, you better expect to get mollywhopped in return. Can't believe I'm quoting Bill Plaschke, but he puts it best:

The conclusion here was that Neuheisel's pettiness in the face of Carroll's professionalism was wrong.

In the end, while his players deserved better, Neuheisel got exactly what he deserved.

I'm laughing at these people getting all butt-hurt over the play ending in a TD.  I'm guessing a 15-yard throw would have been more classy?  At the end of the day, there is no excuse for letting a hobbled Damian Williams straight moss your secondary on a basic post-route.

• Moving onto recruiting, the big news from the game was Tony Jefferson sporting SC gear and jawing at UCLA players during the pseudo-brawl.  No surprise that Tony decided to decommit today.  He provided some interesting quotes with the news:

ESPN Video: Reaction to Stafon Johnson's Injury

Interview w/ Pete Carroll, the doctor who performed the surgery, and Stan Johnson (Stafon's father).

Video: Pete Carroll Gives Update on Stafon's Condition

 

Good to hear he's at least communicating non-verbally.

Video: ESPN Jim Rome Pete Carroll Interview

Nice interview.  Pete talks everything from Ohio State to his thoughts on eye blacks.

Thoughts on Matt Barkley Being Named the Starting QB

Earlier today I was absolutely shocked by the announcement of Matt Barkley winning the starting QB job, but after reading Scott Wolf's latest report on Aaron Corp's injury status, the choice makes absolute sense:

It was apparent during Thursday's practice that Aaron Corp's leg bothered him. What's ironic is it looked worse than it did Tuesday or Wednesday. Was it the result of being demoralized over the QB announcement?

"It's going to be awhile (with Corp),'' Carroll said. ``I can see it. He's not OK. I thought about it in terms of being his dad. I need to protect him longer.''

Although Aaron put together solid practices this week, reports did come out stating that he looked visibly uncomfortable when planting on certain throws, especially on the run.  Even his quote after Tuesday's practice seem to acknowledge his limitations:

"I can do everything right now that playing quarterback at USC [requires] me to do,"

At the end of the day, despite Aaron's admirable desire to fight through pain to earn the starting QB job, it does no one any good to have a injured player starting at the most important position on the team. We all saw what happened at the Coliseum in 2007 against Stanford when John David Booty tried to play through a pinky injury on his throwing hand (for those that lived under a rock: he ended up being picked off 4 times including one late in the game that eventually set up the winning drive for Stanford).  To me it's clear, you go with a healthy Barkley over a hobbled Aaron Corp.

Congrats to Matt.