One Man's Opinion: Spring Edition

Michael J. Davidson WeAreSC.com

It’s been quite a while since the end of spring practice and the 2008 NFL Draft is now history. Sometimes it is actually hard to remember how long it has been since any meaningful football games and/or practices because the staff at WeAreSC and other SC devoted internet sites keep the interested public so incredibly well informed.

However, now that the school year is over and summer workouts have not started in full, it seems like a good time to take a deep breath, look at what’s going on and to give some thoughts about what’s possibly going to take place.

Pete Carroll has been the head football coach at USC for the past seven seasons. During his tenure, SC has won or shared 6 consecutive Pac-10 Football Championships. Unless I am totally mistaken, that is something that had NEVER been done before in the Pac-10 or in the Pac-8 which was what the conference was known as prior to the addition of the two Arizona Schools. Other accomplishments by the football team and its players during Pete’s SC stay have been winning 3 Heisman Trophies, one Mackey award and several Trojans being named All Americans. USC has gone to six straight BCS Bowls and the Trojans won one BCS Championship and one AP Championship while coming in number two after a heartbreaking loss to the Texas Longhorns in the BCS Championship Game. Add to that the results of the most recent NFL Draft which saw the most successful first two rounds as it relates to USC players in history and it does not take a rocket scientist to conclude that the Carroll Era has been unbelievable up till now with some real hope of continuing in the same manner for some time to come. So why, I have to ask, are a number of individual posters actually angry and verbally dissatisfied at how things have actually turned out, especially since SC last won a championship??

It is the last thought that has really made me wonder. Don’t get me wrong, I want to see USC win every single game every single year forever. However, there are many other teams that also have great players, fine coaches and great traditions and their fans also want nothing short of perfection. Obviously, if it were possible, or even likely that a team could win one National Title after another, it would like have been done already. In truth, it not only takes great talent, great coaching and a favorable schedule, winning the title also takes old fashion luck. If anyone doubts that, just think back to the defensive backfield that USC had on the field for much of the game against Texas. I am not saying that a healthy SC would have won, but then again, having first stringers to take on Vince Young would not have hurt, would it? But more to the point is the fact that for some, there is simply no getting over losses to the Bruins in the 2006 season and that inexplicable disaster against Stanford in the 2007 season. Folks, I am not going to make any excuses for either loss, though I think the Stanford mess was even more severe. In retrospect, it can be argued that loss cost USC a shot at the title in the BCS game in 2008. And to that I say, I agree, but it’s over and as the saying goes, stuff happens. For anyone who has closely followed Pete Carroll’s career at USC, I think it is obvious that he hates, and I mean he HATES, to lose. I can’t prove it, but I suspect that the Stanford loss in particular will haunt him for some time to come. But truth be told, had it not been for Pete and his unusual ability to put together championship caliber teams and staffs year in and year out, I suspect the issue of the Stanford game would not be important anyway. If anyone doubts the validity of that statement, just check out USC Football from 1978 till 2001, the year Pete took over—enough said. And as far as the UCLA loss goes, well, I doubt anyone would argue that was one of SC’s great moments either. It had been a long time—maybe all the way back to the Florida game and Wilbur Marshall since one or two defensive players worked over SC and its offensive line the way Davis, Hickman and their cohorts did in that game. But to Pat Ruel’s credit, he has not allowed the SC line to be eaten alive like that again and I suspect it won’t happen anytime soon.

Although many SC fans were delighted with yet another Rose Bowl victory this past January against an inspired Illinois Team, I could not help but notice that many folks seemed to focus on the idea that winning the Rose Bowl, when it is not the BCS Championship Game, is simply not good enough any more. I can’t totally argue with that idea, but a plus one playoff simply is not in the cards and with the system the way it is now, there are bound to be some unhappy campers at the end some seasons. That kind of sentiment does seem to make some sense because winning it all, not just the Rose Bowl, is what lots of Trojan fans really want, despite the stated goal of winning the Pac-10 and then the Rose Bowl. What does surprise me however is the amount of criticism leveled at SC, both at the players and at the staff for “underachieving”. It certainly speaks volumes about expectations and about how things have changed when going 11-2 and winning the Pac-10 and Rose Bowl is still thought of as underachieving. And to support that notion, some of the nay sayers will point to the recent NFL Draft as an example of just how talented this team really was and that the Trojans should have never lost to anyone, though just perhaps the loss to Oregon without Booty around was understandable. Personally, I am not saying that some of the criticisms are without some merit. I am just a bit surprised, that’s all.

So what really did happen with the team and did the Trojans underachieve and if so, why? Well, such a question is likely to evoke strong emotions from SC fans no matter what their opinions. One thing that bothered some is that the SC offense never really seemed to gel, at least not till late in the season. As for just why not, who really knows? Was it due to multiple injuries to the various running backs? Was it because Booty was hurt and it took Mark Sanchez a while to get into a groove, if he ever did? Or was the fact that SC lost offensive linemen at a rate that I had never seen before? Was there really a problem with the receiving corps? I mean it sure seemed like an inordinate number of passes were dropped. Like a fool, I did not think the loss of Jarrett and Steve Smith would be so critical---ah, wrong! Personally, I think that was the single biggest hole that took most of the season to plug. And how about the offensive scheme, or perhaps the lack of a discernible scheme being a reason the offense sputtered for quite a while? Although nobody argues that this is not Pete Carroll’s team and that he does not have the right to have whatever kind of offense he so chooses, it does seem that whenever he openly got involved with the offense, things did not run smoothly. Does Sarkesian really get to call the offensive shots? Did the team really receive some “outside consulting help” from former USC offensive coordinator Carl Smith as was rumored to have occurred just about the same time that the offense showed real improvement?? All these questions are going to be hard to answer accurately. It is unlikely that most anyone is privy to the real answers, but it is kind of interesting to speculate, isn’t it?

As for the defense, just how in the world did some of the opposing teams score much of anything? And can anyone really guess why it took so long to let the dogs out, so to speak? I mean it sure looked like SC was reluctant to really bring the pressure for much of the season, but when Pete finally let the guys fly around, it was hell for the other guys. I remember reading time and again how we could never replace Shaun Cody and Mike Patterson. Yeah, well Lawrence Jackson and Sedric Ellis were both first round draft choices and to my way of thinking, the 2007 Defensive line was as good as any I can remember at USC and the addition of freshman Everson Griffin did not hurt anything either. The linebackers, although hurt much of the time, were unbelievably good. And the defensive backs, though perhaps lacking the All American shut down corner, were also pretty good and getting better all the time. All told, the defense was outstanding, and one can’t help but wonder if the whole season would have ended differently if a slightly different approach was taken against an inexperienced quarterback like the kid from Stanford—there’s mention of that game again!! Anyway, I really thought it was as fast, tough and awesome a defense as I can remember at USC when all the guys were healthy and for the most part, the unit more than lived up to expectations.

As the team heads off for the summer and as the guys prepare to start the official, unofficial summer season, I am very excited about next season—what else is new! To my way of thinking the team is set to reload. There are some major questions and for sure, there are some huge holes to fill. Any time a squad loses its starting quarterback and four of five starting offensive linemen, things might get very trying, at least on offense. There is no doubt that replacing John David Booty might not be as easy as some might be thinking. I also think the loss of Chilo Rachal was a bit unexpected and that is just another anchor along the ever important oline that needs to be replaced. However, USC has some talent at the stated positions and it is not just of the average variety. At quarterback, the candidates are two former USA Today offensive players of the year in Mark Sanchez and Mitch Mustain and the first major dual threat kid I can remember at quarterback for USC in some time—Aaron Corp. The kids along the oline have some nice size and athletic ability and Kris O’Dowd is a terrific young center who got some invaluable playing time last season as did Butch Lewis. As for who the other starters and top replacements on the Oline will really be, only time will tell. The running back position, at least on paper, is so loaded for 2008 that the biggest problem might be keeping all the kids happy and the receivers just have to be more productive and better than last season—at least I certainly hope they will be just that. Ron Johnson has a year experience under his belt, Ausberry is getting better, this is Patrick’s last year and Joe McKnight can both run and catch the ball. I also think that Tight End will be very productive once again.

As for the SC defense, speed and incredible linebacking will be the name of the game. Not many teams could lose a Sedric Ellis, Lawrence Jackson, Keith Rivers and Terrell Thomas and still talk about having an awesome defense, but thanks in large part to Pete Carroll, the talent is in place to have just that—an incredible defense. How many guys could bring in a late recruiting addition such as a Christian Tupou and have that kid become a potential big time contributor very early on? There really does seem to be something about Pete and the talent he brings in.

And the recruits that are coming into USC for the 2008 season are nothing to sneeze at either. This time Pete even managed to bring in that reportedly elusive big name shut down corner by the name of TJ Bryant. And of all things, Pete went right into Tallahassee Florida to get him to come to the land of Troy----just amazing.

But for all the good news, one would be remiss not to mention the current unpleasant issues that still surround the USC Athletic Department. As if the lingering saga of the Reggie Bush issue is not enough, now the school is facing the stigma of another major subject, those allegations made against OJ Mayo. I do realize that Mayo is not a football player, but the kind of articles and accusations that are now being discussed all over the media cannot do the SC athletic department or the psyches of any of the major sports departments any good. Just as many others, I have read reports about these situations over and over again. I won’t say anything except that I hope the situations are resolved in a way that is not detrimental to any of the current SC Teams or players. As for how it will all work out, I am simply not sure and I doubt that anyone else can be certain either. One can only hope that everything that can be done is being done to make sure all I’s are dotted and all T’s are crossed in accordance with the set of rules, no matter how off the wall they may be, really are.

As for the actual football coaching staff, all I can say is the obvious. USC has the best college head football coach in the country and his name is Pete Carroll. No he is not perfect, but nobody is. His record is second to none and his recruiting speaks for itself. For the first time since he came to USC, Pete will return next season with his coaching staff intact. That may actually irritate some who feel that changes are needed, but to my way of thinking, if there is just a tiny bit of improvement here and there over last season, SC could be undefeated and that is with all the holes having to be filled and that is also with the very same staff. I am seriously anticipating next season and it is only May 18th.