"USC Trojans Athletics, Not So Hot" By: Vince Kendall

This is certainly a dawn of a new era for USC Trojan Athletics.  This once was a well respected university that was almost a lock for one of the BCS bowl games every year and a guaranteed spot in the NCAA March Madness, but my how things have changed. This past season the football team went 9-4 with losses to teams like Arizona, Stanford, Washington and finally Oregon, while the basketball team will be playing under sanctions imposed by the University.  Can someone explain what’s going on with the Trojans?

First, I will divulge into the respect issues that the program is having with the NCAA that have been going on for years now. In 2006 the program was under investigation for violations involving their star running back Reggie Bush.  There were accusations that the family of Reggie Bush took as much as $300,000.00 dollars in cash and other goods from a would- be agent while Reggie was still in college; a clear violation of NCAA rules and regulations. To date the investigation is still open and hasn’t been resolved yet. Now in 2010 there is a new investigation taking place involving another back for the USC Trojans.  The University is now being proactive and launching their own investigation into their tailback Joe McKnight who owns a Land Rover that was purchased by a local businessman. Conveniently, McKnight declared for the N.F.L Draft this past Friday. There is something obviously going on here at the university and it needs to be dealt with quickly or the respected football program will further crumble into pieces.

Besides football, the basketball program has some “ethical issues” if you will to deal with as well.  Former guard O.J. Mayo and now Memphis Grizzly star was being investigated for some recruitment violations during his one year of college at USC. Although he isn’t in college anymore the university’s basketball program performed an internal investigation and imposed several sanctions on themselves. They include a 1 year ban on postseason play, returning all monies from participating in the NCAA tourney, and vacating wins from the 2007-08 season.

I couldn’t write this article without mentioning the hiring of Pete Carroll as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks and then the almost immediate hiring of Lane Kiffin as the new head coach of the Trojans. Let’s address Carroll’s decision to leave a college program that he has built into a powerhouse, for the N.F.L. where he has failed twice with two different teams. What makes Carroll think that this time will be any different or is he attempting to get out of USC before the bottom falls out of the athletic program? Or is USC just not good enough to keep Carroll, or is he afraid that he has allowed violations by his players ruin a great program? We will never know but we are left to now examine his replacement Lane Kiffin.

Lane Kiffin hasn’t proven to be a good coach or even a coach that can produce wins. With the Oakland Raiders he was a sub-par coach at best and with the Tennessee Volunteers he talked a big game. His words of encouragement and winning and tradition hit a nerve with the volunteer fans. No doubt that there was a new excitement around the program, but a 7 win and 6 loss season didn’t live up to all the hype that Kiffin provided in his press conference.  Now he is back at USC where he once was the offensive coordinator of the Trojans, but does that qualify him as a head coach?

As if the program didn’t have enough negative press, Kiffin brings along a string of allegations of recruitment violations with him to USC. It’s being said that his staff has violated the rules by contacting his old Tennessee recruits and advising them to follow the coach to USC. That brings the violation total to 3 separate occurrences with the football program, where will this stop?

USC is slowly losing the people that made the athletic program great, Pete Carroll just left for the NFL.  It has been rumored that athletic director Mike Garrett is looking for a new position and has cut down his public appearances drastically. He is dodging the media so that he doesn’t have to answer these questions about violations and problem players. These issues are not just affecting the athletic program but also the university. The University President Mr. Steven Sample has recently announced that he plans to retire from his position later this year, it’s no coincidence that all of things are happening at once or in succession.

The above writings have shown one thing and one thing only, that is that there’s a problem at the University of Southern California. Players are committing violations left and right, investigations are taking place both internally and externally, coaches and entire staffs are leaving and no one seems to care. When will someone step in and put a stop to this all. The athletic director cannot do it obviously, because he would have done so by now.

 In my opinion Pete Carroll got out so that he couldn’t be held responsible and others have done the same. Just take a look at the actions of O.J. Mayo, who refused to cooperate with the university during their investigation of what he had done.  Why you ask, simply because he bolted for the N.B.A. Now the basketball team is playing under restrictions that have nothing to do with the current players. Football is no different, there is still an investigation into what Reggie Bush did and did not take from agents. Like Mayo, Bush is a professional now and has no desire to cooperate in any sort of investigation into his past. The newest investigation at USC is Joe McKnight who has declared for the N.F.L. so once a pro he also doesn’t have to answer any sort of questioning about what he did in college. Where will it end? Will USC become the next Florida State or can Lane Kiffin turn around a program that is in a downward spiral and heading for disaster. Only time will tell, let’s hope for the sake of Trojan fans everywhere that this trend of violations, bolting coaches and unethical tendencies will become a thing of the past.