USC Football Will Thrive Despite Sanctions

In my last article I stated why I felt USC would not win its appeal. With much of the media backlash that the NCAA is experiencing due to its shoddy investigation, the football program may get token relief in scholarship reduction but that’s about it.

I expect the NCAA to maintain the two-year bowl ban, the four-year probation period but perhaps increase the scholarship ceiling from 15 to 17 or 18 over the next three years but not the 20 that USC is requesting.

Nevertheless, I feel the program will not only survive—but thrive.

Like the previous staff, head coach Lane Kiffin and his staff are extremely savvy when it comes to recruiting.  Kiffin has the finest coordinator in the nation, Ed Orgeron, heading up USC’s efforts.

Together, Kiffin and Orgeron are highly motivated and well organized.  Recruiting is never a hit and miss operation when these two are involved.  They know just which athletes can help their team the most.

They are always aware of likely holes in the depth chart posed by graduating seniors and juniors who will opt for the NFL Draft.  They pay strict attention to detail and have a pipeline to high school coaches throughout California and across the country.

Even in the face of stiff sanctions, they already have nine commits from some very high-profile prep stars.  At least two of them will be early enrollees and will count toward the 2010 limit, not the 2011 limit of 15.

Speaking of pipelines, USC has one of the best pipelines into the NFL of any Division I program.  This and the fact that USC may have little more than 15 scholarships to dole out in each of the next three years will make an offer from USC as good as gold to many four- and five-star athletes.

But a 17 or 18 scholarship limit is nothing unusual for USC.  During a good portion of the Pete Carroll era, Carroll and his staff focused on quality rather than quantity.

Unlike many top 25 staffs, USC under-recruited rather than over-recruited.  So, instead of the 25 scholarship limit, USC gave out around 20 or 21.  The remaining scholarships were reserved for upperclassmen walk-ons to reward them for their hard work and loyalty.

So, out of the 20 scholarship recruits, USC would normally lose two or three due to academics, injuries or other health-related problems.  That meant that only 17 or 18 of the 25 would actually make the roster.

Out of those, the Trojans might lose one or two a year who decided that the competition was too difficult and asked for a release from their scholarship so they could transfer.  Those additional scholarships would be available for either walk-ons and/or special team players like place kickers and punters who transferred from junior colleges.

So, as you can see, we are talking about 16 or 17 scholarship recruits per year who remain a part of the 85-scholarship roster.  The rest are junior college transfers and walk-ons.

So, again the NCAA scholarship reduction hurts the wrong people.  It doesn’t hurt Reggie Bush or his family nor Lloyd Lake or Michael Michaels or even those four- and five-star athletes who would pass on USC for another top 25 team.

USC will still get the players that the staff really wants.  The guys that will be hurt are the walk-ons and a few junior college transfers who will have to pay their own way.  But some of them will come anyway because they are at USC for a great education first and football second.

To all my USC friends who have been whining about the sanctions, I have one word—DON’T! 

The coaches aren’t whining, the players aren’t whining nor are they jumping ship.  So, why should you be whining?

Jordan Campbell transferred to Louisville but that was due to some off-the-field difficulties.  Jarvis Jones was given his scholarship release even before sanctions were doled out because USC doctors would not clear him to play.

Sure, the coaches of other top 25 teams are using fear tactics on all of our recruits and even some of our upperclassmen.  Sure, their fans are blistering all of our boards with gloating and fearful warnings of disaster.

They say we won’t be able to remain competitive with a mere 65 or 70 scholarship roster.  Well, USC has been just about that low for a decade now, and the Trojans have done extremely well, thank you.

These other fans warn, what about injuries?  What about players to fill the scout team?  The additional walk-ons and redshirts?

Well, let me tell you how that works. 

An unusual situation arose this past spring with a rash of injuries.  There were no more than six or seven offensive linemen available at any given time.  There was no scout team.  There was no second unit for the offensive line.  Those available linemen played the entire practice on both units.

The same was true for the linebackers.  At times there were only four or five available, and they had to go the entire practice.  I’m not talking about one or two practices.  It was like that almost the entire month.

But our guys hung tough and benefitted from it.  What’s more, our coaches benefitted by experiencing a prelude to excessive sanctions even before they were handed down.

They can use this experience throughout the coming season to make this Trojan team as competitive as the ones before it and to prepare for what might be should the appeal bring little relief.

So, stop the whining.  Don’t succumb to the haters who want to see USC fail.  In the end, they will be complaining that the NCAA was too lenient on USC.  It should have been a five scholarship limit over five years and Lane Kiffin’s heart on a platter.