War Room Pre-NSD
John Hoppe
Recruiting ESP
The Early Signing Day or Early Signing Period is next week and USC will host its final official visit weekend before many recruits (90-percent last year) sign a letter of intent. This weekend the Trojans are expected to host Upland (Calif.) five-star linebacker Justin Flowe, Harbor City (Calif.) three-star wide receiver Josh Jackson, Greenbrae (Calif.) three-star defensive tackle Jamar Sekona, Florence (Ariz.) three-star defensive end Regen Terry, Spring (Texas) three-star cornerback Dwight McGlothern and Mililani (Hawaii) three-star linebacker Muelu Iosefa.
USC is expected to host one other official visitor on campus as well, but because he told another school he would officially visit there instead, we will omit his name until he arrives at USC Friday. There were rumors that Flowe was canceling his visit to USC this weekend, and a source close to him did say other schools recruiting him have tried to talk him out of the trip. However, as of Thursday, Flowe was still a go to officially visit USC.
Flowe has probably heard more from a negative recruiting standpoint about USC than any other prospect in the 2020 class. That includes a narrative which states USC linebacker coach Johnny Nansen only plays Polynesian players. Because you know, Reuben Peters was so much more Polynesian than Palaie Gaoteote. Apparently John Houston and Eli’ja Winston also do a mean Haka.
The Flowe Of Five Stars
Regardless of what is true or untrue, the defensive coaching staff for USC has to win over Justin Flowe and connect with him this weekend to have any chance a landing his signature Wednesday. According to those close to Flowe, much of their recent contact with USC has come through Player Development Director Gavin Morris and Graduate Assistant Chris Hawkins. Clemson is still thought to be his clear leader, although Oregon and Miami commits have told reporters covering those schools that they will land him as well.
Flowe appears to give almost every school he officially visits the warm and fuzzies about his commitment. That is probably by design. When schools feel they are slipping for a recruit, they often panic and get pushy. When schools feel like they have a recruit locked up, they’re not blowing up that prospect’s phone every five seconds. This is often the case with top undecided prospects near signing day. It’s much easier to mull over your options when everything is copacetic.
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that we’ve spoken to one source outside of USC that thinks Flowe will end up a Trojan. As this source predicted, Flowe would be offered the No. 55 and his inner circle would inevitably push to keep him close to home. There’s more to it, but that’s the gist. Again, predictions on where Flowe signs tend to change with the association of the source. In other words, that prediction stems from information coming from USC recruiting circles. Although, unlike with Oregon and Miami, that source is not committed to USC or employed by USC. It's a good source, but we have to keep that information within the context of everything else we have heard about Flowe in recent weeks.
Flowe is one of two five-star prospects USC is hoping to steal next week. The other, who shall remain nameless by request, has had two in-home visits with USC the past two weeks and spent quite a bit of time on campus unofficially visiting last week after the announcement that Clay Helton was being retained as head coach. We’re not super optimistic about USC’s chances of landing a five-star in the 2020 class going into this weekend, but there is a chance they could land two. A small chance at present date, but a chance nonetheless.
Running Back Recruiting Report
USC is still on the hunt for running backs in the 2020 class and the Trojans made their final push for two top tailbacks this past week. USC hosted Dublin (Ohio) four-star running back Michael Drennen II on an official visit last weekend. Drennen, who normally is relatively easy to contact for interview quotes, went dark immediately after his trip. According to his father, Michael loved USC. One source told us this week that USC is Drennen’s dream school and the Trojans were his leader going into the visit last weekend.
Drennen’s father told 247Sports Bill Greene that he is actually the cousin of former USC wide receiver David Ausberry. That is something we had not heard before. Drennen is considering Kentucky and he plans on officially visiting Florida this weekend. There is also potential for an LSU official visit in the works. From what we hear, LSU would like him to wait until January to visit. Drennen has said in previous interviews he would like to sign early, but that is not set in stone.
USC had their whole offensive staff in-home to see Tucson (Ariz.) four-star running back Bijan Robinson this past week. Robinson has been adamant that he is a solid commit to Texas in all of his interviews, yet we hear that he continues to entertain interest from USC. However, to our knowledge, Robinson has not been on campus since the summer. Granted, that visit would be purposely done off the radar.
Certainly, Offensive Coordinator Graham Harrell staying at USC helps matters with Robinson, and we’ve heard nothing to indicate that the Trojans won’t have Harrell calling plays in 2020. But Robinson is a tough read and no one who has covered his recruitment would be shocked if he flipped to USC or even Ohio State on signing day. What we do know if that USC isn’t going to reach on additional running back prospects. In November, USC sent out some questionable scholarship offers at the position that looked like backup plans. As of this week, we hear USC gets Drennen and/or Robinson or nobody.
Final push for All-American
Fans have noticed the recent spurt of Michigan Crystal Balls for USC cornerback target Darion Green-Warren. The All-American cornerback has been a major priority for the Trojans since the summer, where USC actually took the lead in his recruitment. But we've mentioned before that Michigan was a team to watch down the line. The Wolverines knocked their official visit out of the park this past weekend (despite some cold, cold weather) and made huge, huge strides with Green-Warren, who will enrollee in January. But the battle is far from over. The Trojan coaches are expected to take an in-home visit on this morning to get back some momentum.
Kobe makes the jump
The USC defensive tackle commit Kobe Pepe has exceeded the expectations that were set for him going into his senior season. The early expectations included a bump in his sacks and TFL, but few saw him racking up double digits in both categories (12.5 TFL, 11 sacks). Per MaxPreps, Pepe's team-high 11 sacks actually lead the Trinity League.
His coaches at St. John Bosco have been blown away by his jump, especially when teams are specifically trying to stop him.
"Well, I mean, especially the way we're blocked, he's double teamed half the time. His read, they do some different things to obviously try and negate him. But he's still making his plays. He's such a technician in what he does, he's incredibly strong. I mean, his things are it comes down to how well he works in the weight room and how well he studies film and knows the game of football," said Bosco defensive coordinator Chris King. "He's got a really high football IQ, which helps, sometimes those interior defensive linemen are just kind of in there trying to wreck havoc. But he really understands the game of football and how he's being blocked and those certain blocking schemes and how to attack those and how to get open. He's obviously done a great job for us all year."
Resignation rumor
Radio chatter that new USC Athletic Director Mike Bohn could resign or was thinking about resigning found is way to the message boards this week. It’s a rumor that spawned from the reports that Bohn had his hand forced by the USC administration to retain Clay Helton last week. We did check with our sources at Cincinnati and according to them there wouldn’t be a job waiting for Bohn if he wanted to return there. Our source said he feels that the president had moved on and wouldn’t consider bringing Bohn back after he resigned and left for greener pastures. Also talking to sources in Heritage Hall, there hasn’t been any indication that Bohn was on his way out or looking to move on.
Sosna Sighting
Cincinnati Chief Revenue Officer Brandon Sosna has been hired by USC and will work under Mike Bohn in the athletic department. USC has still not officially announced the hire, but he has been seen around Heritage Hall and we were told he will be starting next week.
Sosna is young, just 26 years old, but he knows how things work and from what our source told us he was a big part of the successes Bohn had in Cincinnati. Some of the messaging from Bohn after Helton was retained has been criticized by USC fans and we were told to expect improvement in that area once Sosna is on the job.
Speaking of messaging, some USC fans have been very critical of the athletic department’s responses to their emails and calls. One email that was shared with us had a high ranked member of the department say that USC’s support of the football program is stronger today than it has been for at least the last 40 years. It also said that college football is big business and when it comes to investment USC is “up there.” And finally it stated that the biggest challenge is with admissions and finding student athletes that will succeed in the USC academic environment and on the football field.
You talkin’ ‘bout practice?
USC released its bowl practice schedule and between now and the Holiday Bowl the Trojans will hit the practice field 11 times. At least a couple of those will likely be a Friday-like walk-through, like the practice scheduled on the day before the game, Dec. 26. As USCFootball.com writer Shotgun Spratling as pointed out on the boards, the “15 practice limit” doesn’t exist, teams are allowed 4 hours a day or 20 hours a week after the regular season to practice before the bowl game. There are still limits on the number of days in pads and limits on contact, plus there has to be at least one day off per week. It will be 26 days between “real” practices for USC, 24 days since Clay Helton addressed the media, only four of the 11 practices will be partially open (first 20 minutes) and only three will have any players or coaches available to be interviewed.
With the early signing period every program is struggling to find the right balance for preparing for the bowl game and recruiting/signing the players of the future. We reached out to some other Pac-12 programs to see what their practice schedule has been like. We were not able to get a lot of data but here is what we found out:
Oregon – No practice schedule released but Mario Cristobal wanted to get in 15 practices before the Rose Bowl.
ASU – Starting on Monday and planning on 10 or 11 practices, but no schedule released yet. Source there said it is hard to practice during the recruiting period and finals.
Utah – The goal there is to use all of the allotted practices, but no schedule has been released.
Washington – They practice some last week but have finals this week. Their staff will likely be in Las Vegas on signing day so that is a tight one.
California – No bowl practice schedule has been released.
Washington State – Three practices in Phoenix and they are estimating 12-13 practices total.
But the Trojans don’t play any of those teams, they play the Iowa Hawkeyes. According to our source Iowa already has practiced a few times and will get in at least 15 practices before the Holiday Bowl. Iowa also practiced four times before the season finale against Nebraska on Nov. 29. That means Iowa will have at least seven more practices than USC since the Trojans last game.
Practice, no practice, talk, no talk, it’s Trojan time
They were just the typical text and phone messages that often come in as they did Thursday afternoon. “How do they look?” a campus questioner wondered, listening to the whistles and sounds from Howard Jones Field with guys in helmets, shorts and shells going through their paces. And coaches, it looked like, out there to push them. “Are you guys there?”
Excuse me. First of all, if it were a conditioning session with staff present, we’re not allowed around – at least in the summer. And if it evolved into a player-run session, we have ground rules in the summer where we’re forbidden to attend and report until July. It’s after July . . . so maybe.
OK, we kid. As we said to our questioner yesterday, not only aren’t we allowed around even when we know they’re practicing much of the time this postseason, as far as the bowl practice schedule USC sent to us is concerned, Thursday’s whatever-it-was was not a real practice. But even if it was one, the way the one today, Saturday or Monday actually will be, it was basically off-limits: “Closed to media, no interviews,” was the word to us on the USC advisory. And no listed practice times for the first three Holiday Bowl workouts. Why would we need those since we were uninvited?
And sure, we understand. This weekend, since we haven’t talked formally to any of the coaches or players since the post-game presser after the UCLA game Nov. 23 and aren’t scheduled to do so until Tuesday, Dec. 17, that’s a 24-day break through some major moments – or for sure one major moment – for USC football: the retaining of Clay Helton.
So no question that the Holiday Bowl might not be the first item on the agenda if the media were allowed to talk to the players and coaches these next three practices. Would it be distracting? Maybe. For a day. But then it’s behind you. And you go on like always. Now that’s been postponed to next Tuesday. But is that smart to banish us, in effect, for the first three practices and for five of the first seven with just three of the 11 bowl practices allowing questioning of players and coaches?
The USC players are not going to say anything against Clay Helton or the decision. They never have. They never will. USC can’t buy more positive publicity. Not sure where this decision came from. But it’s not USC being USC. Still remember a freshman Rey Maualuga having to face the media after the Cal game his freshman year after having been in a Halloween brawl earlier in the week and having to deal with that, tears in his eyes as he talked about disappointing his ailing father. But it was a growing-up moment for Rey. And why football so often turned out to be a great learning experience for USC athletes who get the opportunity to handle things better than at other places where they don’t get the chance as they’re kept inside a protective bubble.
We thought we’d check with another Pac-12 school, known for restrictive media policies, and see how Utah was handling its run-up to the Alamo Bowl. And we found that the Utes will have three media sessions for players and coaches while they’re in Salt Lake City before leaving for San Antonio with other sessions still to be scheduled there. That equals the total of USC player-coach media sessions in LA and in San Diego but is more than the two USC has scheduled in LA. Which is a bit of a surprise.
So there has definitely been a surprising step back for a USC program now led by a very-much PR-friendly AD Mike Bohn. Has USC been shocked by the reaction of much of its hard-core fan base at the decision 11 days after the UCLA win to finish the regular season? They have to be. Heck, we’re shocked at the depth and duration and extent of the anger and we’ve lived through the last decade of bad decisions and disappointments, bad hires at both the AD and head coaching positions, one after another after another after another after another after another.
We thought apathy might be the issue here. Not even close. No apathy yet. They might be transitioning from active fans or supporters, ticket holders or donors, but not because they don’t care. They’re mad. Really mad. They wanted the new people in charge to take their word for things, to listen to them, to do their homework and have the courage to do the right things – right now.
And not ask them to hold on for another year with a recruiting class that at this moment is 12th in the Pac-12. That’s something no one has ever seen followed up by the same old, same old decision-making process they have seen the last decade at USC from the response to the NCAA conspiracy to destroy USC football to making the easy hire to taking away nearly 10,000 of the best tickets – many of them their tickets -- to make room for the Scholarship Tower suites for a couple of thousand of the moneyed folks.
These people are unhappy and they want someone to listen to them. No way for USC to avoid these folks when they start turning in their $10 million suites and ask for their money back while writing USC out of their wills. For those who say, “Hey, it’s just football,” it’s going to be more than that for a cash-starved athletic department.
And no question USC is probably unhappy with them – and us – and limiting the chances for us all to talk. Not sure this is the right direction for this to be headed.
With all the excitement about the USC players’ postseason honors and the buzz about Michael Pittman, Kedon Slovis and Graham Harrell’s offense and the need to build some positive Trojan excitement in as competitive a sports media market as exists anywhere here in LA, and with a great story to tell about the players certainly, it might be the exactly right time to let them tell it. And not the time to limit their opportunities to do so.
Speaking of Insiders
We received the following email for our latest Podcast of Champions episode by an anonymous USC staff member:
“I wanted to email in and perhaps shed light on some of what is happening at USC behind closed doors. I work in administration and would rather stay anonymous for this email. It is my understanding that the way Clay Helton’s contract is structured creates significant financial problems for USC that it, ideally, would rather not deal with at the moment. When Lynn Swann gave Clay his contract there were a number of clauses for financial compensation if he were to be dismissed early- we are talking upwards of 40 million in total to fire him and pay off the rest of the contract. Currently, from what I know and through the lens of finances at the institution, there are academic schools struggling, athletic programs struggling, and a number of law suits and negative fallback the university is getting from other areas stemming from controversies at the school of medicine, business, and social work and their former deans, the Tyndale scandal, the admissions scandal, and so on. These matters have brought forth lawsuits and many deans and trustees, who are not simply focused only on football, do not believe that spending 40 million to buy out a nice guy, who has brought stability would be the most fiscally responsible thing to do.
“Like the next fan, I also would like a change. I read Wilner’s piece that you posted on twitter. However, USC currently values its high academic standing, they care about appearance and moving forward from some of the fallout of negative publicity and law suits they have been associated with, they care about being ranked in the top 25 academically. It is important to remember that the trustees expect President Folt achieve stability for the university before addressing things like the football program, which to be quite honest, is not the most ******* up thing at this place due to incompetent leadership and toxicity and simply isn’t the top priority for many of the trustees. The current delay, in my opinion, is waiting on some boosters to come up with that type of money. This way any move can be done without running the risk of pissing off stakeholders about not using our money well. However, a lot of the boosters are so upset about the program that they do not want to bail the athletic department out of a ******* situation it put itself in with Swann and all of the recent admission scandal shenanigans. They feel USC should take ownership for those mistakes and make this right. That’s whats happening in a nutshell! Love the show, keep up the good work!”
In a follow-up email the staffer said:
“The level of incompetence, toxicity, and lack of accountability at this place on every level is out of this world and unlike any other place I’ve been at. We are never transparent and honest with ourselves about the problems this institution has and actually coming up with reasonable solutions that may cost us in the short term but are better in the long term. Our perspective at USC has been and continues to be, on all levels, one that is extremely shortsighted, often only putting bandages over huge problems, and having the arrogance that it’ll just work itself out because ‘we’re USC’. It’s nonsense.”
USC-Iowa Holiday Bowl ranked
Saw this from smart Big Ten observer Matt Zemek as he previewed the bowls that Big Ten teams are playing in with the San Diego game in the top half of the league’s bowls for the watchability factor. Here’s how he sees it.
“This is a poor man’s Rose Bowl: A 3-loss Big Ten team against a Pac-12 team with a lot of firepower on the West Coast. Iowa’s defense versus USC’s offense will be worth the watch. Iowa contained Minnesota (and gave Wisconsin a path to both the Big Ten Championship Game and the Rose Bowl). Now the Hawkeyes go against USC quarterback Kedon Slovis, who is legitimately good, and the elite USC receivers, who are almost as good as Alabama’s receivers. (ALMOST, not quite.)”
O'Bannon remains out
Hoops guard Chuck O’Bannon remains sidelined and is expected to miss at least two more weeks after having ORIF surgery on his middle finger on his left hand the day before Thanksgiving. O'Bannon missed trips to Orlando and Fort Worth and could still miss the final three non-conference games, but the hope is to get him back before Pac-12 play begins.
An applicable sermon?
When Jason Gill was hired as USC’s baseball coach in June, the school release didn’t feature the word “culture” and Gill never promised to change the “culture” of the program. Instead his introductory comments included, “I am looking forward to building on the traditions established by the great players and coaches from the most storied college baseball program in the country.”
Gill explained this week that he thinks it is overstated and overused when new coaches come in and pound the table about how they are going to change the culture. Instead, in his first meeting with the players he told them that he can’t change the culture, that the culture is changed by the players.
“I can only pass on information [coaching] that's been given to me through people that were smarter than me and hand it to them,” said Gill, who played for and coached under the legendary Augie Garrido and later coached under George Horton. “[The players] choose whether they take that or not, and they choose whether to apply it or not. Not me. If they choose to take it and apply it, they're setting standards.
“The standards at this school are the highest standards in the United States of America: 12 national championships and more big leaguers than any school in the history of the game. We have the highest standards that are set.
“Somewhere, in the last 15 years, they've been lost. It's their responsibility to bring back those standards, so when they do something and they do it very well, I tell them, 'Hey, today you set new standards. Way to go.' Now I can hold you to those standards. So when you do it below that standard, you're going to hear from me because you've already set the standard. So I don't set that standard. They do.
“It's my responsibility to police it. I police the standards, but their responsibility is to bring back those standards,” Gill said. “Get them back up and I'll police it for you. I'll tell you when you're not doing it and I'll tell you when you're doing it. But I can't change the culture. I can't go inside your brain and say think this way. You have to change the culture.”
Gill said the expectations people have for the baseball program — which is also applicable at neighboring Howard Jones Field — come from standards that were preciously set.
USC football previously had lofty standards that were established long ago by Howard Jones, but have been reaffirmed through the years by John McKay and John Robinson and Pete Carroll. Even with a lean year or two on the recruiting trail, the Trojans will have the talent to to live up to those standards, but who is going to police the standards so that they are maintained?
Jonathan Hatfield
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Nick Angelich
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