'22 CA WR C.J. Williams (Southern Cal Verbal)

[SBirishlawyer]

USC where receivers go to be overhyped, barely progress from freshman to their early entrant junior year, and then ultimately flop in the nfl. Neato

 

[stpeteirish]

Pyne seemed quite happy on the sidelines today, saw him numerous times with the other QB's. But its strange that he gets no reps after playing so well vs Wisky

 

[BigJim]

Pyne seemed quite happy on the sidelines today, saw him numerous times with the other QB's. But its strange that he gets no reps after playing so well vs Wisky

I was wondering the same thing. Maybe they're trying to squeeze out an extra year of eligibility for him whatever he does?

 

[NDdomer2]

I was wondering the same thing. Maybe they're trying to squeeze out an extra year of eligibility for him whatever he does?

Or just maybe he's just the third most talented QB in the roster

 

[Sea Turtle]

Our QB recruiting is now affecting our Receiver recruiting.

Get a Quarterback. It's not that difficult.

 

[irishandy]

BK and the staff need to make a visit to Williams while out in California next week.

Why would he want to go to USC??

 

[pumpdog20]

Proving once again why ending the season in Cali is so important.

 

[yankeehater]

This might all be NIL driven. Heard SC is promoting how much money he can make with their ties to "Hollywood."

 

[DONTH8]

This might all be NIL driven. Heard SC is promoting how much money he can make with their ties to "Hollywood."

NIL driven? After seeing the Coliseum being empty? Come on...

 

[irishandy]

The early NSD cannot get here soon enough. I hope he sticks with ND.

 

[yankeehater]

NIL driven? After seeing the Coliseum being empty? Come on...

Attendance has nothing to do with a kid getting paid.

 

[Dale]

USC has been selling that since before NIL was a thing. Always been part of their pitch

 

[irishandy]

USC has been selling that since before NIL was a thing. Always been part of their pitch

I have a feeling if they hire a big name coach like Franklin their chances of poaching get better.

 

[GoldenAura]

USC where receivers go to be overhyped, barely progress from freshman to their early entrant junior year, and then ultimately flop in the nfl. Neato

I dislike USC as much as any other ND fan but that's not entirely fair.

Robert Woods has been a high level contributor (before his injury ofc), Agholor still plays at a decently high level, Pittman is emerging for the Colts.

Add in that Drake London was having a killer year before he got injured.

 

[DONTH8]

Attendance has nothing to do with a kid getting paid.

Who on USC is "getting paid". LA has so many distractions from college football. The fans in the area are going to gravitate to teh biggest thing. The Rams, Chargers, Lakers, Dodgers... etc. USC isn't even competent, no one cares about them there. Shown by the lack of fans going to their biggest rivalry game. I would love to know who on their team made the most off NIL. I promise you it's not so much more than what players are makign elsewhere. Not to mention cost of living, that dollar doesnt go as far out there. But I digress.

 

[Henges24]

I dislike USC as much as any other ND fan but that's not entirely fair.

Robert Woods has been a high level contributor (before his injury ofc), Agholor still plays at a decently high level, Pittman is emerging for the Colts.

Add in that Drake London was having a killer year before he got injured.

I still believe in Amon-Ra.

 

[GoldenAura]

I still believe in Amon-Ra.

Yup. Unfortunately for him he has to deal with Detroit's continued dysfunction but he can definitely be a good player for them.

 

[yankeehater]

Who on USC is "getting paid". LA has so many distractions from college football. The fans in the area are going to gravitate to teh biggest thing. The Rams, Chargers, Lakers, Dodgers... etc. USC isn't even competent, no one cares about them there. Shown by the lack of fans going to their biggest rivalry game. I would love to know who on their team made the most off NIL. I promise you it's not so much more than what players are makign elsewhere. Not to mention cost of living, that dollar doesnt go as far out there. But I digress.

The kid already lives in So Cal. Please don't tell me your recruiting pitch is come to South Bend it is cheaper to live. Also most ND fans don't live in South Bend so not much to promote locally. Is a subway alum going to promote the kid in NYC?

 

[DONTH8]

The kid already lives in So Cal. Please don't tell me your recruiting pitch is come to South Bend it is cheaper to live. Also most ND fans don't live in South Bend so not much to promote locally. Is a subway alum going to promote the kid in NYC?

My pitch wouldnt be that, but it also wouldnt be "Come here, you can make more NIL money." I'm just pointing out that the NIL arguement would be the weakest one for USC to use, imo. I dont think he would make more money at USC than he would at any other big time college football program. If that is what's pulling him to USC, then I think I could point him in the direction of 20 other schools that I bet he could make more at.

 

[ThePiombino]

I don't mind missing on a Cali kid to SC (see: Ju Ju). What I do mind is LOSING a committed Cali kid to a rudderless, down SC. Del needs to do better or GTFO. Maybe he needs to GTFO regardless. Either way, the current state of the WR room/depth chart is inexcusable for a program with as much going for it as ND...

 

[Sea Turtle]

I don't mind missing on a Cali kid to SC (see: Ju Ju). What I do mind is LOSING a committed Cali kid to a rudderless, down SC. Del needs to do better or GTFO. Maybe he needs to GTFO regardless. Either way, the current state of the WR room/depth chart is inexcusable for a program with as much going for it as ND...

SC is one of the cool schools and ND is not.

 

[HereComesTheManor]

As someone currently living in LA, I will say people here generally do not care / pay much attention to college football. Having previously lived in both the South and the Midwest, the interest level in LA is nowhere close to what it is in those other 2 parts of the country. What really moves the needle here are the Dodgers and the Lakers (even the Rams aren't quite there yet although they've been getting more traction every passing season). Anything beyond those teams just doesn't generate nearly as much excitement. There are of course the UCLA and USC bubbles that exist here, but they seem fairly self-contained (and I live a block from UCLA).

I really don't see how USC would have a significant NIL advantage over most other blue bloods. They are in a major city, but it's a major city where they're competing with many other teams for people's attention. And that doesn't even factor in the non-sports attractions of which there are many. In sum, sure there is a larger overall pie of money and people's attention in a city such as LA, but the competition here is significant and USC doesn't seem to be outcompeting the other attractions here at all. It's a wealthy university with many connected alums, but that's also true for Notre Dame and many other schools. The main locational benefits I see here are the ones we always mention: great weather; access to a fun, major city; and proximity to the entertainment industry (if they're interested in that space).

 

[Irish2155]

As someone currently living in LA, I will say people here generally do not care / pay much attention to college football. Having previously lived in both the South and the Midwest, the interest level in LA is nowhere close to what it is in those other 2 parts of the country. What really moves the needle here are the Dodgers and the Lakers (even the Rams aren't quite there yet although they've been getting more traction every passing season). Anything beyond those teams just doesn't generate nearly as much excitement. There are of course the UCLA and USC bubbles that exist here, but they seem fairly self-contained (and I live a block from UCLA).

I really don't see how USC would have a significant NIL advantage over most other blue bloods. They are in a major city, but it's a major city where they're competing with many other teams for people's attention. And that doesn't even factor in the non-sports attractions of which there are many. In sum, sure there is a larger overall pie of money and people's attention in a city such as LA, but the competition here is significant and USC doesn't seem to be outcompeting the other attractions here at all. It's a wealthy university with many connected alums, but that's also true for Notre Dame and many other schools. The main locational benefits I see here are the ones we always mention: great weather; access to a fun, major city; and proximity to the entertainment industry (if they're interested in that space).

Yeah, and you all also have homeless folks shitting all over sidewalks and the such, or at least so I’m told. High crime rate as well although South Bend has its fair share too.

 

[BigJim]

Yeah, and you all also have homeless folks shitting all over sidewalks and the such lol, or at least so I’m told. High crime rate as well although South Bend has its fair share too.

"Lol"? Since when are the homeless funny?

 

[HereComesTheManor]

Yeah, and you all also have homeless folks shitting all over sidewalks and the such lol, or at least so I’m told. High crime rate as well although South Bend has its fair share too.

Definitely. LA has its fair share of problems. However, from a recruiting standpoint, I imagine most recruits see the pros of LA outweighing the negatives.

Side note: UCLA is in a much nicer area of LA than USC. 15 minutes from the beach (as opposed to 45 mins to an hour or more for USC). Better temperatures. Cleaner air. Homelessness isn't quite as rampant as it is by USC. Always surprises me that UCLA can't recruit better than it does.

 

[Rizzophil]

Is there any legit legs to the Williams to USC story? Everyone knows recruiting doesn't stop and I wouldn't expect anyone to lay off of a top 100 recruit.

But is he visiting or anything of substance?

 

[BrownerandFry]

Definitely. LA has its fair share of problems. However, from a recruiting standpoint, I imagine most recruits see the pros of LA outweighing the negatives.

Side note: UCLA is in a much nicer area of LA than USC. 15 minutes from the beach (as opposed to 45 mins to an hour or more for USC). Better temperatures. Cleaner air. Homelessness isn't quite as rampant as it is by USC. Always surprises me that UCLA can't recruit better than it does.

Gentlemen let me review a few facts about the era of Pete Carroll's hegemony of college football.

ST> LOUIS RAMS.

The Rams were near the Arch from '95-15. Out of sight out of mind.

The Chargers were in Southern California, but closer to Tijuana than LA.

OUT OF SIGHT OUT OF MIND.

But then the teams migrated back, and built the most LA of all LA sports venues, SO FI.

Fabulous Forum?
Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine?
Staples Center

All very nice, all pushed the envelope all very LA,

But So fi is a whole 'nother tray of sushi
.
And then Goff and Stafford and the LAish McVAy and Herbert and Staley stole the fickle hearts and minds of LA sports fans while the Trojans were pretending that southern dumbass Clay Helton was a leader of men. Helton is the new Messiah of Georgia Southern located below the gnat line in Statesboro where they think people from norther cities like Macon are "Yankees"

To paraphrase Vegas' motto "What wound up in Statesboro, should never been in Heritage Hall."

It's different now. The Rams and Chargers have filled the Trojan vacuum, all nice and ;pretty in Sofi.

It's a long road back for Troy.

 

[Irishize]

Is there any legit legs to the Williams to USC story? Everyone knows recruiting doesn't stop and I wouldn't expect anyone to lay off of a top 100 recruit.

But is he visiting or anything of substance?

Unless he was taken out of context, I’d say he’s realizing how far South Bend is the closer he gets to signing day. If he’s not pumped about going to an elite academic school w/ a highly successful program that is in the CFP discussion despite a rebuilding year, then what else can one really do? Maybe someone has his ear about ND not having an elite passer behind center. I’m sure he was offered by Bama as well. I also assume he knows he’d be just another 4/5-star WR competing for every snap he can get vs ND where he likely makes an impact Day One.

Time will tell but if he flips to SC I can’t imagine him having much more success than Drake London, Amon-Ra St Brown or Michael Pittman. They had nice careers but their respective teams were rarely in the national conversation and they had very minimal success vs ND.

 

[ThePiombino]

If he’s not pumped about going to an elite academic school w/ a highly successful program that is in the CFP discussion despite a rebuilding year, then what else can one really do?

Hire a better recruiter and position coach?

 

[BoredIrish]

I'm more anxious about BK and the in home visit next week then I am the Stanford game.

Fingers crossed BK in person seals the deal.