USC recruiting and everything else

Katzenboyer

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I’m not convinced USC will ever be great as long as they look to the portal to build the roster. I really don’t think that’s a winning strategy


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For some reason, USC has prioritized the offensive side of the football since Carroll. Kiffin, Sarkisian, and Clay Helton were all offensive guys, and obviously that's Riley's bread and butter.

But those dominant Carroll teams - while really good on offense - were built on incredible talent on the defensive side of the football. And since they've gotten away from that, the program has had a complacency/softness that's become pervasive; and hiring Lincoln Riley does nothing to fix that problem.

The same exact thing happened to Miami after Butch Davis left. Those early 2000s teams had really, really good offensive players, but they were built around incredible talent on defense. Once Coker took over for Davis, he prioritized the offensive side of the ball, and the program literally has not recovered since it lost that identity.

Someone like Elko would be an absolute perfect fit for USC. He's a culture guy, and there's no program more in need of a culture change than the Condoms.
 

sfk324

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The funny thing is, what the portal is best for - QBs and plug-and-play skill position guys - are the positions USC and Lincoln Riley are generally good at anyway. It's a lot harder to build lines via the portal, especially on offense. Good luck to them portaling in an OL that can stand up in the Big Ten.

Also: I just looked at their recruiting. #18 nationally (on 247). No QB? Just one top-tier WR. They have some spots left but ending 1-5 won't help. What's going on there?
They're also going to be competing with Colorado for every decent OL player in the portal.
 

arndtjc

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Little bit of late night news. Great hire for SC, Nebraska’s defense was saaaaallllllttttyyyyyyy with a lot less talent to work with
 

Reaper97

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Little bit of late night news. Great hire for SC, Nebraska’s defense was saaaaallllllttttyyyyyyy with a lot less talent to work with

I saw a stat that Nebraska played one of the worst offensive schedules ever this year.
The B1G West had the worst offenses of any P5 Division since they began.
Along with Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois & Purdue.
Nebraska got lit up by Colorado.
 

CoachB

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I saw a stat that Nebraska played one of the worst offensive schedules ever this year.
The B1G West had the worst offenses of any P5 Division since they began.
Along with Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois & Purdue.
Nebraska got lit up by Colorado.
Fair point
 

arndtjc

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I saw a stat that Nebraska played one of the worst offensive schedules ever this year.
The B1G West had the worst offenses of any P5 Division since they began.
Along with Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois & Purdue.
Nebraska got lit up by Colorado.

For a team that was as offensively challenged as Nebraska was this year, what they did defensively was nothing short of miraculous.

They played in the same bad offense B1G West the last couple years and got destroyed.

Tony White has a proven track record of stingy defense and turning around bad defenses quickly, he’d be a home run for SC if this crosses home plate
 

BleedingGold

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I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity a few times in my career to have employers offer to match a chance I had. It always kind of bothered me, if I was this valuable to you, why did you wait till you were afraid to lose me to pay me what I’m worth to you? Needless to say, if I took the step to entertain an outside offer chances were I was already gone regardless.
 

NDPhilly

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Seems like Will Howard will be their 2024 QB - hopefully we made the right choice.
 

BeauBenken

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USC fans on reddit a couple weeks back thought Williams sucked and so they may be happy to see him go. His recruiting was supposed to be his strength but that fell behind in the NIL era for them and the player development they thought was severely lacking.

I wanted to tell them that it was probably more so due to the fact that their HC hasn't given a shit about defense once in his career but decided I couldn't be bothered.
 

irishff1014

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Seems like Will Howard will be their 2024 QB - hopefully we made the right choice.

He’ll be good there. The offense there will always be good with their coach. He won’t be as dynamic as Williams but he be a better rep than Williams ever could have been. USC’s problem is they want to score 50 every game and only give up 40. That’s not going to get you very far.
 

stlnd01

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Howard seems like a solid QB, but frankly if they're going portal I'd have expected someone more spectacular than solid.
 

Bluto

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Howard seems like a solid QB, but frankly if they're going portal I'd have expected someone more spectacular than solid.
His TD to int stats seem to be a step backwards when compared to Williams. If they don’t figure things out on defense that alone would probably result in a few more losses overall. Maybe Riley is gonna rely more on running the ball?
 

DillonHall

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His TD to int stats seem to be a step backwards when compared to Williams. If they don’t figure things out on defense that alone would probably result in a few more losses overall. Maybe Riley is gonna rely more on running the ball?
Huge downgrade compared to Caleb Williams IMO. Riley should just try to get the Chargers job at this point
 

stlnd01

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His TD to int stats seem to be a step backwards when compared to Williams. If they don’t figure things out on defense that alone would probably result in a few more losses overall. Maybe Riley is gonna rely more on running the ball?
To be fair almost any QB in the sport would be a step back from Williams. I just kind of figured they'd go with someone who has higher upside, and given Riley's reputation, could get almost anyone they want. Howard is fine, but at this point he is what he is.
 

allenm5333

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Will Howard will be the worst starting QB Riley has ever had. Baker, Kyler, Hurts, Rattler (argument) and WIlliams> Howard
 
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