2015 PRESEASON (Winter)
It was nice to see my Tailback from my KSC days, Eugene Paulin, get inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.He truly deserves it after the way he played for me.
Lead Scout Bubba Embry retired this winter. He'll be missed.
I've given some real serious thought to leaving Southern Cal this off season. It seems like I've been a terrific recruiter and gotten the program to a certain level, but can't get over that hump and win the PAC-10 or compete for a National Championship.
The thing is, I don't really want to leave. I'm just pissed and frustrated about last season's collapse I guess.
I get a bunch of job offers as usual. USC's prestige is rated Excellent (80). I get two offers from programs as prestigious or more prestigious than Southern Cal - Texas Christian (82) and Nebraska (80). Texas (76) also offers me their job. A number of PAC-10 teams also try and lure me away. None of the offers really appeal to me.
I decide I just need to get over my bitterness about how last season ended and get on with running the program - so I stay at Southern Cal.
First thing I need to do is hire a new Lead Scout and see what kind of talent we have returning.
I hire what is bound to be a short-termer, 68 year old Lance Coe, a scout with the San Diego Chargers. He's likely to retire in a year or two, but aside from being terrible at judging DB's, he's decent or better at everything else. Not a great hire, but my choices were pretty limited this year.
I consider making changes at both Coordinator spots. I don't think Randy Edwards has done as good of a job in developing the QB's we've recruited as he could have. My consideration of firing Bucky Riley, I realize after taking a look at him, was just change for the sake of change. And I can't find anyone who has the right combination of skills to replace Edwards, so aside from the new Lead Scout, the staff remains unchanged.
The NCAA suspended redshirt junior reserve OLB Reggie Buckley for the season for injuring another student in a fight.
Crazy SOB.
Here's a look at this year's recruiting class. TCY ranked it #5th in the nation - once again a good ranking, but we have to do something with it.
Code:
The College Years
The University of Southern California Trojans
Recruiting List, Ranking View
TCY TODAY RANK: #5
Player Pos HT WT ST NRank ByPos StRank ByPos
$$Dole, Brock QB 6-0 189 NM 1 1 1 1
**Shultz, Mercury RB 5-11 179 CA 54 3 7 1
$$Book, Emmanuel FB 5-10 212 OK 187 3 4 1
$$Woolley, Jackie FB 6-5 239 CA 408 10 53 1
**Morrison, Ron WR 6-0 180 CA 2 1 1 1
$$Eliot, Frank G 6-3 274 CA 16 4 4 2
$$Molina, Graham G 6-4 295 WA 91 13 3 1
$$Joyner, Billy Joe T 6-6 295 KS 247 24 3 1
$$Aska, Dana T 6-5 267 CA 338 30 43 5
##Sutton, William DE 6-2 240 ND 234 38 1 1
**Milton, Trent DT 6-3 277 CA 5 1 2 1
##Pathon, Dale ILB 6-3 213 NJ 762 34 17 2
$$Mazzeo, Tyrus OLB 6-1 204 CA 747 31 94 9
**Reed, Buddy CB 6-2 171 NY 248 15 15 2
$$Arvold, Joel S 6-1 199 CA 210 9 27 1
$$Korinek, Dwight S 5-11 175 CA 431 19 59 3
Player All-St All-US Status
$$Dole, Brock Yes No Committed *
**Shultz, Mercury Yes No Committed *
$$Book, Emmanuel Yes No Committed *
$$Woolley, Jackie Yes No Committed *
**Morrison, Ron Yes No Committed *
$$Eliot, Frank Yes Yes Committed *
$$Molina, Graham Yes No Committed *
$$Joyner, Billy Joe Yes No Committed *
$$Aska, Dana No No Committed *
##Sutton, William Yes No Committed *
**Milton, Trent Yes No Committed *
##Pathon, Dale No No Committed *
$$Mazzeo, Tyrus No No Committed *
**Reed, Buddy Yes No Committed *
$$Arvold, Joel No No Committed *
$$Korinek, Dwight Yes No Committed *
Rough Estimate of Player Interest: No Prefix - player unlikely to be
interested, ** - a bit of a stretch for your school, $$ - likely interest,
## - almost certain interest.
Recruiting List, Worksheet View
Player Pos ST Visit Cost Dist. Fit Score
$$Dole, Brock QB NM 593 618 87
**Shultz, Mercury RB CA 251 54 95
$$Book, Emmanuel FB OK 782 1202 89
$$Woolley, Jackie FB CA 328 284 93
**Morrison, Ron WR CA 240 19 98
$$Eliot, Frank G CA 272 117 83
$$Molina, Graham G WA 673 948 82
$$Aska, Dana T CA 237 9 85
$$Joyner, Billy Joe T KS 803 1241 95
##Sutton, William DE ND 916 1225 82
**Milton, Trent DT CA 276 128 97
##Pathon, Dale ILB NJ 1185 2447 89
$$Mazzeo, Tyrus OLB CA 400 533 94
**Reed, Buddy CB NY 1242 2487 98
$$Korinek, Dwight S CA 259 78 85
$$Arvold, Joel S CA 250 52 86
Player Scout Phone Visit Emphasis Status
$$Dole, Brock 95+ 4 2 Dist*/Prest Committed *
**Shultz, Mercury 80+ 3 2 Acad*/Dist Committed *
$$Book, Emmanuel 79+ 3 2 Acad*/Dist Committed *
$$Woolley, Jackie 72+ 2 2 Prest/Acad Committed *
**Morrison, Ron 92+ 4 2 Prest/Acad Committed *
$$Eliot, Frank 82- 2 3 Dist/Acad Committed *
$$Molina, Graham 74++ 3 2 Dist/Acad Committed *
$$Aska, Dana 68- 2 2 Acad/Dist Committed *
$$Joyner, Billy Joe 68++ 1 1 Prest*/(DistCommitted *
##Sutton, William 79+ 3 2 Acad/Dist Committed *
**Milton, Trent 93+ 3 2 Acad/Prest Committed *
##Pathon, Dale 69+ 1 1 Acad*/Prest Committed *
$$Mazzeo, Tyrus 75+ 2 1 Prest/Dist Committed *
**Reed, Buddy 85+ 2 2 Prest/Acad Committed *
$$Korinek, Dwight 74+ 3 2 Dist*/Acad Committed *
$$Arvold, Joel 71+ 3 2 Prest/Dist Committed *
Rough Estimate of Player Interest: No Prefix - player unlikely to be
interested, ** - a bit of a stretch for your school, $$ - likely interest,
## - almost certain interest.
-20-