(Pac-12) The Trojans play on a grass field at the Coliseum (seats 93,607)
- Lane Kiffin is in his 2nd year as head coach at USC. Last year’s 8-5 record was the worst record for USC since 2001 (Pete Carroll’s first year as head coach), but the best for Kiffin, who in four seasons was the head coach of three different teams. Kiffin was the offensive coordinator of USC in 2006, then went to the NFL as head coach of the Oakland Raiders, where he was fired just four games into his second season. Somehow Tennessee thought he was the right choice for them, despite that record and hired him until he left for the head coaching position left vacant at USC by Carroll. The “somehow” that makes Kiffin about as wanted as a Kardashian in a nightclub is his father, Monte Kiffin, who has travelled with his son as defensive coordinator to both Tennessee and now USC.
- Why is Monte Kiffin such a wanted defensive mind? Because of his role along with Tony Dungy in created the Tampa 2 defense, which is a zone coverage defense that is a hybrid of Cover 2 and Cover 3. It has three players back in deep coverage like in the Cover 3, but only has two defensive backs there as in Cover 2. The third player is the middle linebacker.
- Btw, the record and the state of affairs at USC are the fault of Carroll. He bolted for the NFL once the
QB Matt Barkley
NCAA discovered what was going on with his program (how convenient). And while Carroll didn’t have to deal with any of the consequences, his former team sure did. And even though he had amazing success at USC, not all of it counts anymore, including a vacated Heisman trophy winner in Reggie Bush and a vacated 2004 National Championship.
- Quarterback Matt Barkley is a junior and follows a trend of successful USC quarterbacks that includes 1st round NFL Draft picks, Carson Palmer 2003, Matt Leinart 2006 and Mark Sanchez 2008. By the way, even with all of this drama, USC still had nine players drafted in April’s NFL Draft.
- They have to replace a 1st round draft pick on the offensive line (Tyron Smith) and a few other starters and back-ups. They have some decent experience though.
- USC’s defense returns a considerable number of starters and should continue to make improvements.
