What Is Wrong With USC?
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- Опубліковано 29 сер 2024
- USC recruiting is starting to get comfortable with being the bridesmaid. For the second time in two weeks, Lincoln Riley caught the bouquet. I explain what happened and why Coach Riley is having a hard time closing the easy deals with wide receivers.
In the show's second segment, I spend some time talking about what USC needs to do if they want to get the recruits to commit and the fans to show up on game days.
The Associated Press ranked USC as the 6th best program overall since they started ranking in the top 25. I have a different opinion.
#usc #uscfootball #recruiting #transferportal #Trojans #cfp #collegefootballplayoffs #millermoss #D'antonlynn #defense #baltimoreravens #washingtonhuskies #calbears #FOOTBALL # #instantreaction #ncaafoot ball #big10 #big10football #uclafootball #notredamefootball #oregonducks #recruiting #reggiebush #heisman #utah #utesfootball #LincolnRiley #alexgrinch #nfl #nil #top5 #pac12football #defense #impact #mvp #transferportal #ncaa #notredame #sec #secfootball #alabamafootball #georgiafootball #pac12 #uclafootball #survival #pff, #uscbasketball
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I agree on the in game experience, the coliseum is dead compared to 10 years ago. The school has destroyed the tailgate experience, and the season ticket game isn’t much to brag about. IMO the fact that they aren’t packing it every game in a town like LA should be seen as a failure by the school. We need to lower game costs and bring back the old tailgating experience and pack the stadium every game!!
It’s only a hostile environment when the gangs show up
Fans and alums need to get frau no football out of the presidents office and get some real leadership.
Great show Marc
I believe with the receiver group only being in sophomores that’s one of the reasons kids wanna play right away and our guys are gonna be there at least two more years plus we have some studs behind them so I would think they’re more afraid of the competition people that think we suck don’t know football at all. Give this coaching staff a chance.
Great episode for a Monday, and the home games need to be elevated but the school has to better with welcoming the regular fans to the circle who don’t have NIL money !
The “family atmosphere” would sure improve if USC did not have their game scheduled at 8 o’clock at night. WTF?
Caint fix da stupid 😮
They play on Saturdays , kids don't have school the next day.
@@Sportsgeek1991 True, but the other 90% of the stadium are older alumni and fair weather fans the have other options and don't like to get home to OC at 1:00-2:00 am. Sunday morning. When was the last time any BIG10 or SEC team had an 8:00 p.m. start time?
@@USCvsND5524 well that's the issue lol if most of your fanbase is either too old to be awake that late or only shows up when the team is good that's why the coliseum is what it is right now.
I’m not sure how much say USC gets in TV scheduling. Fox is praying on their knees that the Dodgers and Yankees are playing in the World Series leading into that game versus Rutgers 😂. 
Great show Marc! You nailed it, especially on the second segment, couldn’t have said it any better and it’s exactly how I feel as a USC fan. Thanks again as always! ✌️
I saw the Trojans secures Tanook Hines, he looks like another burner, the sky is not falling, if you win in the B1G they recruits will come.
Good luck, hope to see you in the B1G championship game someday
An Oregon fan
I knew about Hines.
I’m speaking more to the bigger picture.
Marc,
Here is the truth:
The Kiffin, Sark, Clay Helton era erased all the momentum of the Pete Carroll, Coach O era. Starting with Kiffin (2010-2013) Sarkisian (2014-2015), Helton (2015-2021) 👈 these hires lead to a decade that eroded the trust of fans, recruits and national respect. During this time, Oregon planted it's flag in their backyard, and teams from the SEC started to cherry pick elite recruits. When Riley came in, there was a re-emergence of national interest and hope from fans who thought the hire would be a symbol of stability and a time to put an end to the stupidity. Instead, we got Alex Grinch, and Riley starting to sound like Helton. That came off as "oh, boy here we go again" What we're seeing right now is the period where USC has had, strike one (Kiffin), strike two (Sark), strike three (Helton) and last year strike four (Grinch) and now they're telling the fan base "but this time we mean it". So don't blame the recruits if they roll their eyes and say ya ok sure. This stuff comes up and when you hold tight to your NIL purse strings It shows you are not all in on winning? Bottom line, what the USC bot did was put on a clinic on how to destroy a brand. The road to recovery is a long one. My guess is they would have to string together several 10 win season to erase the stench. Hiring Henny is good but not enough. History has shown Riley is capable of this, but they can't have any more Helton, Grinch screw ups along the way. Let's keep it real how many times do you have to catch your wife cheating on you before you stop trusting her? Trust and Keeping your word still matters to a lot of people. I'll still support the team no matter what, but they are not in a position to persuade elite recruits to leave their home State at the rate they were hoping. Maybe they should build from inside out, like Chris Arledge mentioned. Sorry USC fans, right now, USC is a fixer uper home, not the New Construction Home of the Carroll era. IMHO, you need to hire the best builder you can find, and that's Coach O to address your recruiting needs but this is USC and doing the obvious thing does not register. Pete Carroll hired Coach O twice. Let that sink in.
Kiffin cannot be blamed for the idiosy of Max Nikias and his hand chosen AD Pat Haden to be obstacles the way they were. How would you like to take over a job where you had one hand tied behind your back? The truth is my friend, it was the administration totally that screwed up any chance USC football was going to rebound any time soon.
For the most part, I think we are in agreement!!
Marc, good episode. I enjoy it when you talk about the why things are the way they are vs. the fodder. Do you think it's a closing problem? Like, do ace recruiters matter anymore?
Marc we have been discussing recruiting for the last month in detail . But let’s be honest it has been extremely disappointing with 2025 recruiting and 2024 portal .
We are a day late and a dollar short . Translation: Riley was a day late in keeping Grinch - meaning a bad defense and season last year . So recruits are saying until you can prove you can win why is a four star or five star - especially out of state recruits come to USC. When they can go to a top ten school where they get the exposure and probably development to go to the NFL .
The second point is a dollar short - translation- the NIL program at USC is subpar so far compared to the top ten teams . So if you don’t have a top winning team , you must over pay to get top recruits. But we aren’t doing that either . We might have a competitive NIL program but not good enough for a subpar product on the field .
In conclusion we are In no mans land . Not a good product on the field last year and not willing to over pay to get the players to drastically improve .
Unfortunately until one of the two things change - winning or paying - this will be a continuing circle of average teams . I identified this months ago when they didn’t land or pay defensive line players out of the portal for this year . So again I stick by my prediction of 8 and 4 this year . If this is the case and the way recruiting is going for 2025 I can’t see much of an improvement. Which is very disappointing. I think a day late and a dollar short says it all .
Fight On, Marc😊
7:19 "The main thing" I have heard this a lot from kids that commit to Oregon. Eugene Oregon has a population of 180,000 people. Portland Oregon is about 2.5 hours away. There is nothing to do in Eugene Oregon other than go hiking. I remember DeAnthony Thomas mentioning that as one of the reasons he picked Oregon over USC. There are to many distractions in LA. Kids need help focusing on the goal at hand and to many distractions cause kids to under perform. I believe this has been one of the main reasons why USC has under performed for years. They always recruit in the top 10 yet it does not translate to field performance. Kids today with social media have a lot more distractions in LA, then when Junior Seau and Ronny Lott played for the Trojans. Maybe what USC thinks is one of its main attractions for kids is actually its main curse.
Im first start off by saying Im a huge SC fan, been so since the Rodney Peete and Erik Affoholter days, now, when SC fams go to Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wiscinsin, Minnesota, even the likes of Purdue and Northwestern, theres a difference in Tailgating and Game day atmosphere, not even close!! SC has to step it up when you have 20,000 empty seats, come on SC!
Wake me up when the recruiting is over and we find out what we have to work with. Oh WAIT..... it's never over these days. But I did appreciate the personal interest interviews with the walk-ons. That was nice. More would be good. .... AND NO FINEBAUM! hard to believe we are that far behind Alabama. it would take being #1 in AP for 26 years just to pull even. shyyte
A lot of the colleges probably most are in smaller towns and college football is king SC is in large city with two professional football teams, professional, baseball, professional, basketball professional ice hockey Disneyland not too far away all kinds of entertainment so college football is not king
I don’t think Riley is good at promoting a good family team spirit. I think it’s to individualistic. Just my opinion.
21:45 the fact that u have to reference a game 20 yrs ago about the fans making a difference gives us all we need to know about the type of fans we have and the current state or actually the state of our program for the last 15+yrs is in.
There’s no changing LA. Fans only show up when we win. Fans only show up when we recruit and get them excited to show up. As long as Lincoln is our coach, as long as Henson is our OL coach, we will never see packed houses at the Coliseum
So if we fired CLR and Henson, who do you think would be better and take the jobs?
Cheer up Marc , SC just landed another receiver lol death , taxes & receivers 🤷🏼♂️
They developed Keon Coleman pretty well!
Stop it--Keon was developed at Michigan State 
@@LockedOnUSC you could say the same for Jordan Addison! The last developed wr’s out of usc were juju smith-shuster, st. Brown and Drake London. These guys were Helton recruits. Since then, haven’t seen much.
@@iLLmaticTrojanand Michael
Pittman… let’s leave the transfer portal guys out of this OK. If you’re going to at least pick guys who will have been with a program for more than one year --for instance Tahj Washington. 
You picked the wrong hill to plant your flag on.😂
A far a the fan attendance goes you need to remembr the thing that sell UCS to a lot of recruits is the multiple amount of distractions here in the south land. This is the same thing that keeps fans away. Because the fans have so many ways to spend a sports dollar you won't attract people if you don't put out a good product. We need a winner1 i believe with all my heart that USC WILL win more games than they did last year.
2:26 Marc, its the bag right? Who would dare to go to another school for any other reason? Just blame the bag for every recruit you lose. The truth is, recruits chose places for many other factors and those usually outweigh the bag. Everyone has the bad these days. Its those other factors that determine where a kid is going to go. USC "other factors" are not very attractive right now. They are not very attractive for kids these days and kids don't care what you did 30 years ago or what you do every 30 years. If we look at the history of the USC program, you are not due to win another chip for 10 more years. You average one every 30 years.
WINNING BRINGS IN FANS. THIS KIND OF DISCUSSION CAN CAUSE DECOMMITS!
At least it was a WR instead of a DL or OL or a linebacker, but it still hurts. And it would be nice for Juju to stop the bs and shut down his commitment. It's pretty annoying. Everybody sticks up for the kid because ' it's all part of the process'. Enough is enough! Are you coming or not Juju? Stop yanking SCs chain! As far as recruits leaving...Start WINNING!! That simple!! We need people to show up for games and support the team! Not just for the big games. Don't be frontrunners Pack Allegiant stadium for LSU and don't make it a home game for them. Don't have 42000 for Utah St..It bugs the crap out of me!! And no more predictions for recruits! They always go somewhere else...If you win, everything else will take care of itself. Start on Sept 1 in Vegas...
recruits make mistakes. We’ll point that out during the season.
✌️
I think Lincoln biggest problem was his friends and family approach to hiring coaches and ppl in the front office. If he would’ve hired the best ppl for the job at every position. I just don’t think we would be in this position.
Agree but Riley has issues w how he approaches coaching and game management. He's making no effort to address those flaws.
The problem is RILEY!
Biggest Problem with USC right now is the lack of a good NIL program. Our recruiting is suffering because our collective's have been totally screwed up & players are being given broken promises. Our NIL is a flat mess & it is reflecting on our recruiting process big time. It isnt just about the bag but it cant be done without the bag either. So when is the university going to get in gear and fix the problems. Our NIL needs to be fixed & that comes from the very top not the coaches. We have the coaches in place pressure needs to be put one those responsible for not giving them what they need to succeed. The players are coming & their coming because of USC Blue Blood History, The coaching we now have on both sides of the ball & the tradition but again the NIL is the major factor in why were getting de-commits & not recruiting well it's simple as that. If we want a top team we need top players we cant win at the highest levels with a short roster & a lack of top skilled players. Just win sounds good but we need more pieces in place to do that & again NIL is the main problem. As a lifelong fan I support the guys that are here and committed 100 percent but really like many other fans I talk to we feel like we are being told some things that are not correct & we feel our NIL problems are being down played as to how bad it is & frankly is feel like we are being treated with contempt. Just Saying this NIL problem is glaring & it needs to get corrected fast.
No, USC has good NIL program! I'm a Miami fan! We aren't the richest NIL! We don't pay the most or the least. However, Miami pays, what, it says, its going to pay. Also, we don't have state income tax here in Florida. I heard, USC has too many chiefs trying to run NIL. You have USC business alums and booster. You have alums in Hollywood who are producers, directors, presidents, actors and etc. There is no way, USC should be top 5 in the nation.
@@arronfrazier7873 I'm not sure I understand your reply. You say we have a good NIL but you also say their are too many chiefs trying to run things. The later statement I agree with. Also one of the problems with our NIL is these collectives in some cases are looking for how they can get a cut for themselves it's not just going to the players that is a big problem that few have mentioned & it doesn't make for a good NIL so I don't agree we have a good NIL. I side heavy with what you said about too many chiefs that's a fact. As far as us not being a top 5 are you talking the entire history of USC's Program or the past 20 years or as of right now? Please Clarify what you are referring too when you say not a top 5.
@@alanmaddox5772 Yes, USC has great NIL, should have great NIL and should be top 5 NIL based on USC location. However, like all things in life, there must be leadership and structure with it. Miami has it shit together with NIL. Everything is lineup up! Miami money boosters and alums are lineuped in South Florida/Florida, the rest of America and internationally! Remember, Miami is a private school, just like USC. Everybody hears the name John Ruiz. He is a billionaire alum and booster. He is friends with Miami HC Mario Cristabol and they went to HS together in Miami. He was put as the face Miami NIL and running it. He never ran it! Miami has other money boosters and alums in South Florida who are in the mix along with the Miami collective. Also Miami as I said, its the top but not the bottom of NIL. They make NIL deals and they follow on those deals. What Miami promises the athletes, they get as long as they do what they are supposed to do. That is the issue with alot of schools NIL collective promising deals. The athletes get on campus and they don't get what they are promised or they renege on deals during recruiting process up to sign day.
@@alanmaddox5772 I'm talking top 5 in NIL!
@@alanmaddox5772 Location matters for young people! In the case of Miami, FSU and UF, alot of kids leave the state. Now with NIL, they can come back for whatever reason. NIL just gives a great incentive for Florida HS kids to come back to Florida. Hell, it helps USF and UCF in this state as well. As I said, Florida has no state tax. For some reason, the young in America flock to South Florida year round. That applies to the young around the planet. The young student athlete from Florida like living South Florida too but Miami can't sign every recruit or get everyone with NIL!
Recency bias may effect our ranking at #6…but I think we are placed about right…
It’s about $$$. Florida state hasn’t put many good receivers into the nfl in forever and even when we suck, we still put stars into the nfl.
Florida State is perceived as an up and coming program. They went 13-1 under Mike Norvell, beating Clemson, LSU, Florida, and Pitt. Their only loss was a beat down to Georgia.
@@hrpickinstuff take out LSU while both can be true. What was the combined record of those opponents?
FSU had a better year than USC last season. “Get better” is right.
The whole Juju Lewis 'commitment' has been a circus. I genuinely don't care anymore if he chooses USC or not. Wish the kid well but this NOT how one commits to a team. We're tired. September cannot come soon enough! ✌
I'm more excited about the backup qb. Juju lewis Recruitment has been a 🎪.
No one wants to compete anymore .. they want instant gratification … not to mention the Bag … our receiver room is loaded and we have guys coming in… and yes we do need to clean up our NIL package … but anymore its a business now…
What it comes down to is $ USC has the most Heisman WinnersAnd Lincoln Riley has more than one Qb’s in the NFL. And talk about the wide receiver room he’s not gonna start , so say bye bye Mc.
We suck
I am not surprised Marc is acting like a panic here in July over where the HS athletes are committing which means nothing. But he has to make noise in getting our attention during this down time. He knows as well as anyone, it all matters how well this season's USC team wins or not that will matter most in any flips in December's NSD. Nice try Marc.
Your faux pearl-clutching with what I said in the 1st segment also shows that you didn't listen to the 2nd segment. Because if you did, you would have heard me say, that USC winning games will solve their problems.
Nice try, though!
Lincoln is not personable to everyone. He acts like he’s a super model. He big dogs people in public in the very few times he’s actually out amongst the people. It’s hard to build a family atmosphere when you act like you’re the smartest person in the room, even if up are.
He isnt.
Lincoln Riley IS NOT a leader of men! He’s too obsessed with creating heisman trophy QB’s……with an obsession with the offensive side of the ball. While we know you need a great QB to win…..everyone knows defense wins championships. The term “family oriented “ (which appears to be significantly lacking at USC) keeps coming up as a major theme and narrative , as to why big time (4/5 star) recruits don’t want to come.
Players need to “feel” wanted, respected, and developed. When it comes to recruiting young men, you can’t treat them as “transactional objects”. The hubris and arrogance that currently exist is evident to the recruits, who see an “every man for themselves “ culture. Simply put, the players don’t like the coach.Attitude reflects leadership. Under Riley, the program WILL NOT be elite or a “destination “ like it was under Coach Robinson and Coach Carroll. At best, the team will go 8-4 this year. Oregon will go 10-2 at best, because Coach Lannings facade will be exposed.
USC is not a college town it’s a big city that’s on the slide down nobody wants there kid going to LA it’s a dump and in the ghetto it’s not safe.If you go to any SEC school they are the stars in that college town and it’s safe your family friends can visit and feel at home there’s real love and community.You need to get the nil going and out bid everyone and promise you’ll make them a star the glitz and party but that won’t get you the players you really want those are not team players.Love for USC to get better but I don’t think it will happen it has to do with culture in the west wokeness.South is where the best players come from there not coming to the west unless there’s a lot of money.
I hate this NIL CRAP. I miss the good ol days 😢
California politicians were responsible for NIL in its current state. Don't get me started.
Well good ol days l.a didn't have two professional football teams I think that hurts usc more than anything. Already had limited Fandom and now even if sofi doesn't sell out its still taking football fans and money from usc.
@@Purp4040 Nah even when the Rams and Raiders were in LA USC always out drew them, especially when they’re winning.
@@LockedOnUSC yeah but with two nfl teams it puts more pressure on usc to win if not fans especially in l.a will find something else. And also riley needs to embrace the celebrity culture and try to have a celebrity meeting recruits especially snoop. It's l.a for a reason.