Please share this with all the relevant parties as I very much wish to address this matter extensively and to the full satisfaction of anyone with concerns.

I was completely blindsided Friday by a malicious "report" known to be erroneous by the poster, Chris Swanson. This regards the reckless and fictitious allegations that anybody in my operation was involved in a commitment video produced for Chris Steele that resulted in the family of the recruit receiving money from said video.

The only way I know to address this and how I've been lumped into this fairy tale is to be thorough and start at the beginning, and I appreciate your time in allowing me that opportunity.

I spent the last two years working for a website called SEC Country covering the Florida Gators. I was the team reporter and we had a recruiting reporter, Zach Abolverdi. Zach had started producing commitment videos for our website -- for which our company gave him funding to hire a videographer -- and while Chris Steele was on an unofficial visit to Florida last spring, they discussed having Zach do a commitment video for Steele as well. A month or so later, our website was abruptly shuttered by Cox Media Inc., leaving both Zach and myself in transition. Zach decided he wanted to try to find full-time work producing these kind of videos and thought doing the Steele video would be a good example for him to show to prospective employers, so he told Steele he would follow through and produce his commitment video even though he was committing to USC at the time. Zach flew himself and his videographer from Florida to Los Angeles, absorbing the upfront costs, to shoot the video. Zach then tried to sell the video to recoup his expenses. He was turned down by Rivals, 247, Bleacher Report (that I know of) and maybe more before connecting with Scott Schrader's website. Again, I was not an agent of any sort in this transaction and only know this much because of my friendship with Zach and what he's told me. As I understand it, he was paid barely enough to cover his and his videographer's travel costs and that was that. I don't personally understand where this notion of the Steele family getting money originates or why Swanson thinks there was any money even available beyond an agreement between a website and a video producer. It's not like there was some big-pocket sponsor throwing cash at the project that could even be nefariously redirected. Scott Schrader paid out of his business account money to a videographer for the opportunity to publish content on his website, the same as if he paid a reporter to write a story about a subject and ran it on his site. But ultimately, I don't really know Schrader and can't speak to his operation. I'm just applying logic here.

What I can speak to is my thorough befuddlement as to how I'm at all connected to this -- whatever this even is. I've never before had my integrity impugned, and it greatly concerns me that as I try to establish myself in a new market and have good relationships with the university and people I cover that somebody is misrepresenting my character for their own use.

So, to leave no ambiguity ...

• I had nothing to do with this Chris Steele commitment video beyond simply knowing of its existence as it was produced by a friend and former co-worker. Recruiting wasn't my world at the time, nor have I ever had interest in producing videos.
• I had never spoken to, communicated with or met Chris Steele or any member of his family until mid-to-late September when I went out to St. John Bosco HS to interview him for a story. I still have never met nor spoken to Steele's father, and I met his mother only in passing two weeks ago while again at Bosco reporting a story.
• At the time this video was produced, I also had no idea who Scott Schrader was and I still have probably only spoken six words to Scott in my life, limited to exchanging passing greetings.
• Furthermore, while all this was happening -- the completion of the video and the shopping of it to websites -- I was on vacation in Key West having no idea as to my professional future. I had just interviewed with the Baton Rouge Advocate and was optimistically anticipating I was going to be working there. I had not yet received the offer to take over TrojanSports.com and cover USC (which was in the end an ideal outcome) so I couldn't have had less interest at that moment where Chris Steele or any other recruit chose to go to school. I was also temporarily unemployed and cash-strapped, so I certainly wouldn't have been looking to give anyone money for anything. Again, logic has been overlooked at every turn here.

That's all beyond the point, though. I have proudly carried myself with professional and personal integrity at every step of my career, and it makes me so furious that anyone would seek to undermine my reputation for their own purposes.

My main concern, though, is my relationship with everybody at USC, as I plan to be here for a long time and would like to have a positive working relationship with the people I cover -- as I have at every other stop of my career without exception.

I am happy to discuss this matter at length with anybody who has any further questions. In fact, I would request that if there are any lingering questions as to this illogical report that I have the opportunity to address them head-on.

It was my assumption that this was a non-issue, put to rest back in August. I had zero awareness this matter was still lingering and that it would be maliciously and erroneously put out for public consumption this week. I would have happily had this same conversation two and a half months ago if I knew it was needed. I've never been "involved" in anything more ridiculous.
​