There certainly were a lot of reasons for failure-an 8-6 record in 2015, 4 head coaches in 3 years, a dearth of talent in Southern California- particularly in areas where they need it. And yet at the end USC was #11 in Rivals national ranking (2nd to UCLA in the conference), but #8 in Scouts ranking (1st in conference), and #11 in ESPNs ranking (1st in conference). And this was with 20 recruits.
Of course getting talent is one thing but its where they fit that was another. USC lost 5 defensive linemen, 2 linebackers,. a Punter and 3 running backs (2 FB plus Tre Madden) in 2016. Next year Juju and Adoree are likely early entrants to the draft. So they blue shirted 5 players last year (Transfers- TEs Taylor McNamara and Daniel Imatorbhebhe- brother to Josh, OL-Clayton Johnson, WR-Deontay Burnett, and Punter Chris Tilbey. And added 4 defensive linemen including a JC transfer, a power runner, 7 athlete/WRs, 2 safeties, a TE, 2 Tight Ends, 1 linebacker, 1 dual threat QB, and 2 offensive linemen to the mix. Many of their needs were patched.
USC went out of state more than usual, and somewhat scary to us, and netted 9 recruits (Fla-2, Geo-2, Az-1, Hawaii-2, Ala-1, Pa-1). Instead of being flipped on the last day they flipped 2 in getting #3 safety Jamal Cook, and RB Malapeai (away from Oregon). That last one was particularly satisfying as payback for the DAT (D'Anthony Thomas) situation.
ESPN gives USC an A- grade, along with UCLA and Stanford. And that seems about right to me. Probably an A to USC, since they had but 20 bullets (scholarships) to fire, The teams who whiffed in the PAC12 were most prominently Oregon and Oregon State who each dropped 6 slots on NSD. USC gained 5 slots and UCLA 4 slots. A good start for USC , now time to coach them up.
Of course getting talent is one thing but its where they fit that was another. USC lost 5 defensive linemen, 2 linebackers,. a Punter and 3 running backs (2 FB plus Tre Madden) in 2016. Next year Juju and Adoree are likely early entrants to the draft. So they blue shirted 5 players last year (Transfers- TEs Taylor McNamara and Daniel Imatorbhebhe- brother to Josh, OL-Clayton Johnson, WR-Deontay Burnett, and Punter Chris Tilbey. And added 4 defensive linemen including a JC transfer, a power runner, 7 athlete/WRs, 2 safeties, a TE, 2 Tight Ends, 1 linebacker, 1 dual threat QB, and 2 offensive linemen to the mix. Many of their needs were patched.
USC went out of state more than usual, and somewhat scary to us, and netted 9 recruits (Fla-2, Geo-2, Az-1, Hawaii-2, Ala-1, Pa-1). Instead of being flipped on the last day they flipped 2 in getting #3 safety Jamal Cook, and RB Malapeai (away from Oregon). That last one was particularly satisfying as payback for the DAT (D'Anthony Thomas) situation.
ESPN gives USC an A- grade, along with UCLA and Stanford. And that seems about right to me. Probably an A to USC, since they had but 20 bullets (scholarships) to fire, The teams who whiffed in the PAC12 were most prominently Oregon and Oregon State who each dropped 6 slots on NSD. USC gained 5 slots and UCLA 4 slots. A good start for USC , now time to coach them up.
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