I wrote at length Tuesday about the quarterbacks' impressions of the new offense. Here's a story about what we learned from some of the other players:
https://usc.rivals.com/news/usc-players-taking-well-to-new-oc-graham-harrell-we-believe-in-him-
Also, for those who just want to scan the quotes, I broke them down below. But the story puts it all together well.
WR Michael Pittman
"I'd probably say how like simple it is. It's not complex. You just get in there and play fast."
"It's simple in like terms of scheme. It's kind of like he puts it up and he's like, 'Run this.' And it's not like particular splits, there's no particular depths. It's just 'Get open,' I guess."
"It really just helps guys play fast. So they're not really thinking about it. They're just getting in and they're going."
"From what Coach Graham says, it's not like it's a true Air Raid. Like he says, Mike Leach runs the Air Raid -- he runs a spin off of that. I mean it plays to our strengths in terms of our passing abilities, but it's just an offense, they're all plays. There's no like magic scheme, like no magic plays. You've just got to get in there and make them work."
"He just walked in there and I was like, 'Wow, this coach looks like he's my age.' That was pretty much it. He came in, he kind of had like a pump up speech, I liked what he was saying and that's pretty much it. He was just telling us that we're pretty much going to win all of our games, that we're better than every team that's on our schedule. That's no hit to other teams -- we just think we're better and I feel that's what every team should feel."
"The offseason [was] rough. It's been rough from people talking. We hear and see everything that's been said and we're just ready to prove everybody that's been saying bad stuff wrong."
WR Tyler Vaughns
"He's a real cool dude. He's kind of goofy. When I first met him, just talking to me, he made a couple jokes and everything like that. But he's a real chill dude."
"The way he carries himself, his confidence is really up there. It's not cocky or anything like that or ignorant. He's trying to put us at a higher level and he's holding us to a higher standard, so just him doing that is really just [making us want to] do better and not disappoint."
"It's quick. We've just got to keep going, keep going. It's a quick thought process -- get lined up and get ready to go."
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
"I would say much less words, much less terminology, much less plays and just way more simple. You know exactly what you have on each play -- there's not much thinking, just go."
"So last year there would probably be about seven words in a play. Now there's about three. So that's something that's much different."
"He wants to be the best, the best offense in FBS and he preaches that every day and he wants us to be great. I think Tyler's right when he said that."
"We believe in him. It's a much more simple scheme, like everyone's been saying. Much less terminology. So I think it allows us to play fast and not think much."
RB Stephen Carr
"The running backs have more routes coming out the backfield so that's something that I like to see."
"It's no doubt that we're going to run the ball, but I think we have more passing opportunities, opportunities to catch the ball out of the backfield. Like I said before, that's something I love to do."
LT Austin Jackson
"Graham's only been here for like a month and a half so obviously not the whole playbook is open, we don't have all our pieces moving yet."
"We're going to be moving around a lot more, running a lot more so that's pretty much the main thing."
"I think it suits us really well. I feel like from left to right we're all pretty athletic, actually pretty much everybody on the O-line. We all move pretty well so that should help us out."
"I thought he was real clear and concise. It seems like he has a plan for our offense. I believe in him, I trust him."
https://usc.rivals.com/news/usc-players-taking-well-to-new-oc-graham-harrell-we-believe-in-him-
Also, for those who just want to scan the quotes, I broke them down below. But the story puts it all together well.
WR Michael Pittman
"I'd probably say how like simple it is. It's not complex. You just get in there and play fast."
"It's simple in like terms of scheme. It's kind of like he puts it up and he's like, 'Run this.' And it's not like particular splits, there's no particular depths. It's just 'Get open,' I guess."
"It really just helps guys play fast. So they're not really thinking about it. They're just getting in and they're going."
"From what Coach Graham says, it's not like it's a true Air Raid. Like he says, Mike Leach runs the Air Raid -- he runs a spin off of that. I mean it plays to our strengths in terms of our passing abilities, but it's just an offense, they're all plays. There's no like magic scheme, like no magic plays. You've just got to get in there and make them work."
"He just walked in there and I was like, 'Wow, this coach looks like he's my age.' That was pretty much it. He came in, he kind of had like a pump up speech, I liked what he was saying and that's pretty much it. He was just telling us that we're pretty much going to win all of our games, that we're better than every team that's on our schedule. That's no hit to other teams -- we just think we're better and I feel that's what every team should feel."
"The offseason [was] rough. It's been rough from people talking. We hear and see everything that's been said and we're just ready to prove everybody that's been saying bad stuff wrong."
WR Tyler Vaughns
"He's a real cool dude. He's kind of goofy. When I first met him, just talking to me, he made a couple jokes and everything like that. But he's a real chill dude."
"The way he carries himself, his confidence is really up there. It's not cocky or anything like that or ignorant. He's trying to put us at a higher level and he's holding us to a higher standard, so just him doing that is really just [making us want to] do better and not disappoint."
"It's quick. We've just got to keep going, keep going. It's a quick thought process -- get lined up and get ready to go."
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
"I would say much less words, much less terminology, much less plays and just way more simple. You know exactly what you have on each play -- there's not much thinking, just go."
"So last year there would probably be about seven words in a play. Now there's about three. So that's something that's much different."
"He wants to be the best, the best offense in FBS and he preaches that every day and he wants us to be great. I think Tyler's right when he said that."
"We believe in him. It's a much more simple scheme, like everyone's been saying. Much less terminology. So I think it allows us to play fast and not think much."
RB Stephen Carr
"The running backs have more routes coming out the backfield so that's something that I like to see."
"It's no doubt that we're going to run the ball, but I think we have more passing opportunities, opportunities to catch the ball out of the backfield. Like I said before, that's something I love to do."
LT Austin Jackson
"Graham's only been here for like a month and a half so obviously not the whole playbook is open, we don't have all our pieces moving yet."
"We're going to be moving around a lot more, running a lot more so that's pretty much the main thing."
"I think it suits us really well. I feel like from left to right we're all pretty athletic, actually pretty much everybody on the O-line. We all move pretty well so that should help us out."
"I thought he was real clear and concise. It seems like he has a plan for our offense. I believe in him, I trust him."
