WEBVTT - Trojan Man-Ryan Abraham 0:00:00.880 --> 0:00:05.440 Boom. If you thought four hours a day, minutes a 0:00:05.440 --> 0:00:09.120 week was enough, I think again. He's the last remnants 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:12.400 of the old republic, a sole fashion of fairness. He 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:15.440 treats crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:20.160 rich pill poppers in the penthouse, to clearinghouse of hot takes, 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:24.040 break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:30.680 Maller starts right now in the air everywhere, back at 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:35.199 it on a Friday, a new week's upon us of 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:38.320 the fifth Hour. Now the weekend begins. When the Fifth 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:41.159 Hour drops in. You're locked in right now here we 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:44.640 are on a Friday, big college football weekend. What are 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:48.199 we at week four now of the college football weekend? 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:52.680 There week ahead of the NFL in this podcast doing 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:55.400 very well. We thank you for that, as we are 0:00:55.480 --> 0:01:00.440 here every single Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Only available in 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:04.720 the domain the ecosystem of the podcast. We can get 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:07.240 this wherever you get your podcast you found it, we 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:11.880 thank you. It's a wonderful thing. And remember sharing is caring. 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:15.160 So passed that on passed the podcast on to others 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:17.480 that may or may not be interested, as long as 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:20.240 they downloaded and listened. For I don't know a minute. 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:24.480 We're in good shape. Joined this weekend from west of 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:27.760 the four oh five man that dusted himself off and 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:33.120 came back in David gascon here from west of the 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:36.319 f and dusted myself off. I experimented a few days ago. 0:01:36.400 --> 0:01:39.160 I was thinking about you. I was. I had nothing 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:41.679 to do with your experiment. Keep your hands to yourself. 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:46.240 I was. I. I boiled some some shrimp with the 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:49.240 with the Chief, and I thought, uh, I would never 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:53.760 eat that. Yeah, Ben does not like seafood. So no, no, 0:01:54.000 --> 0:02:01.400 I should have been born in Iowa or in the Brass, Nebraska. Yeah, 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:04.960 that place that is not known for their their seafood. 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:09.680 Fine for me, but but no, and especially boiling any 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:13.000 any seafood I eat. If it's fried, I could go 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:16.360 with it. Yeah. See I bought I bought the shrimp raw, 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:19.880 and so you have to either fry it or boil it. 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:22.920 And so we decided to boil it and it turned 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:26.359 out pretty pretty decently. But pretty decently. That's not a 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:28.760 ringing door. Well, I'm not a huge seafood guy that 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:31.080 like the Chief is, but you know, trying to you know, 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:33.200 it's like a stubborn mule, like you so trying to 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:35.560 have them eat decently. And so I had some tuna 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:39.600 and had some some scallops and some some decent vegetables too. 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:41.920 So the chief ship. But the key is like do 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:46.640 a fruit smoothie, fill it with vegetables, but have so 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:48.320 much fruit in there it tastes like fruit and you 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:51.520 don't even realize you're eating the vegetable. It's like Jock 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:54.679 Mike was the pineapple smoothie. But you just you fill 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:57.840 it with a lot of greens. But if there's enough pineapple, 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:01.000 pineapple is so powerful and strong, you won't really taste 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:03.920 the vegetable. Yeah, I think the I think the perfect 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:05.720 combination is no matter if you have a lot of 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:08.440 fruit or a lot of vegetables. You gotta have peanut butter. Man, 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:13.280 gotta do peanut butter. Peanut butter, everything good. Jelly. Do 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:15.520 you have peanut butter and jelly mixed? I've never had 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:18.920 jelly in a shake? No? What what if it's great 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:20.680 on a sandwich, why would it not be good in 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:22.239 a shake. You can mix the peanut butter and the 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:24.720 jelly with the other stuff. Because bread is key, man, 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:27.200 you gotta have like good sour dough bread or like 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:30.959 an English muffin maybe even I don't know, I'm big 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:34.960 on that. So, uh, you mentioned college football. I don't know, 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:38.480 should we be paying attention more to the PAC twelve 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:41.000 or to the fucking Mountain West Conference because it seems 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:46.360 like the Mountain last none of the above. Tough weekend 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:50.120 last week for the PAC twelve, Gross took it on 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:54.400 the chin there and where would where would Fresno State 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:56.840 and b y U be they were in the pack 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:01.200 right behind Oregon, right, yeah, they'd be right right there. Well, 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:04.080 speaking of that, and now, we don't spend too much 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:06.720 time obsessing with college football. As we point out on 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:10.640 the Overnight Show that the way the setup is, we're 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:14.880 mostly an NFL show that we're on when Monday Night 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:17.360 Football has played Sunday Night Football. We come on after 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:20.240 the games on Sunday Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Tuesday, 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:24.039 and so lost in the shuffle is college football. So 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:26.320 we try to, you know, bring it back, bring it 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:29.800 back now here on the podcast the fifth Hour and 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:34.640 the Pack twelve a tough weekend and that's just U 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:38.680 C l A. And they're there Struggles and Arizona State, 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:42.120 but also USC as an entire football program with all 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:46.520 the changes that are coming to your change is for USC, 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:50.559 and we welcome in here on the fifth hour. Ryan 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:54.040 Abraham is the gentleman's name is about to join us here, 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:58.240 and he is the owner and publisher of USC football 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:01.600 dot com. But he covers the entire hire Pack twelve 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:04.880 and a little birdie says he has a Heisman vote, 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:08.200 so he gets to help decide the Heisman Trophy, which 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:11.280 is the second greatest honor in sports, behind the John R. 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:15.040 Wooden Award, which I vote for. Right behind that is 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:18.919 the Heisman Trophy. And so we'll talk some Pack twelve football, 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:25.039 but also the entire the entire landscape of college football 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:28.080 as a whole, because there's a lot of moving and 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:32.080 shaking going on in college football. But right now, let's 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:35.000 welcome in Ryan Abraham, who joins us here on the 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:37.800 fifth Hour with Ben Mallard. And so, Ryan, why don't 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:41.080 we start with this? Why did USC bring Clay Hilton 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:44.960 back if they were planning on firing him after his 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:48.400 first loss? What was the point? Hey, that's a good question. 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:51.440 I think it's been talked around about a lot around USC, 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:54.240 and I think the way things when when Mike Bone 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:56.480 did come in a couple of years ago. Everyone has 0:05:56.520 --> 0:05:59.280 assumed he would come in and clean house and fire 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:01.600 Clay Hilton, but it we all found out later that 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:04.880 Clayouton had this crazy deal, uh, you know, a contract 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:07.000 that was fully guaranteed for five years and it was 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:09.800 just going to be financially almost impossible for them to 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:12.960 get rid of them. And then happens since the pandemic year, 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:15.800 they go undefeated in the regular season. I think what 0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:19.000 the administration did was, Okay, we're gonna fix everything around 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:21.760 Clay Helton, put all the resources in place that he 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:24.920 would need to succeed, and if they don't succeed, uh, 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:26.880 come in the season. I feel there was a series 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:29.520 of checkpoints they needed to meet and then Clay Helton 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:31.720 could continue as head coach. So I think he was 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:34.120 sort of on thin ice the entire season. But going 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:35.880 out and losing to a Stanford team that just got 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:38.960 clabbored by Kansas State, I think that was the final nail, 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:42.360 as you could say, and they decided to move on well. 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:45.720 Paying attention to to Clay and following him the last 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:48.360 couple of years, he always talked a good game. He 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:51.840 sounded like you would want the coach to sound the 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:54.640 words he said. I always thought, you know, he sounded 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:57.920 like the you know, the SEC fans wanted. He said 0:06:57.960 --> 0:07:01.000 the things that you expected to say. But why was 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:03.599 team so mediocre? And he talked to talk, He talked 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:05.240 that he couldn't walk the walk. Why was it? Was 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:08.560 it recruiting? Was it his coaching? What was the issue here? 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:10.920 I think there's a lot of factors, but one it 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:13.080 was he felt like when he came in, it was 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:15.400 someone that was when he was hired Penn, he was 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:17.800 a guy that was happy to be there. He they 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:20.480 you know, they promoted him from the interim head coach. 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:23.880 He wasn't been a very successful, you know, quarterback coach 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:26.880 or even offensive coordinator. It's not like you hire Lincoln Riley, 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:29.520 who was like the best offensive cordinator in the country. 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:32.880 Clayton wasn't really wasn't any of those things. But they 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:34.680 needed an adult in the room at the time because 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:37.440 they've made so many bad hires prior to that, with 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:40.440 Liane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian. So he sort of was 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:42.920 able to settle everything down. But at the end of 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:45.680 the day, you need an alpha, You need someone that's 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:49.000 like a Nick Saban or Davas Sweeney to be your 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:52.480 head coach, and Clayton really just wasn't that. So he 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:55.120 wasn't making the tough choices. He wouldn't bench veterans that 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:58.600 weren't playing well, he wasn't going out and hiring great 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:00.800 assistant coaches. He was just kind of hiring people that 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:04.360 are familiar. And I feel like that was his eventual downfall. 0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:06.080 You need to go out there and really kind of 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:07.960 pushed the envelope, and he just wasn't a guy that 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:11.680 was doing that. So now there's Dante Williams. I know 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:16.120 last weekend USC beat up Washington Stay for whatever that's worth. 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:19.880 But we've seen in the past US with some of 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:22.880 these interim coaches, you start falling in love with the 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:27.600 temporary coach. Now I I've I've read that he's not 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:30.200 a candidate for the full time job. But if SC 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:34.000 starts really beating people up here, could that change here? 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:36.880 Does he actually have Dante Williams an outside shot of 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:41.400 being the permanent SC coach going forward? I think would 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:43.240 have to be an outside shot. And that's one of 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:45.559 those things then where you look at what did USC 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:47.480 screw up in the past, and just the way they 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:50.160 handled their interim head coaches. The fact that they had 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:53.120 that many, Like you've had multiple interim heed coaches over 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:55.360 the last decade, that kind of tells you there's some 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:58.360 problems with the USC leadership. But this is they definitely 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:01.440 a new administration. They bring in my Bone, who's actually 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:03.680 been an athletic director before. He's not just a former 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:06.720 football player. That's what USC has kind of continued to hire. 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:09.280 So I think he's someone that realizes, like, look, this 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:12.079 is something that's happened before. Maybe the USC fans sort 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:14.360 of expect that he may if he makes some kind 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:16.520 of crazy run and gets into the playoffs, then I 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:18.440 think that someone you know, you would have to consider. 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:21.520 But outside of that, I think USC realizes they need 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:23.280 to bring in a big name. They've screwed up so 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:25.319 many of the highers in the past. They got to 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:27.640 go through their process and interview the best candidates and 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:30.000 figure out who's going to lead this program. Because it's 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:31.959 a it's a sleeping giant, but I mean it's something 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:35.040 I mean, if the recruits are here, there's no you know, 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:37.400 you're like the Alabama of the West Coast without an 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:40.160 l s U, without a Georgia, without a Florida all 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:42.520 around you. So if you just get the right guy, 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:44.640 they feel like they can win a whole bunch of games. 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:47.440 So that's just what they have to do. So I know, right. 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:51.440 I love the wild names as a bloviating gas bag overnight. 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:54.360 I love the crazy stories that pop up when a 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:58.080 high profile job like SC opens up, which the USC 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:00.920 job opens up every few years. But Reggie Bush, of 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:02.960 all people, I'm sure you you talked about this if 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:06.240 I wrote about it, Reggie Bush tossing out Dion Sanders 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:10.599 name last week, knowing you know, knowing what I know 0:10:10.720 --> 0:10:14.000 about USC, I think there's no chance of that happening. 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:17.240 But would they even talk to Dion Sands? Would he 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:20.040 even be interested? He's not a West Coast guy. Would 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:22.679 he even be interested in that? Yeah, that's I think. 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:24.920 Gus Johnson actually mentioned it during one of the NFL 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:26.959 games as well. Maybe he caught up from Reggie. But 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:29.240 there's gonna be a lot of names, And like you said, 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:31.120 when that when that kind of job opens up, if 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:34.640 Texas opens up Alabama, like, there's gonna be a lot 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:36.480 of names, a lot of agents, are gonna get their 0:10:36.559 --> 0:10:39.920 clients raises because of the US job. I don't think 0:10:39.960 --> 0:10:42.480 someone like that would be considered just because he doesn't 0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:44.720 you know, he's only been a coaching for a year 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:46.520 or so. He has not even been uh you know, 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:49.000 not only someone that's been a head coach or or 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:50.880 they've been an assistant coach for a long time. So 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:53.199 I think they have to get someone that's been a 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:55.720 proven winner. And if you're gonna be a coordinator somewhere, 0:10:56.120 --> 0:10:57.520 you've got to be one of the best around, not 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:00.160 just a you're a coordinator and it's like a it's 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:02.520 like the enemy. Would make more sense who's had a 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:05.040 lot of success as a coordinator. And then, you know, 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:07.120 looking at NFL head coaches are I don't think he 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:08.920 would be a good fit, but a much better fit 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:12.160 than someone like Dean Sanders. Yeah. Ryan, on that note, 0:11:12.200 --> 0:11:14.520 depending on who you hire as a head coach, do 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:17.400 you think the first order of business is to get 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:21.160 a new officer coordinator. I don't know how you feel 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:22.959 about this. I don't know how Ben feels about this, 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:27.520 but it's really frustrating to see a team that was 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:31.040 known for student body lef student body right to run 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:34.720 pistol from first and goal at the one yard line. Yeah, 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:38.640 it's awful, just the sense that you get where you 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:41.640 have no balance in your scheme. I mean back in 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:43.800 the day when you had Liner, you had Carson Palmer, 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:46.920 this was a traditional I formation type of team and 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:49.200 it was groomed to get these guys to the next level. 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:52.240 It's not the case anymore. Yeah, you're right. And I 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:54.560 think when you see like an air a type of offense, 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:56.480 it's usually for teams that don't have the kind of 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:58.679 talent that some of the others do and when you 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:01.079 do have it. But we've see these more like power 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:04.719 spreads being run by all the big programs, even like Alabama, 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:06.959 and you know what they run in Oklahoma is kind 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:09.240 of fun and they're still physical and could run the 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:11.800 football us. The scheme right now just doesn't. It doesn't 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:14.120 even look like an air rate. It just it seems 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:15.640 just more of like a little bit of this and 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:17.800 a little bit of that. Um I would you know, 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:19.960 I think when your place like USC, if they were 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:22.560 scoring a ton of points, I think the fans would 0:12:22.559 --> 0:12:24.600 embrace it a little bit more because even though they're 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:26.760 not running like the student body left right stuff. But 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:29.080 they're not even doing that. You know, they scored points 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:31.800 against Washington State, but you know the prior to games, 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:35.079 I mean, twenty three offensive points against Sentasey State, Like 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:38.079 that's just not getting it done. So, I mean, it's 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.160 gonna depend on who the head coaches. It's an offensive 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:42.760 coach of defensive coach, whatever. But I would think that 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:45.520 someone like Graham harrold Is is coaching for his job 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:47.679 right now, He's gonna have to make some show that 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:50.400 this offense could really be effective if he's going to 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:53.360 be considered to be be retained. But usually a decision 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:54.880 like that, the head coach wants to kind of bring 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:57.160 in their own guy. So that would be what I 0:12:57.200 --> 0:12:59.199 would guess, but who, you know, who knows what? It 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:02.199 certainly depends on who they hire. What's the sentiment or 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:08.120 the feeling around the program. With regards to recruiting, it's 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:09.880 kind of mixed, you know, like they had a couple 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:13.280 of bad years. Um was like the worst recruiting class 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:15.679 we've seen, and a lot of it had to do 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:18.160 with the assistant coaches they had. There was you know, 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:21.200 part time recruiters are less and I think when Mike 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:23.400 Bone came in. He sort of encouraged Clay Helton to 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:26.120 make better hires around the program. And now you've got 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:29.000 guys like Dante Williams, who's the interimet coach's been the 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:31.839 packtroll recruiter of the year many times. They've brought in 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:34.200 a lot of guys that are good coaches on the field, 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:38.360 but also excellent recruiters. And for many years people thought, 0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:40.920 you can't, you know, USC recruits itself, you can't screw 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:43.000 that up. But they did. They screwed up a couple 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:44.400 of years, and now you're going to see some of 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:47.240 that on the roster. But I feel like now they've 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:48.960 kind of right at this ship. That's one thing USC 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:51.880 has consistently been able to do, even if the coach 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:53.880 has not been that great, they've been able to recruit. 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:56.880 So they had a couple of bad years, but they 0:13:56.920 --> 0:13:58.760 seem to have got that, you know, that's going better now. 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:01.000 And having got they as the interim head coach, I 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:03.599 think is a good bridge throughever the next guy is, 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:06.079 because he's going to keep that recruiting rolling throughout the 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:08.520 off season, you know, whenever they hire the next coach. 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:12.679 Yes see, it's interesting that the recruiting is there, but 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:16.599 the elevation and advancement of these guys is not. Like 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:18.800 that hasn't been the case in the National Football and 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:22.120 when it comes to the draft. So there's obviously a 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:25.960 huge disconnect between getting these guys in and getting these 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.200 guys elevated, not only in their play at the collegiate 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:32.720 level but then to the National Football League. Development has 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:35.000 been It's a huge part of college football because you 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:36.720 can bring in all the four and five star guys 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:38.800 you want, but you've got to develop them. And I 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:41.080 think if you look at USC's roster for the opening 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:43.560 day in the NFL, uh, they're not even a top 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:46.360 twenty as far as colleges go. But as far as 0:14:46.720 --> 0:14:48.680 you look at the recruiting classes, a bunch of them 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:51.680 have been in the top five, certainly in the top ten. 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:55.040 And where is the disconnect there? Where you're you're getting 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:57.960 these top classes every year or most every year, and 0:14:58.040 --> 0:15:00.160 you're not putting as many guys in the NFL out 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:02.760 And I think that's you know, coaching nuts development. Um, 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:04.960 it's not just about bringing in those guys, it's like 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:08.440 turning them into college stars. And you know, we've seen 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:11.160 like a Juju Smith Schuster who was high school star. 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:12.600 He was just a star as soon as he got 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:15.040 on on campus and he moves on to the NFL. 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:16.720 But you need to see more of the guys like 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:19.200 uh that are they're coming in It maybe is like 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:22.080 a lower level four star, high level pree star and 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:24.680 you turn them into a great pro that someone that's 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:27.040 a second round draft pick that you never expected. We 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:29.680 just haven't seen a lot of that from USC. I 0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:31.840 think that's where the biggest shortcomings are. So, I mean, 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:34.880 so then you've got to admit then that the recruiting 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:38.600 has been a mistake to fold because you lose Cavon Thibodeau, 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:41.520 you lose justin flow and then of course you look 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:45.640 at Bryce Young dj Le. Those guys are both not 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.080 in the mix. So you lose on both sides of 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:50.240 the football. I mean, you're you're trying to cater. It 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:52.520 seems like they're trying to cater to one side of 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:55.120 the rock as opposed to the other. But for all 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:58.880 intensive purposes, you're missing on both ends. Yeah, I think 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:00.800 this is one of the things that Carol did really 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:02.800 well when he came in. He kind of made a 0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:05.000 cool to stay on the West coast, and right now 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:08.800 it's not you're seeing. You know, Georgia's got a California quarterback, 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:13.480 Clemson as a California quarterback, Alabama, Ohio State, Like these 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:16.600 are all California quarterbacks that could USC have got them. 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:19.600 And I think now that those guys are leaving. Plus 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:23.040 like you mentioned, you know, Cavon Thibodeaux justin flow, like 0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:25.520 guys that from Oregon are coming down and taking some 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:28.080 of the top defensive players from the class. It's a 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:30.480 double lammy so US the classes are still ranked high, 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:34.120 but they're not getting those local five stars to instantly 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:37.120 commit to the USC like they always would in the past, 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:39.720 you know, like withou Dory Jackson be at USC now 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:42.400 or would he be an Oregon or Alabama or something. 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:46.120 I think that's with USC slipping on the field, they're 0:16:46.160 --> 0:16:47.640 not going to be able to keep some of those 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:49.720 top guys there. So that's why it's even more important 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:53.000 to bring in a big name, big time head coach 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:55.320 and make it cool to go to USC again, get 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:57.600 him excited. But I think it also helps the entire 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:00.800 Pack twelve keeping some of those California ta on on 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:03.520 the West coast because that's just not been lately. You 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:06.000 need to go to Ben Mallory's stomping grounds, going to 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:08.040 settle Back College and get some talent. Yes, yes, you 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:12.359 gotta get Juico guys. That's the key, Hungry, hungry players. 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:15.320 Like I watched the Fresno State. They don't have I 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:20.040 don't even have any five star recruiters Fresno. And you 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:21.920 know that's a school, you know, I know you don't 0:17:21.920 --> 0:17:24.360 want to model yourself after Fresno State, but they coach 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:27.000 guys up and there are guys that are pretty good 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:29.320 football players that were not highly recruited. But but Ryan, 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:31.959 I didn't want to want to revisit the coaching staff. 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:34.840 Correct me if I'm wrong. A couple of years ago, 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:37.879 Cliff Kingsbury was hired briefly as the it was a 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:40.600 big splashy higher as the offensive coordinator, and then he 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:43.640 left to go coach the Cardinals before even coaching at 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:48.240 s C. Would he have been Clay Hilton's replacement had 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:51.159 he not gotten the NFL job? Is that where that 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:54.200 was headed? You know, it seems like that would be 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:56.240 the way to go. And then they kind of hired 0:17:56.280 --> 0:17:59.000 like a light version of him and Graham Harrold. But 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:01.439 that was definitely a weird situation. He was on campus 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:04.240 like just over a month before the NFL hired him. 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:07.560 But for the NFL to hire a you know, fired 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:11.679 college coach who end up become an offensive coordinator in college, 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:14.159 it was pretty amazing. But he's done a you know, 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:15.960 he's done a decent job there. It just shows that 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:19.200 the kind of offenses they're they're moving towards in the NFL, 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:20.960 it's it's a lot more college style, and they were 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:22.960 really to roll the dice. But if he was still 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:25.080 at USC, I think he certainly would have been the 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:27.080 interimat coach if he was still around there, and then 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:31.359 a much better candidate since he's been a head coach before. Yeah, 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:34.199 and the name that continues to pop up even though 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:38.400 this guy's in the NFL, Urban Meyer in Jacksonville, they're 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:41.840 off to a miserable start. Now. I had heard, and 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:44.040 this is also something you can clarify if you've heard 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:46.480 differently than me, that that there were some feelers put 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:50.000 out to Urban by USC people few years ago and 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:53.960 he just wasn't interested in it. And is that A 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:57.160 Is that true? And be I would assume they're trying 0:18:57.160 --> 0:18:59.680 to get him now, right, is urban in play for 0:18:59.840 --> 0:19:02.760 the sc job? You know, because he's got a job 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:05.119 in the NFL. I don't think USC's taking it as 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:07.639 a serious candidate. I mean, there was definitely some concerns 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:10.280 when USC a couple of years ago, USC all the 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:13.879 scandal stuff going on Varsity Blues and everything puts. They 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:17.040 had scandals throughout the university, like in the medical fields 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:20.200 and stuff. Um. I think the president, Kerl Fault wasn't 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:22.760 a huge fan of bringing anyone that had the kind 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:26.119 of baggage that you know, urban Meyer apparently had. But 0:19:26.280 --> 0:19:28.119 for now, and he's still a fan favorite, Like the 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:30.680 fans really want urban Meyer. I think if you're gonna 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:33.159 hire anyone, he would kill it. He would just kill 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:35.480