How far do the dominoes fall?

[Bandwagonbo2]

His "coffers" haven't been full the entire time that he's been at USC!! As soon as the sanctions were announced, several key players left the team when they were allowed to transfer with no penalty. He salvaged most of that recruiting class and managed an 8-5 record in his first season.

In his 2nd season, he took what was left from his first season, signed a highly rated recruiting class and went 10-2 with a win over Oregon at Oregon!!

Last year, with the first of the schollie reductions and with only 15 scholarship players a team that lost several key players to injury went 7-6!! Definitely sucked, especially given the media driven expectations (that team never should have been a pre-season #1). Yeah, there were some embarrassing things that happened (tried to ban a reporter, underinflated footballs) and the season got away from them. It happens. Additionally, the issues last season weren't on the offensive side of the ball (Kiffin's expertise) they were on defense!!

So he has basically had one truly bad season in his 4 years as a college head coach and still won more games than he lost!!

This year, we have 67 scholarship players and are trying to replace a Heisman candidate qb and our starting running back (Silas Redd) has missed the first 2 games recovering from a knee injury!! The current starting RB is a converted linebacker and his backup is a true freshman who under normal circumstances would be redshirting this year.

I'm not saying that Kiffin is a great coach, I'm saying that when you look at the situations that he has stepped into as a head coach they are ones that no one else wanted. I'm not convinced that any coaches not named Saban, Belichick or Harbaugh could have done any better!! In short, I'm not sure he's had much opportunity to truly show what he can do as a coach!!

How'd 'Bama do under lighter sanctions? I seem to recall at least 1 or 2 losing seasons and a loss to an FCS school!!

If you read my earlier post I eluded to Bama and its 10 win seasons it put together every so often under Shula. Certainly not a household name in college coaching by any stretch, but he was what we could get and he made the best of it. Kiffin is the best USC could get? They were just getting ready to go into sanctions, Bama was coming out of one and heading into another, so its apples to oranges at this point and as I have stated before, you can keep the little bastard for all I care. He is not going to be a world beater even with a stable full of horses and with Oregon And Stanford making strides in top 10 contention, the road in the PAC will not be like it was when USC was running rough shod over everybody.

Whats funny is you are defending him even with the miscues of last year where he showed he has the ability to cut corners and the NCAA is just looking for a chance to get their hands on him again. They love him from his taunting days at Tennessee and they have not forgotten it you can rest assured. Bottom line is this, keep him or dont, it matters not. You want him, then you can have him, but dont whine later when he is gutting the program you love because you will be reminded that you stood up for him. The implosion is happening currently but is masked by the state of the program under sanctions. He is not a good coach in my opinion, but to each his own.

 

[trojanfan12]

If you read my earlier post I eluded to Bama and its 10 win seasons it put together every so often under Shula. Certainly not a household name in college coaching by any stretch, but he was what we could get and he made the best of it. Kiffin is the best USC could get? They were just getting ready to go into sanctions, Bama was coming out of one and heading into another, so its apples to oranges at this point and as I have stated before, you can keep the little bastard for all I care. He is not going to be a world beater even with a stable full of horses and with Oregon And Stanford making strides in top 10 contention, the road in the PAC will not be like it was when USC was running rough shod over everybody.

Whats funny is you are defending him even with the miscues of last year where he showed he has the ability to cut corners and the NCAA is just looking for a chance to get their hands on him again. They love him from his taunting days at Tennessee and they have not forgotten it you can rest assured. Bottom line is this, keep him or dont, it matters not. You want him, then you can have him, but dont whine later when he is gutting the program you love because you will be reminded that you stood up for him. The implosion is happening currently but is masked by the state of the program under sanctions. He is not a good coach in my opinion, but to each his own.

I don't know if he was the best we could get, but I do know that Mike Riley and Steve Sarkisian (both successful asst. coaches at USC), were offered the job before Kiffin and both turned it down. Considering that everyone and their brother knew that sanctions were coming, it may well be that he was the best we could get!!

He has cut no corners at USC and do you honestly think the NCAA cares about him taunting Florida while he was at Tennessee? The only ones who seem not to have forgotten that are SEC fans!!

Again, I'm not saying he's a great coach, just that he hasn't really had an opportunity to show whether he is or not!!

Pat Haden either believes that Kiffin can get the job done or he is just saying the right things until he feels that USC is in a better position to hire a better coach. Either way, no offense, but I'm going to trust Haden to do the right thing at the right time. That is why I don't worry too much about Kiffin one way or another!!

 

[WhiteMamba]

Yeah, let's look at his coaching record.

Raiders: The cryptkeeper had gone bat shit crazy by the time Kiffin was hired. They were horrible when he got their and they haven't done anything since either. Apparently, no one can coach the Raiders.

Tennessee: Since 2007, Tennessee has had 1 winning season and been to 1 bowl game. It was the year Kiffin was there.

USC: Under the worst sanctions since SMU (and much heavier than what 'Bama got), USC has gone 26-14 including a record of 10-2 in 2011.

Clearly, the man can't coach!!

Man I truly feel sorry for you that you still defend this guy.

Washington State has 1 or 2 guys that are NFL football players.

SC probably has 25.

Spin depth and whatever else you want. Kiffin is absolutely terrible.

 

[WhiteMamba]

Mabel and her biddys are as happy as pigs in slop today. The knitting crew tried to tell you long ago TF12.

Kiffin is a rotten apple.

 

[trojanfan12]

Man I truly feel sorry for you that you still defend this guy.

Washington State has 1 or 2 guys that are NFL football players.

SC probably has 25.

Spin depth and whatever else you want. Kiffin is absolutely terrible.

It's not so much about defending him as it is showing the facts!! The facts are that he is 26-14 as a head coach under sanctions that were supposed to cripple the program!!

Everyone wants to attack him, but no one brings any facts to dispute his record, they just state their opinion that he can't coach as if it is a fact!! You're predictable response will be "Fine, I hope he stays there forever so USC can stay down"!!

As far as "spinning" depth: what would happen to Oregon if 18 scholarship players were removed from your team?

The sanctions weren't handed down with the idea that USC would continue to rack up top 5 rankings, win PAC-12 titles and compete for NC's!! The sanctions were set up to do exactly what they are doing, make it very difficult for USC to compete!!

I guess I should consider it a compliment that everyone seems to think that we're supposed to continue the same level of play under the sanctions as we had before the sanctions!!

Again, not saying he's a great coach, but he also hasn't had the opportunity to show what he can do with no sanctions!! As far as what happens to him, as I've said before, I trust Pat Haden to do the right thing at the right time. If that means fire him during or after the season....fine!! If it means fire him after the sanctions or over.....again, fine!!

If it means give him a season or 2 after the sanctions to show that he can coach, I'm fine with that as well. My defense of Kiffin is more about trusting Pat Haden who is much closer to the program and a hell of a lot smarter than you or I!!

 

[WhiteMamba]

As far as "spinning" depth: what would happen to Oregon if 18 scholarship players were removed from your team? !

Oregon is far from USC.

We are talking about 1 of 3 best CFB programs ever.

in my eyes the GOAT

 

[trojanfight]

I would like to see the next USC coach kind of have a changing of the old guard as far as kind of offense ran. Probably not going to be popular with most SC fans but mobile qbs seem to be where it's at now. Not every single team no. I get it the tradition with USC is pro style pocket passer. It adds another dimension to the game. Ability to scramble, zone reads, options etc. doesn't have to be a complete change just another wrinkle to offense. Look at Terrell Pryor in Oakland. Offense itself not very good but his speed at qb makes a difference.

 

[trojanfan12]

Oregon is far from USC.

We are talking about 1 of 3 best CFB programs ever.

in my eyes the GOAT

'Bama is the GOAT, imo!! But I do appreciate the respect that you show our program and I know that, unlike many, your criticism of USC comes from respect for the program (and trying to rustle my jimmies a little) rather than just piling on!!

GOAT program or not, the sanctions were intended to make it difficult for us to compete and that is what they are doing!! Could another coach have done a better job than Kiffin has done? Maybe!! But they'd likely have to be named Saban, Belichick or Harbaugh and last I checked, none of those guys are available!!

Bottom line, we continue to show up, compete and hope for the best until the sanctions are over!! One thing I think we all agree on re: Kiffin is that the guy can flat out recruit. So, if he does get fired, at least the next coach won't be walking in to a program devoid of talent!!

One thing I do find rather interesting is that when the sanctions were handed down, everyone said that this would cripple the program for 7-10 years. Most were predicting 5-7 type seasons. Then, when we finally have a bad season (but still have a winning record), everyone acts like it wasn't supposed to happen and we were supposed to just keep rolling along at our usual level!! Like I said, I should probably view that as a compliment!!

End of the day, USC has seen rough times before (without sanctions) and returned to prominence. We will do so again. The only question is how soon and will Kiffin be the one who does it?