I wake up each morning these days and make my standard 12 cup coffee reserve hoping to keep my limit in place at 3 USC Trojan mugs. So far so good. The other thing I have to do is pinch myself over the new vibe around the football program. It’s becoming more of the old Trojan law of attraction to Heritage Hall. What a difference a year can make. The vibe seems to have completely turned positive. Yes, there are many in the media who are cross eyed at what they are seeing as there is clearly something good going on within the USC gates in Los Angeles.
Every week we are hearing about more official visits to the school and from key recruits inside the state of California and outside. The hunting is still very active of course but we are seeing more of the volunteer visits starting to emerge with names that are on the Power 5 call list around the country. The skill set mix is strong and seeing more and more depth arriving for their visits. The vibe is improving and continues to get new news each and every week as we enter the dog days of summer.
A program that went 5-7 that is experiencing hyper mode in recruiting interest is amazing. A lot needs to happen during the 60-minute football games to prove this is not just hype and that this staff can take this new infusion of talent to the levels of the vibe around the program. We are not seeing the big media tents jumping on this bandwagon as USC has disappointed since 2009 on the early pre-season hype before. Let’s not forget that the budget for recruiting at USC is nowhere near Alabama’s or the SEC in general. This is some of the hardest work a football program endures and when the odds are stacked against them it’s about the people in the recruiting department that deserves a tip of the cap.
USC is hampered by being a member within the PAC-12 Conference. The conference has no experience in their Leadership Staff to compete against the Power 5 schools for the media as they have designed a private network that works against the very principal of the rest of the conferences. The money being flushed away is key to the lack of funding within the conference and directly impacts USC as their brand clearly drives attention and if 2019 lives up to the vibe and hype of the pre season the school needs to seriously look at the rationale for staying in this once proud conference.
Fight On
Comments