Kiffin recruiting fallout

[chapelhillduck]

Am I the only one here that isn't worried about Lane? Sure he seems to be able to recruit the hell out of kids, but so did Petey?

The best USC can do is come close to what Petey did, and that is a huge longshot. Carroll consistently had among the best recruiting classes in the country, and look where USC finished last year.
We all seemed to be worried about Orgeron, etc...but these guys have all been at USC before.

Our program is in a much better place now in terms of the national spotlight than when Carroll put USC on top...

At worst Lane comes in and destroys the program, I would put better odds on this than the statement above

I say bring it on...it's good to have coaches you hate in conference

[pikestick]

I think certain aspects are being overblown, but I think there is reason to be concerned about some of the things.

The best years of USCs recruiting were with Orgeron there. He has been called the best recruiter in the nation by too many people for there to not be justification to it, and USCs classes were a bit better while he was there compared to afterwards. Yeah, Tennessee recruits itself pretty well, but they still did a great job recruiting there with Kiffin not having any ties to the area.

While the recruiting numbers were great for USC, it's certainly possible the Carroll wasn't the best judge of talent and made some of the same mistakes that recruiting analysts also make. Kiffin can be criticized for a lot of things, but he is a really good talent evaluator from everything I've read, which meshes really well with Orgeron's recruiting prowess.

Like I and others have said in other threads, the timing of Oregon's national recruiting expansion works out great - the success has been bigger and bigger over the last couple seasons and this class could finish strong in that respect. Recruiting California is getting pretty crowded - not just because of Lane and Orgeron back at USC of course, but Harbaugh turning Stanford back around, Neuheisel at UCLA, and Cal still pulling in very good classes.

Having said all that, I think Monte Kiffin is the key to USCs and Lane Kiffin's immediate success. If he can turn their undisciplined defense from this past season around, USC will be back to their old selves in no time. Oregon will be fine - but Oregon could be a whole lot better than fine by blowing out USC a second year in a row, this time in the Coliseum.

[gofightingducks]

It is not Lane I am worried about it is Ogeron, Lane's dad and Norm Chow if he comes on board. Ogeron and Chow can recruit. The 2 years that USC won the NC Chow was the OC and USC also had the best recruiting classes those 2 years, in large part due to Chow. Ogeron is one of the best recruiter's in the country and Monte is one of the best defensive minds in football.

[247DUCK]

I agree w Chapel. Plus it's going to be fun watching the Weasel go up against the Snake. Talk about fireworks

[hines]

chow's NAME recruits, chow himself...not so much.

[pikestick]

yeah, Chow and Monte Kiffin mostly recruit by their mystique... I don't think either of them do a whole lot of legwork for it

[gregspechtismyhero]

Ya, Chow would be huge for SC, i mean, look at what he's done with UCLA's offense Chow's glory days are over. He may be able to recruit, but he just lost his touch.

[wheaton4prez]

Did USC really have that much of a recruiting drop off after Ogeron left?

We'll see what happens. I could be wrong. Maybe Kiffin will do great at USC. However, I suspect that it's going to be a huge mess.

If you were a recruit interested in USC, wouldn't you ask whether or not Kiffin was going to stay there? Would you believe him if he said yes?

[MFRDuckFan]

As a parent of a recruit, I would definitely be hesitant. But as mentioned before, Kiffin is a great liar so we shall see!

[karlhungis]

The main concern I have with Kiffin is him swaying recruits that are still left on the board. He is going to have that "new kid in town" mystique this season and we already know that the guy has no class. Looks like most kids aren't buying it yet though.

[pikestick]

Did USC really have that much of a recruiting drop off after Ogeron left?

not really, it is still fantastic, but he is given a lot of credit for turning it into the juggernaut that it is. Their recruiting became what it is now after he became the official "recruiting coordinator" in 2001. If anything has fallen off in USC's recruiting you could maybe point to the evaluation - the stars are still there, but they're either not being developed as well as before Kiffin/Orgeron left there, or they have been recruiting kids who peaked a bit early. It's a problem that about 110 BCS programs would like to have, though

If you were a recruit interested in USC, wouldn't you ask whether or not Kiffin was going to stay there? Would you believe him if he said yes?

What he will do with this question is try to spin it into something showing his love of and loyalty towards USC no matter how true it is or is not.

[uodux1212]

No matter what any coach says to a recruit, no one can deny the very distinct possibility of sanctions being levied on the SC football program...

[GrandpaDuck]

Look at it this way. USC always got their 25 pieces of Gold and still will. That part of the USC vs Oregon recruiting relation stays the same. But in our National recruiting we were bumping head to head with Kiffin and staff on most of our prospects, now that should be much less. Kiffen having 25 total scholarships to work with is better than going against Pete with 25 plus Kiffen at UT with 25.

[uodux1212]

Look at it this way. USC always got their 25 pieces of Gold and still will. That part of the USC vs Oregon recruiting relation stays the same. But in our National recruiting we were bumping head to head with Kiffin and staff on most of our prospects, now that should be much less. Kiffen having 25 total scholarships to work with is better than going against Pete with 25 plus Kiffen at UT with 25.

Well GD, there you go with that "logic" and "reasoning" of yours....

[Howry]

USC is going to get there guys no matter who is there. They are USC.