If you want to know why Southern California is so good every year, let me take you back to an article written by ESPN's Chris Low from January 22, 2008, titled "Former Trojans happy to be reunited with Kiffin" (link to article). For those of you out of the loop, Coach Lane Kiffin, was the former USC offensive coordinator, before Al Davis (Oakland Raiders owner) hired him as the youngest coach (age 32) in the NFL. Kiffin reunited with nine of his former players (QB John David Booty, OT Sam Baker , tight end Fred Davis, defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis, defensive end Lawrence Jackson, offensive guard Drew Radovich, linebacker Keith Rivers, cornerback Terrell Thomas and running back Chauncey Washington ) at USC in the Senior Bowl as he and the rest of the Raiders staff coached the North team.
USC's Head Coach Pete Carroll has instilled a system of always competing and a philosophy of "winning forever". To which the article captured Carroll's methods quoting Booty as saying, "It goes back to recruiting, Coach Carroll does a fabulous job of getting guys in there and then teaching them a system. Guys really buy into it and believe in it and never waver from it. Everybody loves him, You watch TV, and everybody goes, 'I want to go play for that guy' with the way he carries himself. He's always like that. It's not a front. It's the way he is every day, and then you're in Los Angeles where everybody wants to live with Hollywood, the beach and everything. You have everything in the world around you, and there's no NFL team. You have the whole market, and we play for an historic institution. It's a win-win situation. As long as Coach Carroll is there, I don't see it changing."
And even when USC has a "rough" season going 11-2 last season, they finished with an appearance in the Rose Bowl routing Illinois 49-17 . The Trojans Tuesday practices are legendary in their level of intensity. And the Men of Troy never rebuild; they just reload, garnering top level recruits every year. It will be something to see tonight as both the Buckeyes and the Trojans have smothering defenses. Yet, without Beanie Wells, the Buckeyes won't have an answer to the explosive offense of the Trojans. (Photo courtesy of ESPN.com)
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