The Timing Of Leadership Change

There is an old saying that change is a good thing or that change will ruin a good thing. But change that is overdue is a challenge for the Leadership to manage expectations. USC fired it's coach in the first weeks of the new season. They knew at the end of 2018 that change was coming but they chose to "Hope" that this would all go away and no big checks would need to be requested of the administration and/or donors. A new AD and all will be well and you will all see that patience is a virtue. Until it isn't.

The real price that AD Mike Bohn paid with his lack of decisive management knowing full well that the body of management style and capability with the former head coach was never going to rise above the mess he had created and fostered. Mike Bohn finally made that decision but chose to allow a season to start and then stop suddenly going in to the WSU weekend. Why? Why not do this before Spring of 2021 Camp and let a new beginning start at the beginning. Big mistake in my opinion. This has nothing to do with COVID. This is all about a deep divide on what needed to be done and now here we are.

We have a good interim coach who's hands are tied. Not unlike any interim head coach, Donet Williams, can only do so much with what he has. His resume lacks the experience to take the reins full time so baring a miracle he knows this is temporary. If a miracle was coming it took a slight detour on the way back from Washington and in to the Coliseum parking lot on Saturday for the meltdown USC had against the OSU Beavers. An inexcusable loss to a good team not a great team but it exposed how fragile they pysche is of the Trojans in general. They rose up against the Cougars when a new QB entered the fray due to Kedon's neck injury. Jaxson Dart rose to the occasion and he seized every moment of every play with the type of fierce competitive play that dragged all three areas of the team, Special Teams, Defense and Offense, with him as he willed the Trojans back from defeat and turned a lost cause in the first half to runaway win in the second half.

So you have to ask the question. Why didn't that happen against OSU? Why did the players seemingly stop trying once their teeth were being pressed back physically by the Beavers? Where was that fight? Their spirit was broken when they heard the news that their rising star Jackson Dart had "minor" surgery for a torn meniscus. What's minor about 4-5 weeks away from playing mean anyway? The interim coach is calling Dart day to day. Thats not true transparency thats trying to keep a disgruntled and angry mob from taking their tickets and shredding them again.

This program will rise again. The brand is the brand and every high school coach and player let alone the families in California and the nation know that to be a part of the Old USC of the past is a dream come true. The right coach will also be available. They always are and USC is a Top Tier name in College Football. That won't change. Nor will the fact that players who understand the value of the new found money in the NIL will understand the difference between small-medium and large markets when it comes time for their piece of the fortunes bestowed on them and their families.

All is not lost. Time will heal. The problems of the past are now fixable. Stay focused as a true fan and most I believe will. Don't over expect or assume as we all know better right now. This is all about Who's next not who's here now as hard as that is to swallow.

Fight On Forever!