USC | Commitment to excellence

All great sports teams tend to have similar visions and mission statements. They work hard on these beliefs because they will impact how the team behaves and how they take on adversity as well as success. Al Davis who owned and managed the Oakland Raiders understood this. He bleed openly about his beliefs and took on the establishment within the NFL to support his beliefs and they were followed throughout the organization without exception. His primary focus was “Commitment to Excellence” which lead to “Just Win Baby”.

Simple phrases but highly effective. The 2019 Trojans are facing a season that will test the staff to the players and ultimately the administration. The media and fan base are all looking for indication that anything has changed. When you are winning you have the best opportunity to tweak and change. When you come off of a 5-7 season you are in the last year of your contract regardless of the term remaining for an elite program. USC may not be in the top 25 today but from a program perspective they do have the legacy to be reckoned with at all times and have earned that respect.

Respect by itself is useless when your program is not committed. A Commitment to Excellence is underway under Coach Helton. However, in the most obvious of moves he once again disappoints. The NCAA allows for 25 Fall Practices. There are restrictions on Pads and Two A Days but its all there to follow. To date, all we have heard that is scheduled is a 19 game practice plan. Six critical days are lost. Losing time with your team is never acceptable to a coach coming off a 5-7 season. Where is the AD, Lynn Swan? Why isn’t he visible to the media and exercising his strong support and continued involvement to a commitment to excellence? The entire program seems siloed between the AD and Clay Helton and staff. This is unacceptable. They should be united and visible. All the hype videos in the world are cool and help motivate but when to preach Mastery and you talk about physical play and accountability well what is the reason you are not fully utilizing the 25 allotted practices? If we missed something I will stand corrected but Im not seeing it.

Fight On