A campus guide for football recruits
Dear incoming football recruits,
Welcome! You are the latest edition of the annual gem of a recruiting class that USC coach Pete Carroll and his reshuffled rat pack of assistant coaches have reeled in to don the Cardinal and Gold in hopes of always competing and winning forever.
Last Wednesday, just a couple of months prior to your senior prom, you sat down, likely joined by your closest friends and family and signed your name on a piece of paper that was later faxed to the offices of Heritage Hall, signaling your commitment to the Trojans.
Soft verbals and silent commitments made during official recruiting visits suddenly morphed into binding agreements and contracts that you may learn more about if you have the sudden urge to take a law class during your time on campus. (Don Zachary’s Law of Mass Communication class earns my personal endorsement, and as the lawyer for TMZ.com, he might be able to assist you with those pesky paparazzi problems when you’re a future first-round pick.)
Enough about potential classes, though. That can wait until after you’ve figured out how to successfully balance 6 a.m. workouts, 8 a.m. classes, four-hour practices, study hall and Thursday nights on The Row — remember, the more people you know in frat houses, the easier it’ll be for you to get on the list, though a national championship probably won’t hurt your cause either.
When you arrive on campus, the first thing you’ll truly have to learn is patience. What can patience get you? Just ask former linebacker Clay Matthews. Coming in as a walk-on, Matthews sat on the sideline for the majority of three seasons before finally getting some action on special teams. For his fifth and final season, Matthews parlayed that opportunity to eventually earn a starting position for the majority of the fall.
After waiting for his turn, Matthews is now a potential first-round pick ready to be financially set for life after signing his first contract.
It’s no surprise that all of you will want to play early. Carroll has always said that freshmen will get their chance to show him what they can do and he’s been able to witness some younger players excel in their first season accordingly.
Most of you were high school All-Americans who, for the last few years, only spent time on the sideline after your team’s starters were pulled in the fourth quarter. But now comes the transition from BMOC to small fish in a big pond. Being a high school All-American at USC is like saying you’re a blonde in Tri-Delt — get in line.
But don’t be discouraged. Just because you don’t start in the national championship game as a freshman like linebacker Brian Cushing did against Texas doesn’t mean that you can’t end up like running back Stafon Johnson.
Johnson found himself in Carroll’s doghouse early in camp and lost his redshirt eligibility his freshman year for one play against Washington State. He was called for offensive pass interference and spent the majority of the rest of the season on the sidelines while many wondered if he would transfer.
What Johnson had to learn his freshman year was what it took to be a successful Division I football player. That meant working hard every single day and learning what it meant to compete on the practice field at every moment.
Johnson’s humbling experience allowed him to rediscover the motivation and drive that made him one of the country’s highest-rated tailbacks in his class. Since then, Johnson has been arguably the Trojans’ most productive running back, running for over 1400 yards and 14 touchdowns in two seasons.
The truth is, some of you won’t be ready for USC football when you first arrive. The demands and pressure that you will face are nothing like you’ve ever seen before. But in the end, it will all be worth it. Running out of the Coliseum tunnel for the first time in front of more than 90,000 fans will be a moment you never forget.
In your recruiting class, there were those who got away — linebackers Manti Te’o and Vontaze Burflict who committed to Notre Dame and Arizona State, respectively, come to mind. And there are those of you that will end up transferring — Broderick Green and Vidal Hazelton won’t be the last. But for those of you who stick through the rough times, the ups and downs, and the annual grind that is playing football for USC, there are very few comparable achievements and rewards earned on the field or off.
Once you put your signature on that piece of paper on signing day, it’s once a Trojan, always a Trojan.
