Finger-pointing leads nowhere for Trojans
The shock of last week’s embarrassing 34-point loss to Stanford has had a week to sink in.
The Trojan faithful want to forget about that game and move on to a new one. But I’m not talking about UCLA, the Trojans’ next opponent.
Hot seat · Trojan fans are not satisfied with playcaller Jeremy Bates (center), but finding one person to blame is not so easy in football. - Dieuwertje Kast | Daily Trojan
The Trojans’ biggest opponent right now is the blame game. Because people want answers.
With a week to rant and rave about every aspect that has gone wrong this season for the usually dominant USC football team, it has become ugly.
When a team that has been the standard of college football excellence for the entire decade starts falling apart, fans need a scapegoat. In the case of the Trojans, fans are taking shots at everybody, whether the complaints are justified or not.
Already, people are calling for first-year playcaller Jeremy Bates’ head. For all the complaining Trojan fans did about former offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian last season, they’d probably do anything to have him back now.
Bates isn’t creative, people whine. Bates is too NFL. Bates is too conservative.
Last time I checked, USC had given up a combined 102 points in its last two lopsided defeats. Unless I wasn’t notified, Bates didn’t switch to defensive coordinator those games.
Then it must be defensive coordinator Rocky Seto’s fault, right? He’s the one that ravenous fans can hang in effigy.
But isn’t he running the same schemes that USC has been running throughout its dominant decade? Aren’t they the same ones defense-first coach Pete Carroll engineered and has complete control over?
Seto shouldn’t be held accountable then. He’s not inventing new defensive schemes every week. He’s sticking to the book, doing the same things that got USC to the golden pedestal it was just dethroned from.
Bates is in the same boat. Even though he is in his first year with the Trojans, he’s still running the same offense that Sarkisian ran before him, and Lane Kiffin before that.
It must be the players then, right? The best guys must not be getting playing time. Yet the field is still packed with blue-chip recruits from all over the country and the top recruiting classes keep coming in year after year.
But still, fans want heads to roll.
Maybe it’s human nature. When things go wrong, it’s natural to want to know why.
But when it comes to football, arguably more than any other sport, there’s never a simple answer.
As much as people may want to point to one reason and say, “If we do x, then everything will be back to normal,” it just never works that way.
Plus, when the Trojans are losing games by more than three touchdowns, a different play call here or there wouldn’t have made the least bit of difference.
Football is the consummate team sport. From all levels of the coaching staff and the depth chart, everyone contributes. And everyone must be on the same page for football team to run smoothly.
We saw firsthand Saturday how easily that can change from week to week. Stanford looked like it could win the national title based on the way it came into the Coliseum and crushed USC last week.
One week later, it all came crashing down against Cal.
That is just the nature of the game. Stanford found out what USC has been accustomed to for some time now: It’s hard to keep all those elements together week in and week out.
But fans have a hard time understanding that. We’d rather start a website promoting the firing of our coach the second things go wrong than give him time to work out the kinks.
Maybe Carroll will fire some of his staff this offseason. Maybe some duties will be reassigned. Maybe he’ll take back more control.
Or maybe he’ll leave it all alone. The pieces are all there for the Trojans, they just need to come together. One new coach or one new player is not going to change that.
As much as fans may want to find the one cancer that is causing USC to become mortal again, they won’t. The Trojans are all in this together.
So if you’re going to point fingers at who’s really to blame for USC’s recent troubles, you’re going to need a lot more hands.
“Middle Ground” runs Mondays. To comment on this article, visit dailytrojan.com or email Josh
Finger pointing is natural when things go wrong but sucess starts at the top with coaches. In the case of business, the top means Managers. Because so many key coaches were stolen by Stark and many retained the same title and responsibilities when transferring to Washington, it probably came down to more money. If this were the case, USC football revenue brings in so much revenue with TV and Merchandising, there shouldn’t have been a problem with giving these guys significant raises. Hopefully SC tried to retained them with counter-offers. Secondly, players should share in the responsibilities. Given the right direction by the coaches, coaches can’t play the game for them. They can only guide them. Nonetheless, football is a complex game but given the four and five star talent, we should do better. With USC football, there is no such thing as a rebuilding year. The fans and alumni can’t wait. Because Pete gets the big bucks, now is the time he’s got to be creative. I support him because we haven’t had a run like this since McKay and Robinson. Fight on against UCLA.
Trojans be proud – If a team whoops ass somewhere, and then gets his ass whooped someplace else, it means the teams are getting better. Lets just hope the same way we whoop our pac-10 asses, we can whoop some SEC / big 12 butts. Then the BCS rankings will take us more seriously.
For now, lets campaign for a playoff system. All that is needed is enough money to sweeten the deal.
Trojan fans!! Let’s give thanks for all the PAC 10 championships, the National Championships, BCS Bowl games,
and Heisman winners. Thank you Coach Carroll for all those wonderful years! We support you and let’s FIGHT ON!! From a true TROJAN FAMILY!! GOOOOOOOOOO SC!
Nice. I’ve definitely heard way too much of, “If only we just _____ we would be going for triple championships again!” or some crap. Of course there are issues to work through, but I’m even slow to say we need to jump on things and do a whole lot of fixing.
I’m convinced that football programs just go through cycles; Oklahoma’s had a much harder fall from glory this year, and that’s probably due to Bradford being out a bunch, but our problems are similarly just something to work through. S*** happens. We have these first-year coordinators on either side of the ball, as well as a freshman quarterback whose only real issue is getting spooked and throwing interceptions. Nothin’ a little experience won’t help.
I’m willing to let things pull together next year. We’re in a growing time of the cycle, and the best thing to do would be to fight on, stick by our team, and see them back into the very upper echelons of college football.
…so, advice? Don’t empty the Coliseum out in the 4th quarter. Am I allowed to blame the fans more than anything the team has done?
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Real fans DO NOT LEAVE UNTIL THE END OF THE GAME! We are the 12th man – didn’t anybody teach you people anything? Stand by your team, win or lose. Fight on!