If It's Friday, It's Time For A USC Notes Column
Sometime last week, USC and tight end Jack Yary split up.
Although USC had six tight ends, the coaches actually thought Yary was unique among the group because of his speed. I would argue Josh Falo also has good speed for a tight end but Graham Harrell ignored him last season.
That said, Yary did offer athleticism and there was hope USC would rediscover the tight end position with someone like him.
Instead, Washington has been in contact with Yary. He could up there or might take a year off, especially with no guarantee of an actual season.
Without Yary, USC brings in just 12 players for its Class of 2020 recruiting class. The worst class of the recruiting-rankings era will drop further now without Yary.
Yary's departure does free up a scholarship for one of the 2021 recruits who wants to enroll early.
- Lots of fond memories of former USC offensive line coach Pat Ruel, who retired after following Pete Carroll to Seattle in 2010.
Ruel was beloved at USC even by non-football athletes, who would come speak to him at Heritage Hall. He was unique, in a way, because he was an assistant coach not obsessed with his career track and didn't display a huge ego. He didn't have a litany of excuses if something went wrong.
His gruff voice carried through Heritage Hall so it was impossible to ever have a conversation that half the building could not hear.
- I've tried to jar my memory for a couple Ruel moments. He famously kicked a bunch of agents out of the Heritage Hall lobby, who were so prevalent during Reggie Bush's junior year.
He then got mad at agents again in 2008.
"These agents told Fred Matua he was going on the first day and Winston Justice he was going in the first round," Ruel said. "They lie.”
And then some people working in the athletic dept. claimed Ruel even told off then-athletic director Mike Garrett one day in the football offices and told him something along the lines that he didn't know what he was doing.
Those were the days!
- How about five-star quarterback Sam Huard, who is committed to Washington? Huard said this week he will play for his high school in March and not enroll early.
I wish more recruits would do that instead of thinking they need to be in college for the spring semester.
- And now for some history:
- Given what we now know regarding Dean Cromwell, why hasn't USC removed his name from the track yet? It took one day to remove Rufus von KleinSmid's name off VKC.
- This cover for the program of the 1958 USC-Stanford game really stands out, especially with its likeness of a Trojans' player.
- What makes the 1939 USC-UCLA game ticket below special is that Disney gave permission to use Mickey Mouse on it and as a Trojan no less.
