After the run of success USC has had in recent years with multiple national championships, Heisman Trophy winners and first-round picks in the NFL, one could conclude that their run is almost over, and that USC football tickets aren’t the draw they were a year ago. After all, what team could possibly replace the likes of Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, Winston Justice and Darnell Bing, just to name a few, all at once?
The answer, of course, is that USC can be that team, and there are two prominent reasons that the Trojans are beginning to look like the next long-term juggernaut of college football, a spot that has been occupied in recent years by Nebraska, Miami and Oklahoma, if you go a bit further back. A few of these reasons are laid out below.
Coaching
Who would’ve thought that Pete Carroll would do what he’s done since coming to USC in 2001? By many accounts, Carroll wasn’t the administration’s first choice. In fact, he wasn’t the second, third or fourth either. Carroll was a lightly-regarded NFL coach who had experienced limited success with the New York Jets and New England Patriots, and in four seasons he finished with...