Is New Trojan Staff an Upgrade and More USC Football, Basketball News

Is the new USC football staff under Clay Helton an upgrade over Steve Sarkisian’s staff?

Can’t get enough USC football and basketball news? We’ve got your morning dose of all the best content from around the web concerning the men of Troy.

1st & 10:

First Take… As America prepares itself for another long, drawn out political campaign process, the question asked by many a candidate when taking on an incumbent could be very useful as applied to the USC football coaching staff.

Are you better off today than you were last year?

Now that the promotion of Kenechi Udeze to defensive line coach appears imminent, all ten Trojan coaches appear to be in place. So here’s the questions each Trojan fan should ask themselves to come to grips with the new staff:

Are you better off with Clay Helton as head coach than Steve Sarkisian?

Is Tee Martin a better offensive coordinator than Clay Helton? Is Tyson Helton a better quarterbacks coach than his brother or Marques Tuiasosopo? Is Tommie Robinson a better running backs coach than Johnny Nansen? Is Neil Callaway a better offensive line coach than Bob Connelly?

Is John Baxter a better special teams coordinator than Nansen? Is Clancy Pendergast a better defensive coordinator than Justin Wilcox? Is Kenechi Udeze a better defensive line coach than Chris Wilson? Is Nansen a better linebackers coach than Peter Sirmon? Is Ronnie Bradford a better defensive backs coach than Keith Heyward?

The answers to each query might vary drastically. There are yesses and nos to be sure. But there are even more maybe, potentially and who the hell knows responses.

For USC, that uncertainty is what has the fanbase so divided on the Trojans’ future prospects.

Is USC better off with this coaching staff than the last one? Gut feelings may go either way, but only time will tell.

(My personal answer key: yes, potentially, yes, maybe, unequivocally yes, certainly, his scheme is, potentially, probably not, who knows.)

And Ten USC Football and Basketball News Links…

1. Reign of Troy: Former USC tight end Bryce Dixon was arrested for carjacking and is being held on $100,000 bail.
2. ESPN: Ted Miller ruminates on the state of the Pac-12, a conference with surface stability which is actually roiling under the surface.
3. ESPN: Su’a Cravens is No. 12 on the countdown of the postseason top 25 players in the Pac-12.
4. Bleacher Report: Bryan Fischer explores the ways USC and UCLA could be affected by the NFL’s return to Los Angeles. Namely, the money question.
5. Reign of Troy: Derrick Smith, a three-star wide receiver for 2017, committed to USC after receiving a scholarship offer from the Trojans but later deleted the tweet announcing his pledge and apparently recanted.
6. InRecruit: Rashan Gary will tweet his college decision between Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Michigan, Ohio State, USC and other on February 3rd on Twitter.
7. LA Times: Clay Helton and Kenechi Udeze visited coveted JUCO defensive lineman Jonathan Kongbo on Wednesday.
8. LA Times: USC is being rewarded for their patience with Andy Enfield, allowing him and players like Julian Jacobs to come good in year three, as detailed by Helene Elliott.
9. Daily News: Scott Wolf says that USC basketball’s success is helping USC football by taking the focus away from a lackluster end to the season.
10. Neon Tommy: Paolo Uggetti takes a statistical look at how USC basketball has improved this season by making three-point shooting a staple of their offense.

Stat of the Day:

USC basketball is on pace to take almost 150 more three-pointers than last year and are also on pace to make nearly 100 more.

Tweets of the Day: