Fired Assistants Find Their Feet and More USC Football News

Despite being fired from their positions with USC football, Chris Wilson and Justin Wilcox landed on their feet in desirable new spots.

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… The sports world likes to talk about Lane Kiffin failing up, but former USC defensive line coach Chris Wilson got quite the promotion Wednesday when he was hired as an assistant for the Eagles.

Wilson had signed on to coach defensive line at Missouri before he was tapped by Philadelphia for the same job. That’s not a bad turn of fate considering he was fired from USC’s staff after a less than stellar tenure.

Of course, Wilson was not the only fired Trojan assistant to land on his feet this offseason.

Defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox appears set to fill the vacancy left by Dave Aranda at Wisconsin. Though it is not quite a step up for Wilcox, he does inherit one of the top defenses in the nation.

Ex-defensive backs coach Keith Heyward is also settled in at Louisville. Interestingly enough, that position opened up because the Cardinals’ secondary coach Terrell Buckley left to join Peter Sirmon’s defensive staff at Mississippi State.

You’ll recall, Sirmon was the only defensive coach who was retained by Clay Helton after the Pac-12 title game, but he left voluntarily to become the defensive coordinator for Dan Mullen’s Bulldogs.

That means that only two coaches from the 2015 coaching staff at USC are currently out of a job. Head coach Steve Sarkisian and offensive line coach Bob Connelly.

Earlier this month it was reported that Sarkisian put out feelers expressing an interest in returning to the NFL, but nothing has come of that report.

As for Connelly, his Twitter avatar has been blacked out since his firing and there has been no chatter about potential landing spots.

And Ten USC Football and Basketball News Links…

1. USCFootball.com: Dan Weber makes the case for the new Trojan coaching staff, saying they have a chance to hang with Alabama.
2. Bleacher Report: In a recruiting “Where Are They Now?” Brian Leigh looks at where the No. 1 recruits of the last decade have ended up. Included are Matt Barkley and Joe McKnight.
3. Athlon Sports: Su’a Cravens is among the ten toughest players to replace for 2016.
4. Sports Illustrated: One of the 50 Facts, Notes and Things to Know Bout This Recruiting Class from Chris Johnson is that the state of California’s receiver class is deep and talented — including Tyler Vaughns and Michael Pittman
   • Sports Illustrated: Part Two of that feature features the story of how Baylor commit Kameron Martin was unhappy about Tommie Robinson leaving Texas for USC, the unconventional road for Wole Betiku and a look at Josh Imatorbhebhe ridiculous hops..
5. Fox Sports: The CIF Southern Section is a hotbed for high school football talent and USC is getting their share of the spoils this year.
6. Reign of Troy: USC’s 2016 recruiting class has room to rise in the national rankings. The Trojans’ highest ranking is 17th.
7. Reign of Troy: Quinn Nordin, the nation’s top-rated kicker, de-committed from Penn State last night and announced a visit to USC this weekend.
8. Reign of Troy: Evan Hinson, a 3-star tight end and defensive end, committed to South Carolina over USC on Wednesday.
9. ESPN: Johnny Curren checked in with a pair of 2017 recruits, Greg Johnson and Joseph Lewis, as well as 2018 prospect Jalen Hall at the B2G Battlefield to gauge their interest in USC.
10. RipsIt Blog: Zach Banner explains how his decision to come back to USC was selfish and based on the past, future and the present.

Stat of the Day:

USC blocked more kicks in John Baxter’s first season on the job in 2010 than they have in two seasons without him.

Tweets of the Day: