They’re all out there for the taking, a handful of elite recruits that will get USC to where it once was not so long ago.
On paper, anyway.
If we’ve learned anything since Pete Carroll left Southern California it is this: just because you land elite recruits doesn’t mean you can develop elite recruits. And more important: win championships.
“Our future,” says USC coach Steve Sarkisian, “is ridiculously bright.”
It was bright under Lane Kiffin, too. Heck, it was bright for two months while Ed Orgeron played caretaker.
But understand this: for USC to become USC again; for the Trojans to be the program that can stand toe-to-toe with the sport’s heavyweights and punish them again, it’s going to take more than just another star-studded recruiting class.
So when USC does what it has done for years now; when the Trojans close strong on National Signing Day and more than likely land four — that’s right four — five-star recruits (CB Iman Marshall, LB Porter Gustin (committed to USC on Tuesday), LB John Houston, DT Rasheem Green) and vault past Alabama for the No. 1 class in the nation, remember what it really means.
It means Sarkisian, an assistant under Carroll at USC, has to do what the guy before him couldn’t and take advantage of all that talent.
For the first time since Carroll left after the 2009 season amid looming NCAA sanctions, USC looks poised to be completely free of the collateral damage (see: depth, experience issues) from 30 scholarship losses over three years.
Kiffin landed elite recruiting classes, but it couldn’t translate to the field. Sarkisian landed a top 10 class before his first season — an impressive pull despite limited relationships with players USC was recruiting — and showed signs of the ability to develop that talent despite four losses.
Adoree Jackson already has developed into one of the most dynamic players in the game, and JuJu Smith will be the Pac-12’s best wideout in 2015. That 2014 class and this current class will be the foundation of what USC can be in the near future.
It’s one of the reasons star quarterback Cody Kessler stayed for his senior season.
“What we’re building here has the potential to be very unique,” Kessler said. “We have everyone together, everyone pulling for the same thing. It’s exciting. It’s time for us to bring this program back to where it should be.”
That means no late, gut-wrenching losses to Arizona State and Utah, games where USC clearly had the most talent on the field. It means no more confounding losses to Boston College, a team that had no business beating the Trojans.
And it means stopping a three-game losing streak to city rival UCLA. Losing to UCLA — once — was bad enough under Carroll.
But three straight games, with little doubt as to who the better team was, is as unnerving as it is unacceptable. If you think that’s galling, consider this for the program that, at one point last decade, was the most dominant of the BCS era.
The last time USC won a championship of any kind, the Pac-12 was still the Pac-10 (2008).
It has been 10 years since USC won a national title, and considering that championship was vacated because of NCAA violations, the Trojans are a 2003 AP national title away (LSU won the BCS title) from not winning it all since 1978.
“There’s no pressure to me,” Sarkisian said. “I chose to come to USC to win championships, and that’s the ultimate goal. Every time I come into the building, it’s what am I doing to win a championship?”
Something more than just a paper championship.