IronMan...serious question: What do you think about Kiffen as your head coach, especially under the watchful eye of the NCAA?
I still feel the same way about him as when they hired him. I think he is really unproven, hasn't really done much, but I believe he is the right choice simply because of the staff that he brought with him.
I was excited to have Coach O back in the fold, I'm a big fan of his since he was instrumental in getting the most out of those D-Lines that were anchors to our National Championship teams. Monte Kiffin is a great addition obviously. Willie Mack comes in with some high praise, so there is a lot to look forward to. Not to mention there are rumors of Kennedy Pola coming back as well (longshot).
I'm not worried about Kiffin getting in trouble with the NCAA, he has said it numerous times that he doesn't have to be loud and brash at USC because it is not necessary. He is no longer a small fish (UT) in a big pond (SEC). He knows he is the big fish in the Pac 10, no offense to UT, but there are different standards on this campus. The credentials at Heritage Hall speak for themselves, so there's no need for chest pounding if you catch my drift.
People say that Lane was subdued since we were under investigation, however once the sanctions were handed down he has continued to keep a low profile. It's the reason why I don't think the Chik Fil-A challenge was all show as Gunna says. I think he truly wants to play UT, to shut them the %+@% up, not with words but by dropping a whooping on the Volunteers.
I don't think you will see the same Lane that you saw at UT, will he be succesful? time will tell, but he certainly has the pieces to succeed. On top of that, unlike at UT he doesn't have any excuses. The roster isn't bare, and despite sanctions it will not be in the future (Sorry, USC haters
).
I always find this argument funny. If you look at USC last year and us last year even with our 1 tough out of conference game we still played 4 ranked teams not including texas to USC's 2. If you count texas then we played more top 10 teams (3) than USC did top 25 teams. So, yeah it makes alot of sense for us to schedule tougher out of conference opponents.
So to whoever says we should have a tougher OOC schedule then i think you should get a tougher conference.
It's true, but that is based on Conference strength which fluctuates every season. Last season was a rather mediocre season in the Pac 10. Nobody stood out and everyone beat up on each other. It doesn't change the fact that we went into The Shoe and beat Ohio State, or that we traveled to South Bend and beat Notre Dame.
How good can you judge conference strength when they only play each other? Teams like LSU, Bama, Auburn, Georgia are getting the message by getting out of their comfort zones and playing games outside the south against marquee teams. The person who does the travel plans for Florida has the easiest job in the world since it refuses to play OOC games outside the state of Florida.
However, it is not going to change until a playoff system is put in place. Teams are too scared to schedule a possible loss due to the fact that a loss is detrimental to BCS title hopes which is very unfortunate. How long have fans been wanting a USC vs. Florida game?
