Stretch left. Stretch right. Play action bootleg. If you can call these three plays, then you can run a USC offense.
Maybe sprinkle in a quick receiver screen, a counter, or, my favorite, the deep heave into double coverage. But ever since offensive guru Norm Chow left Southern Cal in 2005, it’s felt like he took the heart, soul, and balls of Trojan offensive playcalling with him.
What ever happened to the double-slant? When’s the last time we saw a 15-yard dig on 3rd and short? Where did the methodical, productive, and always opportunistic Trojan offense go that used to win games, fans, and National Championships? [see attached video of Chow picking through Iowa in the 2002 Orange Bowl]
Oh, I remember. They were run out of town after some grumblings in the coaching office. With Chow gone, offensive coordinators from Steve Sarkisian to Jeremy Bates to – let’s be honest – Pete Carroll have been left chewing on a Wonderbread version of Chow’s pro-style, BYU inspired croissant. And after a five season slide that landed the Trojans in a pile of Emerald Nuts, the offense needs a change.
But the offense won’t get a change in 2010. Instead, it’s getting Lane Kiffin.
“Much of what later influenced USC's offense can be traced through Lane Kiffin to Jon Gruden's Tampa Bay Bucs,” writes Chris Brown of SmartFootball.com. “The result for the past few years has not been poor, but Kiffin…did manage to add a lot of extra complexity to the offense – including an expansion of the ‘packaged’ sides concept – without adding a lot of extra success.”
So what do we have to look forward to in 2010 if not just more of the same?
On the bright side, Kiffin will be free to run his system without the strategically conservative Carroll (yeah, I said it) breathing down his neck. Barkley is back with some experience, and the Trojans’ leading receiving threat is back for his senior season (I’m talking, of course, about fullback Stanley Havili, because I’ve been watching closely for four years and he’s clearly not there to block).
More of the same might even benefit the offensive line. Despite a lack of depth, Southern Cal’s three senior and three junior big men are starting to look comfortable with the recycled zone running scheme. And with playmakers like junior Marc Tyler and freshman Dillon Baxter in the backfield, we might even see some sizzle from an offense that’s had the appeal of CSPAN since the end of the Reggie Bush era.
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