Jon Joseph

Wait 1 to 2 years and you will see it. It's not like he has to have UGA's 2021 D to win games in the Pac-12.

SPOT ON! 3 Playoff appearances. Other Pac-12 coaches - 0 playoff appearances. A Blue Blood as so you so note Darren, has awakened. The wallet has been opened. 'But he coached blue bloods at Oklahoma!' Who was the man in charge who recruited these blue bloods and convinced Heisman winners to transfer to the Sooners? Lincoln Riley. Who implemented the O that led to all of the playoff appearances? Riley. In 2021, adding the recruits to the transfers from the portal, the Trojans would rank 9 in recruiting. 'He hasn't won a playoff game!' In 8 seasons the Pac-12 conference has won 1 such game. In the Rose Bowl Riley took UGA into 2 OTs before losing to a team that lost to Bama in OT in the champ game on a late Tua heave. Riley has brought in the top RBs from Stanford and Oregon. He has added an excellent group of WRs. His 2023 commits are all top drawer players. The SC D has a long way to go. But with the guys he has on O, including QB Caleb Williams, and a decent OL, SC is going to put up a lot of points in 2022. SC will make a lot of noise in a down conference. I agree that 10 wins for the Trojans in 2022 is doable and if he does not win the south in 2022, look out for 2023 when Utah plays in LA. CU, ASU, Arizona and UCLA (8 wins in 2021 but 0 wins against teams with a winning record) will have rosters nowhere near what Riley will bring to the field of play. Riley is not breaking in an entirely new set of assistant coaches. Many of his guys from Oklahoma followed him to LA. With 1 hire SC is cool again. So correct you are Darren in noting that top California HS guys will no longer routinely be leaving the conference footprint for the SEC and the B1G and Clemson. And sad to say, Oregon. And you know what? This could not be better for Oregon and for a conference that is on life support. This could not be better for the upcoming round of new media negotiations. The conference needs a 'player' in Los Angeles and UCLA with a stadium miles from campus and lukewarm administrative support and fan support is not the school that is going to come through in LA. Thanks for the great article. Clay is gone and the 'life of Riley' is going to make a huge difference in LA.

Thanks Annie. Oregon is up one spot from its ESPN ranking. I think A+M and Notre Dame are both way overrated. Both have new starting QBs. Notre Dame opens at Ohio State and A+M is at Bama. A+M takes the L in Tuscaloosa and it likely is not in the SEC champ game. I do not see A+M with but 1L; even with 1L I don't see A+M being the 2nd SEC team in the final 4? Utah at 5 as up 2 from the ESPN ranking. Utah wins in Gainesville to open the season and Utah will be a legit playoff contender. Of course, playing at Oregon the penultimate week of the regular season instead of playing Dixie State at home will not help the Utes and the Pac-12's chance for a final 4 spot. WHEN, if ever, will the conference stop being its own worst enemy? Ducks? I think the BYU game will decide whether Oregon finishes barely out side of the top 10.

I don't believe any 2L team has made the final 4.

12. OREGON - Strength (S) - LBs - Sewell, Flowe and Funa / Weakness (W) - Run Game including significant loss of Dye. 3. GEORGIA - S - TE - Brock Bowers and friends. W - post champ let down and having to replace key guys including DL Davis and LB Dean. 7. UTAH - S -72 roster returnees who will be freshmen and sophomores! Rising is the undisputed starting QB and Utah returns 2 TEs instrumental in the Utah's offense. W - Can Utah develop recruits who were not 4 and 5* guys to playoff quality level? 18. BYU - S - OL returnees + Suamataia - Starting QB Hall is back. W - Running Back - Lost Algiers who holds BYU RB single season rushing record. 22. USC - possible champ game opponent? S Lincoln Riley and his use of the portal including getting Caleb Williams. W - DEFENSE

Great skiing and fans who give a whip and show up for games. Utah's facilities are about to get a big upgrade and the Utes OOC scheduling, getting H+H tilts with SEC teams is excellent.

Thank you Charles for the post We now have unregulated pay-for-play under the guise of NIL. At least Jimbo could be honest about how A+M signed the best recruiting class of all time? And to think what USC got for what would be OK today? SC tanked. Think of the impact this had on the Pac-12 Network.

When you are the lead sled dog (or at least used to be) what are the other dogs looking at? Plus, Utah is still trying to outgrow its Mountain West connections.

Good points my friend. Here is my rejoinder. The ACC, unless Notre Dame joins as a football member, is locked in with ESPN through 2036; with a lousy media deal that pays $17M to each ACC team per season. The ACC is out of the upcoming media negotiations. There is a finite amount of media dollars to go around. Frankly, I'd prefer to bid against 2 competitors, the B1G and SEC and not 3 competitors when you add the 'new B12.' Instead of adding the Dallas and Houston markets among others and staying as-is, what is the plan to save the Pac-12 network? Keeping the same footprint and continuing to have the same distribution problems is not going to grow the number of Pac-12 Network subscribers and make it a financially solvent entity. I see no cogent business sense behind not expanding market size and deciding to bring the same product to market. And as for OK ST, TX Tech, Kansas, K St, Baylor and Houston, not bringing in the same revenue cut as Pac-12 teams, you negotiate this issue away. Just like the B1G did when it brought in Rutgers, Maryland and Nebraska. You phase in when the newbies will get an equal share. GK has faced far more difficult business negotiations than negotiating with teams that the Pac-12 would have been throwing a life line. Of course the B12 losing TX and OK is a big hit. But eyeballs on the games of the remaining B12 members for the most part exceed the number of viewers watching the Pac-12 play ball. P5 (could have been the P4 that would have helped facilitate playoff expansion and bring in more money) is a big business. If you stand still in big business you are falling behind. And, should the Pac-12 now decide to expand where can it go? The obvious expansion candidates are off the table. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF all bring value to the restructured B12. The B1G will expand. It will go east with Pitt, UVA, UNC and Georgia Tech, all AAU schools; or, it will go west with all, or a combination of UW, Oregon, Stanford, USC, Utah and CU, all AAU member schools. If the B1G expands west, the Pac-12 is done. Regardless, while the new Pac-12 media deal will yield more revenue than the existing deal it will come nowhere close to closing the gap between the Pac-12 and the B1G and SEC. It's Mom and Pop competing against Big Box stores. I think the decision not to expand was a terrible business decision that seals the fate of the Pac-12 as an also-ran conference. But, I hope you are right because there is no going back.

It did not have the Vince Lombardi stamp of approval.

Great subject, thanks Coach. 'Different preference?' I would have gone with a different description which would have warranted soon-as-possible censorship.

Why not lose the pads and play flag football? People actually paid money to watch THIS?I tuned out after 2 minutes so I didn't get to see Justin play and I am not disappointed.

Good read. Apparently, we have found the distaff Bobby Knight?

Good take. What do you define as 'success' in Miami? The Canes haven't won a division title in a long time, let alone won the ACC. And no matter how you define 'success' when do you think Mario will achieve same?

Or, win the tourney in Las Vegas and Oregon is in.

Riley may well have the fire power to win the South in 2022? UCLA killed a bad SC team last season but UCLA has lost a lot of quality guys (and did not beat a team with a winning record in 2021) and SC's roster has improved, at least on the O side, dramatically. Probably comes down to whether he has the beef to win a fist-fight vs Utah? SC will put up a lot of points. Will the SC D be able to stop anyone? I don't think SC plays in the conference champ game in 2022. But with the portal in play and D guys available in the portal watch out for 2023. He can win the Pac-12 like he did the B12. Put up plenty of points and make the occasional stop. He faced better rosters in the B12 than he will generally face in the Pac-12. I hate to so opine, but Riley's hire was a big splash the entire under-the-CFB-radar-conference needed. You can bet that GK was overjoyed that SC finally opened the wallet.

I note that he was the man at the top of the group that recruited the bluebloods he coached at OK. His playoff game performances have not resulted in a win but he took Oklahoma to the Final 4 on 3 occasions. No other active coach in the Pac-12 has one let alone 3 playoff appearances. Purdue/Oregon State? People say the same about Saban. Saban did not win a conference title in the B1G at Michigan State. But when he reached recruiting nirvana he won titles at 2 schools. You take your team to 3 final 4s as a HC and you don't end up coaching at OR ST or Purdue. In the Pac-12, Oregon, compared to OK in the B12, did have the same talent in the Pac-12. Oregon had the highest ranked roster in the Pac-12 the last 2 seasons. Mario went 4-3 and then was blown out back to back by Utah after losing a game against a pathetic Stanford team. My question is, with the talent Mario brought in what would Riley have done as the HC at Oregon? Riley is going to have to prove it in the Pac-12 but he is a very well qualified opponent who should not be taken lightly when it comes to recruiting and on game day. He comes to SC with far better CFB bona fides than did Pete Carroll. However, I do love your attitude. Let's kick this guy's booty.

Thanks Haywarduck for the post. One thing I think all of us on the Forum will acknowledge, Riley is a huge improvement over the clueless Clay Helton. He will recruit better players to SC than did Clay. He has masterfully used the portal to date including taking a key player form a competitor Oregon team. The players that are recruited will be better coached-up. SC will have a cogent game plan and from out of the box will have an O that will put up points. He does have HC experience and will be delegating to many of the same coaches he delegated to at OK; his group of assistants know their roles and should fit together very well. He has won numerous conference titles in a conference that is top to bottom better than the Pac-12 in CFB (and CBB.) Has he won a playoff title? No. But other than Ohio State in year 1 no team outside of the southeastern part of the country have won titles; 7 in a row for the SEC or Clemson. He has brought his team to final 4 on 3 occasions. No active coach west of the Mississippi can say the same. Riley's hire signifies that a sleeping blue blood has awakened. $100M or so to bring Riley to LA and a far bigger budget for recruiting and support staffs. Dan Lanning. Talks the talk. Loads of potential. Put together an on-paper great group of assistants. Did a great job 'saving' the 2022 recruiting class. Has yet to be The Man come game time. I think SC/Oregon should provide great competition for conference supremacy for years to come but as of today I certainly understand why Riley gets the nod from most quarters.

Need any help with that?

FOX loves NASCAR, but FOX NEWS hates any sport where you can't turn to the right. (KIDDING! Not intended to be political in any regard.)

Great take. Yet, Malzahn beat Nick on 3 occasions. The boosters at Auburn and Texas screw up both programs. UT looks down its nose at little old Baylor in Waco but Baylor today is superior in both CFB + CBB. Auburn has dropped in the SEC W behind Bama, of course, A+M, Ole Miss and perhaps, even Arkansas.

And modest real estate taxes too.

'Pack the crowd or pack the stadium?' Jimmy Lake would not approve of this use of the English language. Who cares?

FWIW - CBS Draft guru, Kyle Stackpole, has 11 SEC players from 7 different schools being drafted in the 1st round. Pac-12 - 4 KT, OR., Edge to NY Jets; 13. London WR, SC, Browns; 19. Lloyd LB, Utah, Eagles; 21. McDuffie CB, UW, Patriots. This is pretty much the theme of all of the NFL draft prognosticators. NFL Network draft guru, D. Jeremiah, has 5 Pac-12 guys in his list of top 50 draft eligible players. The above 4 and CB Gordan from UW. Many the SEC player in his top 50.

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