Larry Brown Sports

Former USC quarterback Matt Barkley may have made a mistake by returning to school for his senior season last year. Barkley was once seen as a lock to go early in the first round of the NFL Draft, but injuries and other circumstances have resulted in his stock taking a tumble. However, Lane Kiffin insists Barkley is still a first-round prospect.

While it’s not surprising to hear Barkley’s former coach toot his horn, it is a little puzzling to hear Kiffin defend Barkley at the expense of his defense. A defense which, by the way, was coached by his father, Monte Kiffin.

“I think he’s going to be a great starting quarterback in the NFL, and the film shows it,” Kiffin told ESPNLosAngeles.com on Wednesday. “The plays he makes, all the throws he’s made here, the leadership qualities … I’ve said this before: If Matt Barkley had the defense that Matt Leinart and Carson Palmer had, Matt Barkley would have won the Heisman Trophy just like they did. He would have had the winning records they had.”

The Trojans had a number of issues last year during the course of their unprecedented collapse, and defense was certainly one of them. Considering Monte has resigned from USC and been hired as the defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys, I suppose the only thing Lane could be putting a strain on is the next Kiffin family reunion.

Kiffin was so determined to boost the public perception of Barkley that he even called out one USC player by name, noting that if not for a certain mistake Barkley could have led the Trojans to a win over Andrew Luck and Stanford in 2011.

“Andrew threw an interception for a touchdown and, their very next drive we stop them, and [safety] T.J. McDonald gets called for a head-to-head personal foul that keeps the drive alive,” Kiffin recalled. “Is that Matt Barkley’s fault? If that flag’s not thrown and we stop them right there, you go, ‘Man, Matt just beat Andrew Luck.’ When I remember Matt, I think of all that stuff.”

We get it, coach. You feel that USC lost in spite of Barkley, not because of him. Easy on the family and former player bashing.

The recent firing of running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu by USC head coach Lane Kiffin came as a surprise to most people. Kennedy was the only former Trojan player on staff, and he was considered to be a top recruiter. Though his job title listed him as offensive coordinator, that position was held mostly in name since Kiffin called the plays. But it sounds like Polamalu clashed with Kiffin, leading to his dismissal.

The Daily News’ Scott Wolf reported late Friday evening that the two had a “heated argument” on Dec. 29, two days before the team’s 21-7 Sun Bowl loss to Georgia Tech. Wolf described the incident as a “fallout.”

Kiffin kept Polamalu on staff through national signing day Feb. 6, but he was fired two days later. Wolf says Polamalu learned of his firing by reading the news on the Internet, and that Kiffin never called him. Wolf quotes a source who says that Kiffin may have felt threatened by Polamalu’s outspoken nature.

Since we do not know what happened between the two, it’s hard to say whether the firing was justified. Based on his recruiting success — Polamalu was instrumental in USC offering a scholarship to star wide receiver Marqise Lee — it seems strange that he would be fired. It also feels wrong that Polamalu read about his firing and still hasn’t heard from Kiffin.

Photo via USC athletics

Kylie Fitts is a four-star defensive end recruit from Redlands (Calif.) East Valley High School who was set to enroll at USC this month, but Lane Kiffin reportedly threw a kink in his plans. According to the Riverside Press-Enterprise, Fitts was offered a scholarship from USC that inspired him to take extra classes in order to finish high school early. He was supposed to be on the USC campus on Jan. 10.

Instead, Fitts says he received a call from USC telling him his scholarship would be available for the fall semester, not the spring. At the U.S. Army All-American Bowl just a few days before the call, Fitts says the USC coaching staff told him everything was all set. Fitts’ high school coach, Kurt Bruich, is not please with the turn of events.

“Recruiting man, it’s crazy,” the Redlands East Valley coach said. “He’s wanted to go to USC for as long as he can remember and now he feels betrayed. He did everything he was supposed to do from his end and he was a loyal kid. I think they thought because of that loyalty he’d still want to go there. He said to me ‘What am I supposed to do for the next five months?’ It seems shady. I think it seems shady to everyone.”

Bruich said Fitts has decommitted from USC and is exploring other options including UCLA, Washington and Notre Dame. He also took to Twitter on Friday to rip Kiffin:

When people are desperate, their true colors show. Take the USC coach, captain of an underachieving ship. His true color: SHADY! #goKylie

— Kurt Bruich (@CoachBruich) January 11, 2013

As Tommy Tuberville can tell you, we hear stories like this from recruits all the time. Unfortunately, college athletics is just as much a business as professional sports.

Helmet smack to Dr. Saturday

Lane Kiffin has a job to do at USC, and that’s to win football games. If that means doing something aimed at deceiving your opponent that is technically within the confines of the NCAA rules, Kiffin is open to it. For example, let’s look at his decision to have backup quarterback Cody Kessler change jerseys from No. 6 to No. 35 in the first half against Colorado.

According to the L.A. Times, Kessler played on special teams in the first half wearing jersey No. 35, which is typically worn by punter Kyle Negrete. Kessler nearly ran the ball in for a two-point conversion on one play but a holding penalty brought it back. When asked if Kessler was wearing the number of a punter to try to fool Colorado, Kiffin said very little.

“We change jerseys all the time with our guys,” he said on Tuesday. “We’ll change some more this week. Everything’s within college rules.”

That may not be exactly true. NCAA rules say that multiple players can wear the same jersey number as long as they are not on the field at the same time. However, within a section of the NCAA rulebook called “The Football Code” it clearly states that “changing numbers during the game to deceive the opponent” is illegal and should result in a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Obviously it is extremely difficult to prove whether or not a coach intended to deceive an opponent. It’s a mere judgment call from the officials, so you can understand why they might be hesitant to call it. Had Kessler not attempted a two-point conversion, it might be easier to believe that Kiffin was not trying to fool Colorado. We all know a mobile backup quarterback wearing a punter’s number and attempting to run the ball is no coincidence.

Writers and reporters learned a valuable lesson after USC’s practice on Wednesday — ask a question about a specific player’s injury and the fun ends for everyone. As you can see from the video above that Lindsey Thiry of FOX Sports shared on Twitter, the first question asked to Lane Kiffin during his media session Wednesday was also the last. Thiry mentioned on Twitter that she muted the question in her YouTube video in order to adhere to USC’s policy, since the question named a specific player.

Like it or not, this is how it’s going to be at USC this season and going forward. Last week, the Trojans stripped a reporter of his press credentials for two weeks of practice and the Sept. 22 Cal game for writing about kicker Andre Heidari’s leg injury. That was a loud statement from Kiffin, who decided to make another one on Wednesday. All it takes is one bad egg to spoil the dozen. Let’s learn to follow the rules, children.

H/T Dr. Saturday

USC has a fairly simple policy regarding injuries this season: don’t talk about them. That goes for players, coaches, staff and apparently members of the media.

Trojans kicker Andre Heidari suffered an injury during the team’s opening game against Hawaii that required knee surgery last week. He did not travel with the team to New Jersey for last week’s game against Syracuse, and he is expected to miss about three weeks.

We know all this because it was reported by Scott Wolf of the Daily News over the weekend. As a result, the team has banned Wolf from attending the next two weeks of practice and will not issue him a press credential for the game against California on Sept. 22. Daily News sports editor Gene Warnick does not agree with the decision.

“From our standpoint, Scott was doing his job,” Warnick said, adding that he and a couple of other sports editors are scheduled to speak with USC Athletic Director Pat Haden about the issue. “This wasn’t something that was part of practice. We were just trying to report the news.”

If Wolf relayed some sort of information about plays or game-planning, the ban would seem more reasonable. NFL coaches like Bill Belichick try to be as secretive as possible about injuries, but they don’t punish writers for reporting them. If the writer obtains the information, it is their job to inform the public. Kiffin and company should do a better job of covering up injuries if they don’t want them reported.

UPDATE: Wolf says his two-day practice ban was lifted after several sports directors for local newspapers met with USC athletic director Pat Haden.

Most coaches and players will tell you that it’s not about lighting up the stat sheet or looking good — it’s simply about winning games. An ugly win is still a win and that’s all that matters, right? Not in L.A. Like any other coach in the NCAA, Lane Kiffin wants his No. 1-ranked Trojans to go undefeated this season. He doesn’t just want to win, however. He wants his guys to show some flash while they’re at it.

“L.A.’s a town that isn’t real fired up about winning games 14-10,” Kiffin said Wednesday according to the Orange County Register. “You’ve got a lot to compete with. So there is a ‘Showtime’ element. There is a style factor to it.”

To coach in Hollywood, you’ve got to think Hollywood. Or, at least, that’s how Kiffin is approaching it. And for those of you who think this is some comment that Kiffin gave before thinking, it’s not. He shared the same message with ESPN The Magazine a few weeks ago.

“Winning solves a lot of problems,” Kiffin said. “But not a distant second, I think, is style. We want to play great defense, and we did here before, but it wasn’t our defense that has Snoop on the sidelines. It wasn’t the defense that was heading SportsCenter. It was the Heisman Trophies. It was the offense. Offense is what fills the stadium. That’s what LA is: Win, and win with style. And they’ll come.”

A lot of fans probably don’t want to hear that their coach is overly concerned with flash, but Kiffin is right that putting up points and winning with style sells tickets and creates headlines. However, Alabama won the BCS National Championship last season largely with tremendous defense and some ugly victories, so at the end of the day it’s the winning that truly solves everything.

H/T Sports by Brooks Live