USC Football

Former USC star Reggie Bush will be a part of Fox Sports' coverage of Friday's game between the Trojans and No. 10 Utah, according to ESPN's Mark Schlabach. 

Fox will be on location at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for its pregame show, with Bush working in his usual role as an analyst.

This is the first time he has returned to the Coliseum since the NCAA handed down its sanctions connected to Bush receiving improper benefits while he was a student-athlete.

In addition to a two-year bowl ban and scholarship reductions for USC, the school had to sever all ties with Bush. The Los Angeles Times' Arash Markazi noted USC double-checked with the NCAA to ensure he could come to the Coliseum on Friday.

Bush addressed a possible return to the campus during an interview with The Athletic's Antonio Morales:

"I assume it would be amazing. Not to pat myself on the back, but a lot of the kids still commit there based off what we did when we were there in college. I still talk to a lot of guys there. I still have relationships with a lot of people there. I hear stories where guys come to USC and they want to wear my jersey or they want to meet me. So, I'm flattered and I appreciate it. I think it speaks volumes to if you work hard enough, you'll be able to achieve it."

Bush ran for 3,169 yards, caught 95 passes for 1,301 yards and scored 41 total touchdowns in three years with the Trojans.

He helped them win national championships in 2003 and 2004, though the latter title was vacated as part of the NCAA's sanctions. He also forfeited his 2005 Heisman Trophy in the aftermath of the scandal.

Although history doesn't officially recognize the 2004 Trojans or Bush's contributions, fans still remember him and that era of USC football fondly. A panel of experts voted the 2004 squad as the second-best team of the last 150 years as part of ESPN's celebration of college football's 150th anniversary.

Bush is likely to receive a warm welcome in L.A. later this week.

USC athletic director Lynn Swann resigned Monday afternoon, leaving the college football world wondering the same question.

What does this mean for Trojans head coach Clay Helton?

Swann was seemingly the only person in Helton's corner at the end of a disastrous 2018 season, retaining  the coach for a fourth full season while the wolves called for his head. Now that his key supporter has abruptly disappeared, Helton's seat is once again engulfed in flames.

By resigning now, Swann perhaps inadvertently set up USC perfectly to move on from Helton at the end of the season, if it desires. The administration can take its time to find a new athletic director, make the hire by mid-November and let his or her first major order of business be appointing a new football coach. In theory, it would work out better than rushing to hire an AD who then rushes to hire a coach before the annual carousel stops spinning.

But that only comes into play if Helton has a season worthy of termination, which has not been the case thus far.

Despite losing starting quarterback JT Daniels to a torn right ACL and meniscus in the season opener and in spite of not yet getting to play either of his top two recruits from this year's class—wide receivers Kyle Ford (ACL) and Bru McCoy (eligibility battle)—Helton has guided the Trojans to a 2-0 start.

The initial win over Fresno State wasn't all that noteworthy, but the subsequent 45-20 pummeling of then-No. 23 Stanford was enough to vault USC into the AP Top 25 at No. 24—after it received just one vote in each of the previous two polls. The Trojans trailed 17-3 early in the second quarter before freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis led them to 42 of the game's final 45 points.

Aside from maybe Maryland and North Carolina, USC has been the biggest positive surprise of the season's opening two weeks. For the 40 or so hours between the end of that victory and the announcement of Swann's departure, it appeared as though Helton was retightening his grip on the job.

If there's anyone who understands that a hot start doesn't equate to job security, though, it's Helton.

He won five of his first seven games as interim head coach in 2015 to get USC to the Pac-12 championship, won the Rose Bowl in 2016 in his first year as the permanent head coach and led the Trojans to 11 wins in 2017. Yet it only took one bad season with an exceptionally young roster for both the national media and USC boosters to turn on him.

Helton was the ultimate target in preseason hot seat articles.

"Plenty of coaches enter 2019 perfectly safe in their seat," Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger wrote in late August. "Helton is not one of them. He's on the hottest of hot seats as the college football season kicks off. Many thought he wouldn't make it this far."

"Like Tom Herman at Texas, Helton is going to rise and fall faster and harder than most coaches simply based on his employer," CBS Sports' Ben Kercheval wrote in July. "But heading into 2019, there's no doubt he's on the hot seat."

One needn't search long to find similar examples of major outlets projecting the impending end of Helton's run at USC.

And while the 2-0 start temporarily silenced that refrain, it has returned with a vengeance in the aftermath of Swann's resignation.

What needs to happen the rest of the way for Helton to keep his job?

Folks still basking in the memories of the Pete Carroll glory days would probably say anything less than 11 wins would be grounds for termination, particularly in light of last year's 5-7 debacle. Given the overall difficulty of USC's schedule, though, 9-3 would seem to be enough to at least make the new AD balk at the thought of a coaching change, as the most likely route to that end-of-season record would be one more win over a currently ranked opponent and nary a bad loss.

In a weird way, Swann's resignation probably improves the odds of Helton getting to stick around for one more year.

The toughest part of USC's schedule is fast approaching with three straight games against Utah, at Washington and at Notre Dame. If the Trojans were to lose all three and had a full-time athletic director, the AD would consider making a change right then and there—maybe even on an airport tarmac, otherwise known as Lane Kiffin-style. Even if Swann had been unwilling to make that change with a 3-3 record, it would have been one of the main arguments among the talking heads over the course of the ensuing few days.

But an interim AD (Dave Roberts) is far less likely to make an in-season coaching change, which would give Helton six more weeks to rally the troops for the much easier half of the schedule. The Trojans could lose three straight, but they might also win the subsequent six (Arizona, at Colorado, Oregon, at Arizona State, at California, UCLA) to at least get into the conversation for a New Year's Six bowl.

Even at a program where a spot in the Rose Bowl is an annual preseason expectation, that might keep him on the payroll into 2020.

One of the biggest variables in this whole discussion is the unknown of who will be available. Even with the turbulence of the past decade, USC is the type of high-profile program that should have its pick of the litter.

What if that litter stinks, though?

It'd be one thing if we find out that Urban Meyer or Bob Stoops wants to return to the college football sideline or that longtime defensive coordinator Brent Venables is ready to try his luck at the head coaching thing. But if none of those things are true and they're unable to lure someone like Matt Campbell (Iowa State) or Jeff Brohm (Purdue) away from their current positions, the Trojans would be throwing away recruiting connections and possibly downgrading their coaching staff by kicking Helton to the curb.

Considering one of the main reasons Swann decided to retain Helton last November was to provide a little stability to a program that went from Kiffin to Ed Orgeron to Steve Sarkisian to Helton in the span of 24 months, it would seem silly to fire him just for upheaval's sake.

In the end, it will obviously hinge on how these next two-and-a-half months play out.

If this hot start perpetuates, we may spend Thanksgiving weekend laughing about the fact that we once thought Helton was on the chopping block. Alternatively, if the combination of a tough schedule and a true freshman quarterback results in yet another 5-7 mess, we'll laugh at the fact that one home win over Stanford was enough to make us question this impending coaching change.

                                                

Kerry Miller covers college football and men's college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @kerrancejames.

USC reportedly reached out to "at least a half dozen" athletic directors of Power Five schools to replace Lynn Swann, none of whom were interested.

Brett McMurphy of Stadium reported USC had already begun looking for Swann's replacement "weeks" before he gave his official resignation Monday. Swann had been the school's AD since April 2016, presiding over a largely disappointing era of Trojans athletics.

USC plans a national search to find its new AD, which throws a cloud over the Trojans' surprising 2-0 start. Coach Clay Helton entered the season on the hot seat and saw his biggest booster in Swann, the man who gave him a contract extension in 2018, walk away from the position.

Helton said USC President Carol Folt reached out to him to express her support after the Trojans' 45-20 win over Stanford:

"She didn't have to do that, to take the time to reach out to me and say, 'Coach, I love what you're doing, the staff, the players. It was so fun to watch last Saturday and I just want to help you in any way so you and your team can be successful.' That meant a ton to me."

USC has not contended for a national championship since Pete Carroll's departure a decade ago. The program has since seen multiple NCAA scandals and shuffled through three full-time head coaches, with Helton being the only one who did not serve under Carroll.

USC basketball has improved under Andy Enfield but has not made it to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament since 2007.

Folt is tasked with finding an athletic director who will reinvigorate both programs, perhaps at the expense of both incumbent head coaches. With a potentially messy future ahead, it's not a surprise that many Power Five candidates are happy where they're at rather than taking on what will be a huge challenge with outsized expectations.

USC wide receiver Devon Williams entered the NCAA's transfer portal, according to SEC Network's Cole Cubelic. 

Williams had one reception for 11 yards through the Trojans' first two games in 2019. He appeared in 12 games as a freshman, finishing with four receptions for 87 yards and one touchdown.

A native of Lancaster, California, Williams was the No. 40 overall recruit in the 2018 recruiting class, per 247Sports' composite rankings. He was also the sixth-best receiver.

His production shows how limited his role in the offense has been this season.

JT Daniels' season-ending knee injury didn't help matters, as USC is now counting on true freshman Kedon Slovis. Head coach Clay Helton may be wary of opening up the passing game too much right now until Slovis grows more comfortable as the starting quarterback.

The Los Angeles Times' Ryan Kartje wrote Helton and offensive coordinator Graham Harrell "have resolved to pick up the pace and rotate more receivers" when USC played Stanford on Saturday. Williams' lone catch came in the 45-20 victory.

Kartje questioned whether the Trojas would be able to get more receivers involved since Josh Jackson, Munir McClain and Drake London were all in the same position as Williams as well.

Williams was behind guys like Michael Pittman Jr. and Tyler Vaughns this season but figured to be a guy who would play heavily next year. The Trojans have Munir McClain and Drake London, who are promising true freshman. And Kyle Ford will be healthy next season too.

— Antonio Morales (@AntonioCMorales) September 11, 2019

Williams may choose to stay at USC since entering the transfer portal doesn't preclude a player from returning to his current school.

By transferring now, he would be able to redshirt the remainder of the year and remain a sophomore in 2020 under the new guidelines the NCAA rolled out last summer.

Lynn Swann resigned from his position as USC athletic director, university president Carol Folt announced Monday.

According to Scott Wolf of InsideUSC, Dave Roberts will take over on an interim basis.

Swann replaced Pat Haden as the AD in April 2016. Prior to embarking on a Hall of Fame NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Swann was a star on the USC football team and helped the Trojans win a national title in 1972.

The Athletic's Bruce Feldman reported the school "had already been reaching out to prospective AD candidates to gauge interest in recent weeks."

Many were surprised when USC named Swann as Haden's successor given his lack of experience in an administrative role on this scale.

USC used a search firm with zero athletics placement experience and wound up with somebody with zero AD experience in Lynn Swann.

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) April 13, 2016

For Swann's critics, the state of the football program was likely enough to justify his resignation.

After winning 23 games in Clay Helton's first two full seasons, USC went 5-7 in 2018. In addition to their issues on the field, the Trojans were struggling to attract the blue-chip recruits they'd seemingly land every year. USC was 20th in 247Sports' composite team rankings for 2019 and sits 43rd for 2020.

Swann announced last November that Helton would be back for the 2019 season.

The Kliff Kingsbury saga didn't paint the Trojans in a flattering light either, as Kingsbury spent a little more than a month as the offensive coordinator before leaving to coach the Arizona Cardinals.

Under Swann's watch, USC was also embroiled in the college admissions scandal that saw parents funnel money to coaches and university officials in order to get their children accepted and enrolled.

Within 18 months, three USC athletic department employees who worked under Lynn Swann were arrested by the FBI.

— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) September 9, 2019

Folt told Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times the scandal "was not a part of the decision" leading to Swann's resignation.

Prosecutors alleged Jovan Vavic, USC's former men's and women's water polo coach, participated in and profited from the scheme along with Donna Heinel, a USC associate athletic director who was also fired. Swann told the Los Angeles Times' Arash Markazi in March he was "blindsided" upon hearing of the allegations:

"The fact that it was a senior member of the staff and also our men's and women's head water polo coach. … These are people that have been here a long time and people who had been here during difficult times and had seen bad things done and knew better. Everyone was completely shocked, caught off guard and taken by surprise."

The combined departures of Swann and Heinel will allow USC to effectively reset the athletic department.

Whatever direction USC goes in terms of Swann's successor, getting the football program back on track will likely be a top priority.

Helton was on the hot seat already, with Swann setting a Pac-12 championship as the goal for this season. Considering starting quarterback J.T. Daniels is out for the year with a torn ACL and meniscus, claiming a conference title might be a bridge too far.

The USC Trojans earned a season-opening victory over Fresno State, but they lost their quarterback for the rest of the year in the process.

USC coach Clay Helton confirmed on Sunday that quarterback JT Daniels suffered a torn ACL and meniscus during Saturday's 31-23 win over Fresno State, according to Ryan Abraham of USCFootball.com.

"I regret to say after the MRI, JT Daniels did suffer an ACL injury...that surgery will happen in upcoming weeks," said Helton.

Daniels was carted off the field after a sack in the second quarter of the win. He impressed before the injury and was 25-of-34 passing for 215 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He had appeared to have taken a step forward after an inconsistent freshman season in 2018 that saw him complete 59.5 percent of his passes for 2,672 yards, 14 touchdowns and 10 picks.

USC turned to true freshman Kedon Slovis for the rest of the Fresno State game, and he went 6-of-8 for 57 yards and an interception.

Slovis starting so soon wasn't the plan, but he was a 3-star prospect in the class of 2019, per 247Sports' composite rankings. Maya noted redshirt junior Matt Fink is the only other scholarship quarterback on the roster because Jack Sears left the team after falling to fourth on the depth chart.

The Trojans can at least take solace in the fact the running game looked strong against the Bulldogs. Vavae Malepeai led the way with 134 yards and a touchdown, while Stephen Carr added 56 yards and a score on six carries.

The timing couldn't be much worse for USC either considering the daunting slate ahead. It plays Stanford, at BYU, Utah, at Washington and at Notre Dame in the next five games before a November matchup against Oregon.

USC quarterback JT Daniels suffered an apparent knee injury in the second quarter of his team's home game against Fresno State on Saturday.

Daniels was sacked on 3rd-and-4 from the Fresno State 15-yard line with 27 seconds left in the first half. His right knee appeared to buckle on the play, and Daniels grabbed at it after he went to the ground.

Medical personnel immediately attended to Daniels, who was helped off the field.

He then went to the sideline medical tent, according to Antonio Morales of The Athletic. He was soon taken off the field, per Keely Eure of USCFootball.com:

#USC QB JT Daniels was just carted off the field. He gave a thumbs up to fans: pic.twitter.com/vXS1fOZB5A

— Keely Eure (@keelyismyname) September 1, 2019

Daniels completed 25 of 34 passes for 215 yards, one touchdown and one interception before he left the game with the Trojans up 17-10.

True freshman Kedon Slovis is Daniels' backup. Per 247Sports, the 6'2", 200-pound pro-style quarterback was a 3-star recruit out of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Daniels spent the offseason working tirelessly to improve. Per Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times, the Trojan quarterback got his blood tested, changed his diet, transformed his physique and saw a mental conditioning consultant in preparation for 2019 after the team went a disappointing 5-7 last season.

The work looked like it paid off as the sophomore was on the money in a first half that saw him complete 73.5 percent of his passes.

Unfortunately, the injury may be serious, and Ryan Abraham of USCFootball.com noted Daniels didn't put any weight on his leg as he walked off the field.

Hopefully the quarterback returns to the field as soon as possible, but if he's forced to miss time, Slovis will likely get his first career start Saturday against No. 25 Stanford at home.

USC quarterback Jack Sears entered the transfer portal Tuesday after losing the starting quarterback battle to JT Daniels during the preseason.

The California native announced his decision with a statement on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/jackpsears12/status/1166483233753595904

Sears was considered one of the best quarterback prospects of the 2017 high school class but never found success with the Trojans. He completed 20 of 28 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to Arizona State during his redshirt freshman campaign. 

Daniels beat out Sears, Matt Fink and Kedon Slovis in the positional battle that could come to define USC's season. The sophomore threw for 2,672 yards and 14 touchdowns against 10 interceptions last year. He was a 5-star recruit who won the starting job as a true freshman. 

"I've never had four quarterbacks that could start on a lot of football teams across the country," coach Clay Helton told reporters. "It really has progressed everybody."

Sears initially committed to Duke in August 2016 but decommitted after receiving interest from USC. He also received offers from Florida State and Tennessee, among other high-profile programs.

It's unclear if Sears will consider any of those programs again or have a fully open recruitment. 

The 6'3", 210-pounder will have to sit out the entire 2019 season and forfeit a year of eligibility. He will have two years of eligibility remaining. 

USC announced Tuesday that JT Daniels has been named the starting quarterback for the opening game of the season against Fresno State on Aug. 31.

Head coach Clay Helton made the decision after conferring with offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, per Antonio Morales of The Athletic.

Kedon Slovis will be the team's No. 2 quarterback, followed by Matt Fink and Jack Sears.

Daniels started last season as a true freshman after coming in as a 5-star recruit and the No. 2 quarterback in the nation, per 247Sports.

He struggled at times in the role while finishing with just 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 11 games, ranking 56th in the country in Total QBR. The team was 5-6 in games he played in 2018.

Despite the modest numbers, he showed flashes of great play, including 349 passing yards in the season finale against Notre Dame.

Still, he had to earn back his job in a full quarterback competition this offseason, which featured returning players Fink and Sears as well as unheralded freshman Slovis. Few were expecting Slovis to get a fair shake as true freshman and just a 3-star recruit, but he turned heads in camp.

Harrell praised the youngster earlier this month, via Morales:

"Kedon's a special talent. He just turned 18 this summer so he's a young kid, had room to grow and did grow. ... He can make some throws a lot of people can't make. He did a great job all summer, coming in, watching film, trying to get as many reps as he could get without being on the field. He maximized his summer that way. When that ball comes out of his hand, it looks different. And that's what it's supposed to look like."

It was enough to move up the depth chart ahead of the more veteran players.

If Daniels fails to live up to expectations in 2019, the other quarterbacks might get a chance before too long.

A timetable for USC Trojans receiver Bru McCoy's return to the football field remains unclear, as he has dealt with a "fever of unknown origin" the past seven weeks.

"They cannot figure it out," Horace McCoy, Bru's father, told Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times on Thursday of the doctors his son has seen. "I cannot tell you how many specialists we've got him in front of, just to try to figure this damn thing out."

Per Kartje, the teenager has been treated for a variety of illnesses, including flu, strep throat and legionella. However, he continues to have a mysterious fever.

Coming out of high school, McCoy was rated by 247Sports as a 5-star recruit and the No. 9 overall prospect in the class of 2019. He initially committed to USC at the All-American Bowl in January but opted to transfer to Texas just weeks later after then-Trojans offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury left for the NFL to become the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

McCoy transferred back to USC in June, which Chip Brown of Horns247 reported was the result of the Southern California native feeling homesick.

OFFICIAL: Freshman Bru McCoy is back at USC. #FightOn pic.twitter.com/YgS6Pfkw4M

— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) June 12, 2019

The 6'3", 210-pound wideout is currently awaiting the NCAA's decision on his eligibility waiver. If it is denied, he will have to sit out the 2019 season. But that is secondary at this point, as the Trojans will not allow the freshman to take the field until his fever is gone.

Horace McCoy acknowledged that the situation has not been easy on his son.

"All this kid wants to do is play football," Horace told Kartje. "He wants to work out with his buddies and get on the field and do what he does best. You get tried in times like this. He's as positive as he can, but he's frustrated."

USC coach Clay Helton revealed on Thursday, per Kartje, that Bru has been able to attend team meetings in the meantime and is "actually getting a little better."