College football has long since been a favored pastime of sports lovers. In particular, the University of Southern California Trojans (USC) is an iconic and much-loved team. In 2009, ESPN even rated them as the second-best team, after the Oklahoma Sooners. However, that’s not the case anymore, as USC experienced a downward trend in the 2010s.
USC’s Start
The USC Trojans, established in 1888, made an incredible name for itself at the start. It’s all-time win-loss record is 867-363-54, excluding the NCAA penalty, matches that are void. With how well the team was doing, it’s no surprise that it was a favorite for fans who participated in sports betting.
The team has had multiple excellent players, such as the seven who won the Heisman Trophy:
- Mike Garrett (1965)
- O.J. Simpson (1968)
- Charles White (1979)
- Marcus Allen (1981)
- Carson Palmer (2002)
- Matt Leinart (2004)
- Reggie Bush (2005)
It has been given the first-team All-American title 175 times and has 46 inductees with USC ties into the College Football Hall of Fame. The Trojans have also had other exceptional players who won awards, such as:
- Ron Yary (1967 Outland Trophy)
- Brad Budde (1979 Lombardi Award)
- Mark Carrier (1989 Thorpe Award)
- Chris Claiborne (1998 Butkus Award)
- Fred Davis (2007 Mackey Award)
- Rey Maualuga (2008 Bednarik Award)
- Marqise Lee (2012 Biletnikoff Award)
- Adoree’ Jackson (2017 Thorpe Award)
Legendary Coaches in the Early Years
Since legalizing online sports betting in 2018, college football betting has seen an increase in popularity. The USC was a well-loved team to bet on, as can be expected from a team that had a legendary season in the early 2000s,. However, who made them the famous team they were at that time?
Howard Jones (1925-1940)
Howard Jones guided the team for 15 years, and in that time, the team won four national championships. The first was in 1928, with the others in 1931, 1932, and 1939. However, as exceptional as his tenure was, it held nothing to the legendary coach John McKay, who would appear 20 years later.
John McKay (1960-1975)
John McKay is one of the two iconic coaches who led USC to an overwhelming victory. He also led the team to gaining four national championship titles in 1962, 1967, 1972, and 1974. During his tenure, the team had a win-loss-tied score of 127-40-8, winning around 62% of the games. The team participated eight times in the Rose Bowl and led the Trojans to 15 wins in 18 games against their rivals, UCLA and Notre Dame.
John Robinson (1976-1982)
John Robinson might not have made the impact John McKay did, but he certainly didn’t disappoint. The iconic USC and Rams coach will be remembered in loving memory for his 1978 National Championship Title and three bowl wins. Further, he has a win-loss score of 104-35-4, coaching the team into winning over 60% of their games during his tenure.
Pete Carroll (2001-2009)
Pete Carroll is a coach that no one was sure would work, as he was the inexperienced athletic director, Mike Garrett’s fourth choice. Carroll only got the job after Mike Bellotti, Dennis Erickson, and Mike Riley refused.
Still, the two-time NFL failure surprised everyone with his legendary coaching tenure. He led the team to several wins, including:
- 2003 and 2004 National Championship Titles
- 5 Pac-10 titles
- BCS bowl trips
- 11-win seasons
- 7 AP Top 4 finishes
The Start of a Downward Trend
While Carroll was an excellent surprise. He coached the team that scored 513 points in 11 seasons to even more victories. Yet, he was also the start of the end. His glittering record was tainted by NCAA penalties, and 14 wins and one loss were voided due to infractions during his tenure.
While Carroll denied any knowledge of these infractions, it doesn’t remove the fact that the Trojans were banned for two years from bowl games and had four years of probation. Pete Carroll left after this, and the team had to replace him with a new coach.
While the infractions tainted Carroll’s career, it was still some legendary shoes to fill. The team brought in Pat Haden to fill Mike Garret’s position, who tried to replicate the team’s luck with Carroll, but it went sideways.
Lane Kiffin (2010-2013)
Lane Kiffin took over the team in 2010, but he also inherited the NCAA penalties. It was a bad situation all around, as he struggled to delegate some of the responsibilities to assistants. During his tenure, the team lost a Sun Bowl to Georgia Tech, and he was under immense pressure to make the team succeed.
It was even worse for him than it would be for another coach because he carried a legacy as the son of a well-known NFL coach. Still, he made the best of a bad situation, leading the team to a 10-win season in 2011.
It was only in the 2012 season that Kiffin’s tenure started to go wrong. This year, the team finished unranked with a 7-6 record. This means that it was the first team since 1963 to start the season as the top team and end the season outside the top 25.
In 2013, Haden fired Kiffin after the team lost a game at Arizona State. It was a controversial situation since it allegedly happened on an airport runway, and many believe it to be a rude move on Haden’s part.
Ed Orgeron (2013)
While Haden was searching for another coach, Ed Orgeron took over as interim coach in 2013. The USC allegedly didn’t like his voice, and no, it wasn’t what he was saying in the sports scene, but what he actually sounded like.
They passed him over for Steve Sarkisian, which was a significant error in judgment. He became the LSU coach and had his Tigers ranked first following an undefeated season. They won 37-10 against the Georgia Bulldogs and became the SEC Champions in 2019.
In fact, many Trojan faces actually followed him to LSU, such as Marcus Allen, John Robinson, Tommie Robinson, James Cregg, and Kenechi Udeze. This decision proved to be the one that drove the team further into its streak of underperformance instead of lifting it out of the bog.
Steve Sarkisian (2014-15)
Sarkisian was Haden’s attempt to succeed with a Kiffin copy where Kiffin failed. However, he decided to hire a coach with a 34-29 win-loss record and a known reputation as a drinker. Still, his exceptional offensive mind was precisely what Haden thought the team needed.
The first bit of his term started well, as the team had a 9-4 mark and bowl title in 2014. However, his issues with alcohol continued to inhibit his performance, as he appeared at booster and team meetings in an intoxicated state.
Ultimately, Sarkisian was only coach for 18 games before being fired for being found to abuse substances. During his tenure, it wasn’t only Sarkisian’s substance abuse that drove the team into a downward spiral but also other scandals.
Clay Helton (2013/2015-21)
While Clay Helton seemed like the ideal replacement for people like Kiffin and Sarkisian, he ended up being another error in judgment. During his tenure as the interim head coach, he helped the team win five of the seven games they played.
He managed to guide the team to a Rose Bowl win and a PAC-12 title. However, a lot of this success was due to players that Kiffin and Sarkisian recruited, not necessarily due to his skill. Events around the world managed to distract others as his terms gradually saw more failure.
As Helton didn’t actually have the qualifications to run the USC team, it wasn’t long before it started to show. He was a people person and well-liked, but ultimately, he couldn’t replicate and sustain the brief success he had at the start of his term. Eventually, they fired him when the team lost 42-28 against Stanford in 2021.
NCAA Penalties
The start of the USC Trojans’ downward trend was the NCAA penalties that occurred during Carroll’s term. The penalties were for infractions in which USC gave improper benefits to Reggie Bush, a Heisman Trophy winner.
The NCAA declared there was a “lack of institutional control,” listing multiple improper benefits for Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo, a former basketball player. These improper benefits included staying in a rent-free home and having his hotel stays paid for.
It also included being driven around in a limousine, and receiving a new suit for accepting his Heisman Trophy. Due to these infractions, the football teams saw severe penalties, such as:
- A ban from bowl games for two years
- Four years probation
- Loss of 30 football scholarships over four years
- Forfeit an entire season (14 wins and one loss) where Bush was a player
Ultimately, these bans made it incredibly difficult for Carroll’s successor, Kiffin, to positively impact the team’s performance.
Other Setbacks and Scandals
While Haden didn’t make good decisions during his term as athletics director, his successor was even worse after he resigned in 2015. Instead of trying to turn around the football program by assigning a career college sports expert, nepotism entered the scene as Lynn Swann was hired.
Swann didn’t have the qualifications to be an athletic director, as he only co-owned an AFL team that lasted four years and was a USC alum. However, he was a close friend of B. Wayne Hughes, a significant USC donor.
USC President C.L. “Max” Nikias hired him before he had to resign due to another scandal at this point. USC has experienced or is in the midst of various scandals. The FBI arrested Tony Bland, and they found the USC’s medical school dean abusing illegal substances and arranging parties on campus.
Further, authorities found a USC campus gynecologist to have abused students for 30 years, which ultimately resulted in the resignation of Nikias. While many of these scandals don’t directly link with the football team, they nonetheless had an impact on the team’s reputation.
The Latest News for USC Trojans
While the Trojans had a challenging decade, it slowly started to turn about with their latest coach, Lincoln Riley, at the helm. While the team hasn’t made a complete comeback, he managed to lead the team to one of the most significant one-season victory turnaround, winning 11 victories in 2022 compared to its four victories in the previous season.
They went on to go 11-3 in 2022 to make a turnaround and were the undefeated champions in the Coliseum, something they haven’t managed since 2017. The USC team also drafted seven Trojans in 2024, adding the following players to the team:
- Caleb Williams
- Tahj Washington
- Calen Bullock
- MarShawn Lloyd
- Jarrett Kingston
- Brenden Rice
- Solomon Byrd
Still, that’s not to say that it’s all good. There are several controversies surrounding Lincoln Riley’s position as USC’s head coach, one of which is that his performance hasn’t been as good as they thought it would be.
The Big Ten Conference
Football fans who are watching the USC Trojans will know that they’re currently participating in the Big Ten Conference. The team has been making moves for the last two years to join the Big Ten Conference and has already played and lost 26-21 to the Washington Huskies.
However, if you look at the odds at sportsbooks like Stake, then you’ll see that experts expect the Trojans to win their next game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Still, no one can guarantee what’ll happen, so we’ll wait and see.
The Return of Pete Carroll
Other news making the rounds is Pete Carroll’s return to the USC football team. While he’s not the head coach of the football team, he is returning as a teacher at USC. So far, no clear information has been released about what capacity he will teach at USC. Carroll has stated that while he isn’t actively looking for a coaching position, he’s still open to the possibility of it.
What This Means for USC Going Forward
While Lincoln has had one of the best runs since Pete Carroll was at the helm, he’s still coming off a disappointing 2023 season. The Trojans are in a better place than they have been for the past decade, but only time will show whether it’s enough to lift them out of their slump.
