Marv Goux

Marv Goux is not known in Trojan history for selling student football tickets. He is known as a 165-pound linebacker-center who made the Notre Dame all-opponent team three years in a row. He was the most inspirational Trojan coach ever and gave his heart, body and soul for USC. To ever think Marv should not be included in the first elite group of athletes and coaches inducted to the USC Hall of Fame is an insult to Marv and the great tradition of...

He answers the phone while packing up boxes in his leased Nashville home, a controversial boss beckoning, a lawsuit swirling, probation waiting. And all Kennedy Pola can do is talk old-fashioned USC football. "We're gonna put our foot in the ground and go," he says. All Kennedy Pola can do is talk Marv Goux. "He taught me Trojan tradition, he taught me Trojan family," he says. All Kennedy Pola can do is talk change. "I want us to do things the way we used to do them," he says.

Marv Goux, who has spent 46 years in football, announced his retirement Friday. Goux, 61, played for UC Santa Barbara and USC and was also a key contributor to USC's football success as an assistant coach in 1961-82 before joining the Rams as defensive line coach in 1983. Goux left coaching in 1990 to become an administrative assistant with the Rams. "Football has always been my place in the sun from the time I could remember," Goux said.

John Papadakis, middle linebacker and defensive captain of the USC team that traveled to Birmingham to play Alabama in 1970, has written a movie proposal with Mark Houska about that game and the significance it played in integrating the South. The authors discuss the role that energetic assistant coach Marv Goux played in making the USC football program a leader in integrating sports. "His approach was simple," they wrote. "Goux saw only two colors -- cardinal and gold."

There was no better Trojan than Marv Goux, both as a player and as a coach. He put the fear of God in his players who'd rather die than come to the sidelines if they missed a tackle and face Marv. I was privileged to hear him speak earlier this year when he received an award. He was in rare form, exhibiting both humor and courage. I am indebted to Marv for his part in all the wonderful fall Saturday afternoons. Richard G. Wong USC, Class of 1962 Marv Goux was the driving spiritual force of the great Trojans teams of the 1960s and '70s.

Marv Goux, the gruff-talking assistant coach who became synonymous with USC football over a span of three decades, died of cancer Saturday at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 69. The man known as "Mr. Trojan" played in two Rose Bowls and helped guide the team to five national championships before finishing his career with the Los Angeles Rams.

Two stories caught my attention today (Nov. 24): "Trojan Warrior" and "Smith Would Rather Play Irish Earlier." Marv Goux exemplifies the USC spirit and the long history of a proud school playing Notre Dame. It isn't a coincidence that USC is 0-9 AG (After Goux). The spirit he embodies is gone. How do I know? Read the second article. Larry Smith simply doesn't get what Goux stands for. Goux has a permanent limp; Smith says it is "asking a hell of a lot" for USC to play UCLA and Notre Dame on successive weekends every other year.

Isn't it time the blame for the slight decline of the USC football program be placed where it really belongs--squarely on the shoulders of John Robinson and Marv Goux? These men were, in part, responsible for USC's three-year probation, then promptly left and didn't have to contend with the consequences. The student body had to pick up the tab for lost revenue and Ted Tollner had to pick up the pieces and try to rebuild a football program. I don't think he's done such a bad job, cleaning up the John Robinson legacy.

Donahue was terribly up-tight about any in-depth looks by the media at him or his family. He understood the daily reporting needs and the one-shot criticisms, both pre- and postgame. But the long stories that attempted to delve into personalities scared him to death. So when I assigned Tommy Bonk to do just such a piece on Donahue and his family a few years ago, it was as if I had sent Marv Goux over to his house for dinner.

Let me get this straight. John Robinson leaves the USC football program in 1982 with a bare cupboard and the team slapped with NCAA sanctions. Yet the school's alumni and fans welcome him back with open arms 10 years later. Now John says that his athletes will attend class and that he will obey the NCAA rules. Not only does USC live in the glorious '60s, but it seems that the drugs they were using back then have long aftereffects. Seriously, John, who read the NCAA rule book for you?

Probably no one would have enjoyed USC's Rose Bowl victory more than Marv Goux, the energetic longtime assistant coach known as Mr. Trojan. Goux died of cancer in July 2002 at 69, but his wife, Patti, a first-grade teacher in Palm Springs, went to the game with former Trojans Marlin and Judy McKeever. Afterward, celebrating at DeLacey's Club 41 in Old Town Pasadena, Patti Goux was asked what her husband would have had to say about the Trojans' victory over Michigan.

Saturday was a good day in heaven for Marv Goux. Make that a great day. Ever since the greatest assistant coach in the history of USC football passed away in late July, he had been arguing with God about the need to get DirecTV up there. He was pretty sure God was a Notre Dame fan and She had been stalling because there hadn't been much to watch the last few years. Then, low and behold, the Irish started 5-0 and there was DirecTV. As far as Marv was concerned, not a moment too soon.

On Sept. 2, USC will open the college football season against Auburn without the toughest Trojan of them all, former captain and assistant coach Marv Goux, who died last month of cancer at 69. From 1957-82, Goux was an assistant to coaches Don Clark, John McKay and John Robinson. During his tenure, the Trojans won five national championships and played in 11 Rose Bowls, winning eight.

There was no better Trojan than Marv Goux, both as a player and as a coach. He put the fear of God in his players who'd rather die than come to the sidelines if they missed a tackle and face Marv. I was privileged to hear him speak earlier this year when he received an award. He was in rare form, exhibiting both humor and courage. I am indebted to Marv for his part in all the wonderful fall Saturday afternoons. Richard G. Wong USC, Class of 1962 Marv Goux was the driving spiritual force of the great Trojans teams of the 1960s and '70s.

Marv Goux, the gruff-talking assistant coach who became synonymous with USC football over a span of three decades, died of cancer Saturday at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 69. The man known as "Mr. Trojan" played in two Rose Bowls and helped guide the team to five national championships before finishing his career with the Los Angeles Rams.

Former USC assistant Marv Goux spoke at a special team meeting Tuesday afternoon, telling players they would remember the Notre Dame game for the rest of their lives. "He was a little animated," receiver Keary Colbert said. "He's an emotional guy." Coach Pete Carroll invited Goux to campus as part of an effort to impress upon his players the importance of Saturday's game. The team will travel to Indiana on Thursday and spend part of Friday at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend.

Congratulations to Bob Oates (June 5) for hitting the nail on the head concerning USC's new athletic Hall of Fame. Who are these 52 mostly younger voters who don't realize what made USC athletics legendary to begin with? It's too bad the average USC fan has no vote. They probably would have more insight and fewer problems remembering the era that put USC on the map. PHIL BOSKOVICH Westlake Village Thank you, Mr. Oates, for remembering USC football in the 1920s and 1930s.

Former USC assistant Marv Goux spoke at a special team meeting Tuesday afternoon, telling players they would remember the Notre Dame game for the rest of their lives. "He was a little animated," receiver Keary Colbert said. "He's an emotional guy." Coach Pete Carroll invited Goux to campus as part of an effort to impress upon his players the importance of Saturday's game. The team will travel to Indiana on Thursday and spend part of Friday at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend.

Donahue was terribly up-tight about any in-depth looks by the media at him or his family. He understood the daily reporting needs and the one-shot criticisms, both pre- and postgame. But the long stories that attempted to delve into personalities scared him to death. So when I assigned Tommy Bonk to do just such a piece on Donahue and his family a few years ago, it was as if I had sent Marv Goux over to his house for dinner.

Marv Goux is not known in Trojan history for selling student football tickets. He is known as a 165-pound linebacker-center who made the Notre Dame all-opponent team three years in a row. He was the most inspirational Trojan coach ever and gave his heart, body and soul for USC. To ever think Marv should not be included in the first elite group of athletes and coaches inducted to the USC Hall of Fame is an insult to Marv and the great tradition of...