Usc Football

USC Coach Lane Kiffin on Saturday officially announced the addition of three new assistants and the promotion of quarterbacks coach Clay Helton to offensive coordinator. The news release sent out by USC did not address whether Kiffin would give up play-calling duties. "I am excited to have completed the reconstruction of our staff," Kiffin said in a statement. "It was a very exhaustive and thorough process. " Helton will continue to coach quarterbacks as the Trojans transition from four-year starter Matt Barkley to sophomores Max Wittek or Cody Kessler or freshman Max Browne.

USC's visit to Notre Dame in 2011 marked the Fighting Irish's first night home game in 21 years. Two years later, the Trojans once again will be under the lights at Notre Dame Stadium. USC's Oct. 19 game at South Bend, Ind., will kick off at 7:30 p.m. EST and will be televised by NBC, the schools announced Wednesday. USC defeated Notre Dame, 31-17, two years ago. The Trojans are to open the season Aug. 29 at Hawaii. Kick-off times and broadcast information for games other than Notre Dame have yet to be announced.

Two years into NCAA sanctions, USC's football program now faces the toughest part. For each of the next three years Coach Lane Kiffin and his staff can give only 15 scholarships, and by fall the Trojans' roster cannot exceed 75 scholarship players. Both of those numbers are a handicap of 10 fewer than what rules typically allow. As punishment goes, the four years of NCAA probation were more symbolic than punitive, and the two-year bowl ban, while disappointing for players, coaches and fans, is over.

Dion Bailey is moving back to safety, USC's quarterback competition will move, as expected, into summer and Trojans Coach Lane Kiffin made at least one curious move with offensive linemen. That's what was revealed Monday when Kiffin released his end-of-spring depth chart , though he noted that it "is very much in sand" and "does not mean a whole lot. " Bailey, a fourth-year junior, started two seasons at linebacker and sat out spring practice while recovering from shoulder surgery.

USC's football coaching staff continued to turn over Friday. As expected, the school announced that Clancy Pendergast has been hired as defensive coordinator, replacing Monte Kiffin. Linebackers coach Scottie Hazelton also will depart to become Nevada's defensive coordinator, according to Bruce Feldman of CBSSports.com. Pendergast, 45, was defensive coordinator at California the last three seasons. “Clancy is a perfect fit for us,” Head Coach Lane Kiffin said in a statement.

Heritage Hall, the athletic department building at the center of USC's campus, has seven Heisman Trophies and their recipients' jerseys on display. Each of the seven players is highlighted in the USC football media guide and game-day programs. Enormous replicas of the retired jerseys are displayed all football season long below the peristyle of the Los Angeles Coliseum. That's right: USC still celebrates the football career of O.J.

USC's 2013 football schedule includes two Thursday night games, one Friday night game and the absence of Oregon and Washington. The Pac-12 Conference released the schedule Thursday. USC will play 13 regular-season games because the Aug. 29 opener is at Hawaii. NCAA rules allow teams to play 13 games, rather than the maximum 12, if one is in Hawaii. The Trojans, coming off a 7-6 season, will play seven home games, including nonconference games against Boston College and Utah State.

Showing its social media savvy, USC has taken the standard online football player biography a step further by including Twitter handles on its website and depth chart. Is a program that closed practices to the public to keep out agents and runners now willingly making its players available for interaction with anyone with a computer or mobile device? Tim Tessalone, USC's sports information director, said the comparison was "apples and oranges," citing the ease in tracking players through search engines.

Los Angeles Daily News reporter Scott Wolf will be allowed to attend USC practices and games while the university and representatives from the Los Angeles Times, the Daily News and the Orange County Register try to work out an agreement on what can be reported from in-season practices. Wolf had been suspended by USC after reporting Monday that kicker Andre Heidari had undergone knee surgery and would be sidelined for about three weeks. The Daily News report did not cite practice-related information, but USC considered it to be a violation of its practice policy.

Stockpiling the talent USC's key football recruiting classes (based on who enrolled in January or signed in February): 2010 Markeith Ambles, WR, Removed from program in 2011 Dion Bailey, LB, Returning starter; second in tackles last season Dillon Baxter, RB, Removed from program midseason 2011 Anthony Brown, CB, Started twice in 2011 before suffering injury Giovanni Di Poalo, OL, Competing for playing time ...

Though Lance Armstrong has been banned from competing in any events sanctioned by U.S. Anti Doping Agency, the disgraced former cyclist has found another avenue to feed his competitive hunger: swimming. Armstrong, 41, is set to race in three events at the Masters South Central Zone Swimming Championships at the University of Texas this weekend, according to the Associated Press. He's set to participate in the 500, 1,000 and 1,650-yard freestyle in the 40- to 44-year-old age group.

USC receiver George Farmer suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee and will sit out the 2013 season, a person close to the situation said Wednesday. Farmer, a junior, was injured Tuesday while catching a pass in a non-contact practice drill. He will undergo surgery in a few weeks. It is the latest setback for Farmer, who was slowed by injuries his first two seasons but was enjoying a productive spring and making a push to become a regular part of the receiver rotation.

Quarterback Max Wittek sat on a table along the sideline, bags of ice wrapped around his right knee. Receiver Marqise Lee was held out after suffering a left knee injury. So evaluating USC after its first spring scrimmage at the Coliseum on Saturday was difficult. But this much appears evident after the first week of practice: •Third-year sophomore Cody Kessler will seize every opportunity to challenge Wittek for the starting quarterback job, and freshman Max Browne is improving every workout.

Jerry Buss did not enroll as a USC graduate student with aspirations of becoming one of the most successful owners in professional sports history. As a youngster, he thought he might be a photographer. But in high school, he shifted his focus to becoming a chemist. "I wanted to go on and teach school in a big university, preferably one with a really good football team," he once said in a television interview, "and that's why I went to USC. " The University of Wyoming graduate earned a master's degree and then a PhD in physical chemistry from USC in 1957, becoming the Dr. Jerry Buss who made a fortune in real estate and purchased the Lakers a little more than two decades later.

Defensive linemen Christian Heyward and DeVante Wilson and tight end Christian Thomas are no longer with USC's football program, an athletic department spokesman said Friday. Those players - and tight end Junior Pomee - were not listed on the roster the school released in advance of Tuesday's start of spring practice. The spokesman declined to comment on their situations. As a redshirt freshman last season, Heyward played in five games. He made three tackles and recovered a fumble.

The California Sports Hall of Fame has announced its 2013 inductees: Kings legend Luc Robitaille, San Diego Padres star Tony Gwynn, track star Florence Griffith-Joyner, football icon Joe Montana, former USC football coach John Robinson and diver Greg Louganis. They will be inducted June 9 at the Ontario Convention Center. “We are proud to continue our tradition of recognizing incredible Californians who have made outstanding contributions at the highest level in sports,” said Christian Okoye, the founder of the California Sports Hall of Fame.

USC football coach Lane Kiffin earned $2.4 million in 2010, and his father, Monte Kiffin, more than $1.5 million, according to a report in USA Today . The figures were based on USC's federal tax return and cover the period from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011. USC hired Lane Kiffin in January 2010 after Pete Carroll left to become coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Carroll had earned more than $4 million in his final season at USC. Lane Kiffin reportedly earned $2 million at Tennessee in 2009, his only season with the Volunteers.

The Bowl Championship Series appears clearly headed toward a playoff, which is fine with USC Athletic Director Pat Haden. "I have been an advocate for a playoff for a long time," Haden told the school's athletic department website. "All the arguments that have been put out there against a playoff can be refuted. " Haden, a former USC and NFL quarterback, played on Trojans teams that won national titles in 1972 and 1974. USC finished atop the Associated Press and United Press International polls in 1972.

USC will open spring football practice next Tuesday, the school announced. The Trojans, coming off a 7-6 season under Coach Lane Kiffin, will practice 15 times. They will work out three times a week for two weeks and then take a week off for spring break. The Trojans return March 26 for three weeks of workouts that culminate with an April 13 scrimmage at the Coliseum. Tickets for the 1 p.m. scrimmage are $10. USC announced that eight of the 15 workouts are open for public viewing from areas at adjoining Dedeaux Field.

USC Coach Lane Kiffin on Saturday officially announced the addition of three new assistants and the promotion of quarterbacks coach Clay Helton to offensive coordinator. The news release sent out by USC did not address whether Kiffin would give up play-calling duties. "I am excited to have completed the reconstruction of our staff," Kiffin said in a statement. "It was a very exhaustive and thorough process. " Helton will continue to coach quarterbacks as the Trojans transition from four-year starter Matt Barkley to sophomores Max Wittek or Cody Kessler or freshman Max Browne.