Looks like Dixon is out and Theus is likely next USC coach

[Russ Smith]

ESPN says Dixon has officially turned the job down, and Theus will be on campus tomorrow for an interview. USC fans say the new coach will be announced Friday if all goes well apparently they have a done deal with Theus who apparently doesn't mind being 2nd choice behind Dixon.

USC fans claim if Theus is hired, marcus Johnson comes back to USC instead of going overseas, and Derrick Williams will re-commit to USC as well.

And Theus would become the first coach in Pac 10 history to have played a coach on a Saturday morning kids show(sort of a Saved By The Bell ripoff).

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

USC is trying to get out from under the black cloud of NCAA allegations during the Floyd era so they hire a Jerry Tarkanian disciple? Like Floyd before him Reggie Theus would recruit extremely well at USC but trouble would again only be a step away.

And I'd also take this Theus info with a mountain of salt until something more definitive comes out. Andy Katz and co. also claimed for months that Theus was the frontrunner for the Arizona job when in reality we had zero interest due to his questionable academic history. The Theus rumors start with David and Dana Pump who propagate these rumors to their national media contacts to get their boy some pub and hopefully a job.

 

[Russ Smith]

USC is trying to get out from under the black cloud of NCAA allegations during the Floyd era so they hire a Jerry Tarkanian disciple? Like Floyd before him Reggie Theus would recruit extremely well at USC but trouble would again only be a step away.

And I'd also take this Theus info with a mountain of salt until something more definitive comes out. Andy Katz and co. also claimed for months that Theus was the frontrunner for the Arizona job when in reality we had zero interest due to his questionable academic history. The Theus rumors start with David and Dana Pump who propagate these rumors to their national media contacts to get their boy some pub and hopefully a job.

Since I posted that, Theus met with USC and got no offer Thursday. USC tried to hire Kruger but were rejected Thursday night. Friday morning Scott Wolf reported USC was still talking to Dixon, and now Friday afternoon Katz is reporting that Dixon has AGAIN rejected USC.

Theus seems to be the guy that is willing to take the job. Boylen is a viable candidate but nobody knows if he's all that interested. Braswell would take the job if offered but USC doesn't seem to think he's high profile enough.

So yeah I agree if they hire Theus it appears to be a huge mistake, you want to show the NCAA you're cleaning up, hiring Theus is the wrong move to make.

 

[Gaddabout]

Theus starts rumors about Theus.

Ugh. I can't believe this guy continues to get interviews.

 

[overseascardfan]

ESPN says Dixon has officially turned the job down, and Theus will be on campus tomorrow for an interview. USC fans say the new coach will be announced Friday if all goes well apparently they have a done deal with Theus who apparently doesn't mind being 2nd choice behind Dixon.

USC fans claim if Theus is hired, marcus Johnson comes back to USC instead of going overseas, and Derrick Williams will re-commit to USC as well.

And Theus would become the first coach in Pac 10 history to have played a coach on a Saturday morning kids show(sort of a Saved By The Bell ripoff).

Hopefully he doesn't have a change of heart over the weekend like Miller did. Theus will get recruits because the amount of playing time he can offer and Southern California with the LA/Hollywood appeal will win kids over.

 

[overseascardfan]

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/107253-dixon-turns-down-trojans-again-theus-out

USC is making even more of a spectacle of themselves, they ran off Theus to get turned down by Dixon a second time. End the madness by giving the job to someone who actually wants it, which isn't a large pool to begin with.

 

[Russ Smith]

They hired Kevin O'Neill.

Clean guy, no personality at all he won't be a good enough recruiter unless they hire assistants who can do that. My guess is stopgap to get them through the NCAA damages and then go after Dixon again in a couple of years.

The claim is that both AD Garrett and President Sample might not last the year so my guess is USC is expecting major NCAA penalties.

 

[overseascardfan]

They hired Kevin O'Neill.

Clean guy, no personality at all he won't be a good enough recruiter unless they hire assistants who can do that. My guess is stopgap to get them through the NCAA damages and then go after Dixon again in a couple of years.

The claim is that both AD Garrett and President Sample might not last the year so my guess is USC is expecting major NCAA penalties.

The funny thing is that your probably right on with Garrett & Sample but I bet the football program will come out untouched.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

What's funny is that people think this is not only a serviceable hire, but a good one. It's going to be pretty amusing watching KO inevitably self-destruct in the limelight of LA, I hope for nothing but the worst for that piece of garbage. Just goes to show that if you give the right people quotes and accessibility then you get a free pass for seemingly forever no matter how much you lose.

 

[Russ Smith]

What's funny is that people think this is not only a serviceable hire, but a good one. It's going to be pretty amusing watching KO inevitably self-destruct in the limelight of LA, I hope for nothing but the worst for that piece of garbage. Just goes to show that if you give the right people quotes and accessibility then you get a free pass for seemingly forever no matter how much you lose.

Yeah I can see why it might seem like a good hire, I don't think KO will get them on further NCAA probation. Most of the team already left, at worst maybe he cost them Derrick Williams deciding to stay, and Marcus Johnson coming back(he still might).

He'll tick off the current players like he did at UT and UA, but I don't think anybody believes USC hired him for the longterm.

So if your intention is run a clean program while waiting for the clouds to lift, KO can do that. The problem is USC is already making it pretty clear he's not their guy, supposedly he had to agree to keep all 3 top assistants, Bob Cantu(recruiter) Phil Johnson(defensive guy) and Gib Arnold. Arnold has been interviewing the last 2 summers so my suspicion is he'll take a job and leave.

But Johnson is a defensive guru guy, he's the one that designs those gimmick triangle and 2 things USC played in recent seasons. Then you have KO who is supposed to be a defensive mind, detests zones, and openly admitted he didn't talk to his assistants at UA during games. how in the hell is that going to work with him and Johnson being polar opposites as defensive coaches?

So KO is already under the gun not getting to pick his own staff, he'll alienate the guys he inherits, and his Pac 10 recruiting connections might not be worth much given nobody liked him at UA. Gary Franklin has already reneged on his verbal reportedly.

Just a weird hire, they could have gotten Braswell who is still pretty clean, a good coach, and won't alienate the coaches, players and fans.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

There's plenty of loser coaches who are clean that manage not to piss everybody off. And there's also plenty of loser coaches that aren't despised by the guy coaching the premier AAU program on the West Coast. But the biggest reason this is going to be a disaster is very specific - it's because everywhere Kevin O'Neill has coached it has ended badly.

And you should hear some USC and ASU fans on this one - they actually believe USC got one over on Arizona due to KO's hiring. Thinks O'Neill is going to be some thorn in Sean Miller's side.

 

[Mulli]

There's plenty of loser coaches who are clean that manage not to piss everybody off. And there's also plenty of loser coaches that aren't despised by the guy coaching the premier AAU program on the West Coast. But the biggest reason this is going to be a disaster is very specific - it's because everywhere Kevin O'Neill has coached it has ended badly.

And you should hear some USC and ASU fans on this one - they actually believe USC got one over on Arizona due to KO's hiring. Thinks O'Neill is going to be some thorn in Sean Miller's side.

Those fans are dumb.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Well, Gary Franklin a 2010 top 75 PG out of Mater Dei has decommitted from USC and has also dropped them as a school due to one Kevin O'Neill.

 

[Russ Smith]

Well, Gary Franklin a 2010 top 75 PG out of Mater Dei has decommitted from USC and has also dropped them as a school due to one Kevin O'Neill.

Hey I said that in my post yesterday!

Plaschke has a big article on KO today in the LA Times about him being a legendary recruiter. The problem is that was years ago, his rep now is the guy who had the entire UA team ready to leave if he wasn't fired.

Polee's dad was quoted as saying that his son will now speak to USC before deciding if he wants to stick to his verbal. He even said "my son playing for USC is NOT a condition of my job here." In other words, he's saying it's possible his son will decommit even though everyone knows Floyd hired the dad to keep the son from decommitting in the first place. And the funny thing, the son isn't all that good, great leaper but that's it.