USC talent pool deeper than ever
That guy standing in the hallway wearing checkered Bermuda shorts?
A Heisman favorite.
The kid trudging up the stairs wearing baggy pants and carrying a backpack?
An NFL first-rounder.
The guy wandering around in a skullcap and smile?
An All-American linebacker.
These days you can't visit Heritage Hall without bumping into greatness, even in the middle of the week during summer school.
I showed up Thursday to watch a photo shoot of this year's USC star seniors in the lounge, but outside there were even better players, walking through darkened corners, laughing down distant hallways, everywhere.
After perhaps his best recruiting season yet, Pete Carroll's eyes have never been so wide, because his pockets have never been so stuffed.
He has built great teams before but never like this.
They've never been this fast. They've never been this deep.
And — shudder — maybe they've never been this good?
"This is the most competitive team we've had," said Carroll, who never says those sorts of things, and certainly never in May.
The guy in the checkered Bermuda shorts had another word for it.
"It's crazy," said quarterback John David Booty. "We have so many great players, it's just crazy. Usually, in a program with this much talent, guys get frustrated and transfer. But here, everybody's great and everybody stays."
Look, there's one of the 10 prep All-American running backs.
That is not a misprint. With the addition of at least three all-world freshmen, USC has perhaps more good running backs than the rest of the Pac-10 combined.
"They have so much energy out there, sometimes I'm thinking, why can't we have 10 quarterbacks?" John David Booty says with a laugh.
Look, over there, nine star defensive backs, and six star linebackers, and five defensive linemen who could start for anyone in the country.
This is also not a misprint. The Trojans are returning all but one starter from a defense that gave up only eight touchdowns in last season's final six games.
"On paper, we have a really, really, really good defense," senior end Lawrence Jackson said. "This is not about 'if.' This is about 'when.' "
Wait, are those the quarterbacks? A Heisman candidate, a couple of prep All-Americans, and a guy who last year went 8-0 in leading one of the best teams in the country?
We're also not making this up. As if John David Booty and Mark Sanchez and Aaron Corp weren't riches enough, this week the gold-standard Mitch Mustain from Arkansas showed up on campus.
A couple of years ago, he was one magazine's national high school player of the year. Last season, he went 8-0 as a starter for a Razorbacks team that went 10-4.
Then he walked off the field and stepped on an airplane and flew here.
He will have to sit out a season. He cannot be assured of ever starting a game. Yet he couldn't wait.
"You visit here and realize, you can be yourself, you can compete for your job, Coach Carroll takes care of you, this is the place," Mustain said.
As John David Booty said, it's crazy.
Carroll's ability to stockpile talent goes against everything that today's young athletes believe. He doesn't promise them stardom. He doesn't even promise them jobs.
He guarantees nothing, yet gets everyone, and why is that?
"Because guys know that if you can make your mark here, you can make it anywhere," Jackson said. "We get guys who love the challenge of competing with the best."
There seem to be two fundamental beliefs that lead high school divas to lose their egos and attend a school where the competition is the most difficult in the country.
First, unlike many other top programs, USC is not about college politics, but NFL production. If you produce, you will play, whether you are a 17-year-old freshman or a 23-year-old senior.
Last season, USC was one of the top veteran teams in the country again, yet 16 freshmen still played, a statistic that has become a Carroll trademark.
"There are no favorites around here, and guys love that," Jackson said. "It's like life — the more you do for your boss, the more he will do for you."
Second, unlike any other top program, you can become an NFL player simply by competing in USC's practices. This is known as the Matt Cassel Law.
Cassel is a reserve quarterback for the New England Patriots even though, at USC, he did not throw a single touchdown pass. He sat the bench behind two Heisman Trophy winners, remember? Turned out to be one lucrative view.
"Even if I never played here, I would have loved being here learning from Pete Carroll," said John David Booty, leaning against a hallway wall. "Players just want to be around this environment. They want to be around winning."
Patrick Turner walked past wearing headphones and a backpack. The quarterback and receiver hugged. They made plans to meet with other Trojans next week for the start of some informal, casual, repetitive summer drills.
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