Answer Friday! (Part 4)
Friday night answers!
TROJANS32 said:
Of the 2 silent commits that you said we have, are they of the type that any team in the country would be very eager to sign them? If not, is one? Thanx, Scott, and sorry for messing up the wording of my question so it came out, uh, sorta two,[but not really, I hope]. Thank you extremely much for the informative forums, and for your time and patience.
A: I believe they are players that any college would want, which means schools from places like the SEC and Big 12.
Q: Ren Lopez said:
You have constantly questioned Pete Carroll's decision to burn De'von Flournoy's redshirt year. I may be mistaken, but I vaguely recall you saying the same thing about Stafon Johnson his freshman year. Now that there is a decent chance that Stafon will petition for a redshirt this year, do you still think that it was a bad idea to not redshirt Stafon in 2006? Would you still think it was a bad idea to burn Flournoy's redshirt this year if he end's up injured like Stafon in the next 3 years?
A: Yes. You get five years to play four in college football. Stafon Johnson would still have next year even if he redshirted his freshman season. What did he really gain from that freshman year of not playing? I don't see why you play someone like Flournoy next to nothing this season under any circumstances. If he gets hurt, he has a redshirt available. And you can get a sixth year under NCAA rules like Hershel Dennis, Jeff Byers and Josh Pinkard.
Here's the deal Wolfie. When you recruit a player, especially with SC's philosophy, you tell them they will get a chance to get on the field. If they show in practice that they are ready, then they get on the field. You can't tell a recruit one thing and then do another. Sometimes that player will do well on the field and sometimes, they may show they weren't so ready after all. In De'von's case, PC said that he still had some things to learn. Perhaps he seemed like he was ready to see meaningful playing time, but after the fact, it wasn't the case. It happens Wolfie. Get over it.
Many of the, um, student-athletes on the football team have NFL ambitions. They can leave USC after three years. The best players leave then, and others leave after four years, redshirt or not. Play them while you got them.