Maddux Sports Blog

Update: Forget about everything I wrote below. Reportedly, Lane Kiffin is leaving Tennessee for USC. Apparently the Trojans are determined to suck. Brutal.

There is precisely one thing that, in my eyes, USC absolutely could  not afford to have happen – have the first coach they offer the job to turn it down. That’s just what appears to have happened today, though. Jack Del Rio is reportedly sticking around with the Jacksonville Jaguars for at least another year. He’ was a star linebacker back in the day for USC, and he even won a Rose Bowl MVP, so he has ties to the program even if he doesn’t have college coaching experience. He’s not actually saying that he was offered the job, but the rumors are plentiful enough and strong enough that we can assume he was.

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This Tim Floyd situation is going to get uglier and uglier. His resignation, and the speed and seeming joy with which the athletic department at USC took it, is a clear indicator of his guilt in the alleged cash-spreading incident, and it’s not hard to imagine him being guilty of more, either. The NCAA combined their investigation into the basketball team with their one into Reggie Bush and the football team et al . That would suggest that they are taking it pretty seriously, and this just adds fuel to their efforts. It will be very interesting to see what happens here. It could end very badly – loss of scholarships or post-season eligibility or the like. This really makes you wonder if maybe Pete Carroll will find the next NFL offer too good to refuse. If he does have some blood on his hands then he’d be much better off following the example of John Calipari – get out ahead of the scandal – than that of Tim Floyd.

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So long, Tim Floyd. One of the slimiest coaches in basketball has reportedly resigned from his post at USC. He’s embroiled with a scandal over allegations that he personally paid an associate of O.J. Mayo so that Mayo would choose to attend USC. He hasn’t admitted to doing anything wrong, but this resignation is the next best thing. It was only a couple of months ago that Floyd declared his love to USC and chose to stay instead of taking the job at Arizona, sp this is a relationship that soured quickly. Now USC has to find a good coach at an awkward time, and they can’t afford to screw it up. The search won’t be made any easier by the sins of Floyd – no coach would be eager to jump into a school that could be hit by sanctions. I’ve never been a fan of Floyd, and this is just a clear sign that I can trust my instincts.

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Wow, is this ever a terrible Monday night game. If someone paid me to come up with something nice to say about these teams or this game I would have to give the money back. With one exception – Steve Slaton has had a very good game, and that’s becoming a trend for him. The biggest problem is that we are getting exactly the same game that it looked like we would get. I just wish the league would do something about these terrible Monday night matchups – like cancel them.

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A few things occupying my thoughts:

Monday Night Football is just a couple of hours away. I am torn in the game. The big thing that stops me from backing New Orleans enthusiastically is the loss of Sedrick Ellis. I have no idea what the impact of his absence will be, but I am very curious to find out. He’s really coming into his own, and he would have made it much harder for Minnesota to run. Since they can’t really pass, that would have been important. This isn’t going to be a classic game, but it is certainly an interesting one to consider. Talented but terribly flawed teams.

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