A loaded list of prospects expected to be at USC's game Saturday night
A mid-season coaching change can be very disruptive to a program's recruiting efforts, as prospects don't know who will be coaching the team a few months later, what direction the offense and defense will go, etc.
Meanwhile, current assistant coaches have their own futures in the back of their mind, understanding that a new head coach usually wants to bring in his own assistants.
But the Trojans' situation may be a little different than most mid-season coaching changes, as interim head coach Donte Williams is the team's top recruiter and is likely to remain on staff into the future regardless of who is hired for the job, assuming he wants to stay.
So far, since Clay Helton was fired two Mondays ago, USC has picked up a commitment (four-star local defensive back Ephesians Prysock) and lost a commitment (four-star running back De'Anthony Gatson, from Texas).
Most notably, though, there seems to be a lot of interest still among top recruits, as evidenced by the list of significant prospects expected to be in the Coliseum on Saturday night checking out the game against Oregon State.
**See the full list of expected visitors here**
In the Trojans' case, removing the cloud of uncertainty that always hovered over Helton, who was perpetually on the hot seat, may actually work in the program's favor as recruits know that if they sign on with USC they won't have to worry about any coaching instability for a while -- whoever ultimately gets the job.
The Helton hot seat factor was often used against the Trojans in recruiting.
Also, Williams has kept his foot on the gas with regard to USC's recruiting efforts.
"That’s one-third of the job. So you may not have time -- you find time," Williams said. "Whether it’s when I wake up at 5 a.m. to make sure I contact guys on the east coast, or it’s night time when I’m contacting guys on the West Coast. I find time. It does not matter what it is. Recruiting, everybody thinks it’s all day, 24-7. I think recruiting is 25-7. You have to almost make an hour in the day. But that’s something that’ll never stop."
As for what his message has been to recruits during this time of transition ...
"My biggest message to recruits is we’re not about changing anything here, we’re about enhancing everything. The structure is still in place," he said. "Hopefully they still give us a chance as USC. At the same time, it’s about outworking everyone else. A lot of people sometimes in my opinion, slack when the season starts. Everyone’s recruiting everyone hard in the spring and summer, but now that it’s during the season, everyone is worried only about their particular team. I think recruiting is still one-third of the job. Of course you’ve got to take care of your own team right now, which is the X’s and O’s part and making sure these guys are doing the right thing. Also, developing your players, that’s another one-third. Then the other one-third is recruiting.
"I mean, we have a lot of great players on our team that after this season will leave. If those guys leave, you have to be able to replace them. No matter what, USC is still USC. Still a great academic school. Still a great city. Still great alums. We’re going to make sure we keep the train on the tracks and keep this thing rolling."
