This time a year ago, quarterback Jaxson Dart was weighing his college options after a late surge in his recruitment had changed everything for the formerly under-the-radar standout from Utah.
Ultimately, he would labor over a final decision between USC and UCLA, and the QB's father couldn't help but think at the time that the Bruins might be the safer option.
It was going to be the QB's choice in the end, but Brandon Dart also felt a responsibility to make sure his son didn't end up on the wrong side of such a pivotal life decision.
There was the ever-present speculation of how much longer Clay Helton and his staff would remain in place at USC, not to mention the intense spotlight and scrutiny that comes with being the Trojans quarterback. And although he hadn't lived up to expectations yet across town, UCLA coach Chip Kelly had a better track record of player development and seemed like he might finally have the Bruins on the precipice of taking the next step forward.
"UCLA just from all aspects seemed more comfortable and safe for me, but I don't really think that was the best decision for Jaxson," Brandon Dart says now, reflecting back on it all this week.
Indeed, Jaxson Dart seems to be right where he wanted to be all along, a burgeoning face of the program who after playing in parts of just three games has already seemingly cemented himself as the future of the storied quarterback position at USC.
And so it's poetic, or ironic, or whatever the word, that Dart will now make his first career start Saturday in the Coliseum against UCLA of all teams, with expectations for the freshman soaring just like his recruiting stock was a year ago.
"Yeah, looking back on it, it's kind of crazy," Dart said simply this week, not wanting to reflect on that particular aspect with much depth.
After all, he had a game to prepare for -- the biggest one of his young collegiate career.
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But Brandon Dart, back home in Utah preparing to bring his family to Los Angeles later in the week, had more time to lend perspective to this moment and the decision that led to the freshman QB being on this side of the USC-UCLA rivalry showdown Saturday.
That perspective included a candid reflection of his own fatherly assessment at the time and how it's changed over the past year.
"[The thinking then] was more along of the lines of, like we've discussed, where USC is in a little bit of turmoil, Clay and his staff if they don't have a great year, whether it's next year or the year after, they're gone, we felt like the trajectory of UCLA was going in the right direction, we felt like Chip would be there and some of those staff members would be there for more of Jaxson's career," Brandon Dart recalls. "And Chip, he's a great offensive mind, he's a developer of talent, he knows how to build a team and I think he's done a miraculous job with DTR (QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson). If he does that with DTR what can he do with [Jaxson]? And felt that was maybe better preparation for other things in the future, but the thing is Xs and Os and some of those things don't always make or break a good and bad decision."
Through that recruiting process, Jaxson Dart had really bonded with USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell and tight ends coach Seth Doege. They were young, shared the same off-field interests and mentality as him and in general had earned his trust over many Zoom calls and conversations.
On the other side, UCLA's QBs coach at the time, Dana Bible, was in his late 60s and would end up retiring in February. Most of Dart's conversations would be directly with Kelly, and while Dart had -- and has, reiterating so this week -- a lot of respect for the Bruins' head coach, that alone wasn't enough when comparing the QB rooms he'd potentially be in at each school.
He also couldn't ignore the allure of what being a USC quarterback has meant over the years -- the same spotlight and pressures that gave his father pause only enticed Jaxson more.
"It was more of a personality fit. Jaxson is an energy kid and [Harrell and Doege] have good energy. Kids feed off of that," Brandon Dart says. "... And then it was, am I going to be able to win a Pac-12 championship at USC or am I going to be able to win a Pac-12 championship at UCLA? I've got four years -- what are my odds? The history of the quarterback club at USC, the alums the last 20-years plus since Carson Palmer, and then you look at UCLA.
"To Jaxson it was, 'If I'm a QB, I want to be the QB at USC -- bar none. I want the pressure, I want the expectations, that's what I want to play with and that's the tradition I want to be a part of.'"
Surely, Dart didn't expect the head coach he signed on to play for to be fired in mid September, for that offensive staff that played such a compelling role in his decision to be thrust into jeopardy before he even stepped on the field for his first game, or for the 4-5 Trojans to find themselves now battling late in November just to get bowl eligible and avoid a losing season.
But in terms of his future, everything is there for him.
He won over the fans with his stirring performance off the bench at Washington State in Week 3, passing for 391 yards, 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions while playing half the game on a torn meniscus in his knee. By all accounts he's won over his teammates, who spoke glowingly of his leadership intangibles this week. And depending on what becomes of junior QB Kedon Slovis' unspecified lower leg injury, undefined timeline for return and just as uncertain future, Dart could close his freshman season as the starter while building momentum for 2022.
No, there are no regrets about that pivotal decision last December.
"I think we always kind of have these conversations of 'Can you believe where you're at vs. where you were a year ago?'" Brandon Dart says.
'The season for some people might be lost, but for him this is the like the biggest game of his career.'
None of this has been easy, though.
Brandon Dart laughs when asked how much thought he's given this week about Jaxson's first start coming against the other program he went down to the wire with in his commitment decision.
(It was just a few days before the early signing period that Dart made his decision, after a final call and some questions to Helton to affirm what he was feeling.)
"That's just the way that it's gone for Jax, right? Like his [second] series at Washington State is on their [1]-yard line with rain and a terrible temperature and they're all haywire -- that's [the start] of his career. And then when he comes back from injury he's on the 4-yard line [vs. Arizona]. Now he's playing against UCLA in a rivalry game," he says. "But for him, these are the games that he loves to play in and he's not going to shy away from competition. This kind of stuff fuels him."
Dart has certainly seized his moments so far.
His off-the-bench debut at Washington State, in which he spurred the Trojans back from a 14-0 deficit with 45 unanswered points, came largely on adrenaline while playing half the game on that torn meniscus that would require surgery days later.
His first game back after a month-and-a-half recovery started on that 4-yard line against Arizona on USC's fourth possession of the game, from which Dart led a 96-yard touchdown drive and followed up with another long TD drive on his next series. He completed 12 of 18 passes for 109 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs in that win over the Wildcats while splitting time with Slovis.
And while he didn't have the same success the next week at Arizona State, completing 8 of 17 passes for 89 yards, 1 INT and rushing for a TD, nobody watching that game knew that he was again doing it largely on adrenaline after injuring his hand on a scramble early into his time on the field.
"If anybody saw his hand, it was like the size of a flipping grapefruit. He got a helmet in his hand and it swelled all up and he couldn't feel or grip with his index finger at all, so he was trying to get a feel, little tweaks so he could be a little more accurate. Those are just things that people don't [see]," Brandon Dart reveals. "And I didn't even know it. He didn't even say it to me after the game. ... Then Sunday I was like, 'Hey, did you have something happen to your hand?' And he sent me a picture and was like, 'Oh yeah, I got a helmet, sandwiched in between another helmet,' and I'm like, 'Dude.' ...
"It was huge. He's just like, 'Oh yeah, they knew about it, they did all the little tests to make sure nothing was broken.' I was like, 'How did you even grip a football?'"
Interim head coach Donte Williams had made reference after the game to an unspecified hand injury for Dart that altered the rotation of the QBs coming out of halftime, but when Dart was asked after the game, he dismissed it as nothing serious.
The physical adversity has only been part of the equation, though.
While fans and media have roundly criticized Williams' decision to go with a rigid, preset rotation of the QBs through those last two games, it of course also wasn't ideal for Slovis or Dart either.
For different reasons.
Slovis is a three-year starter and former first-team All-Pac-12 quarterback suddenly being subbed out of games down the stretch of what was supposed to be a pivotal season for his NFL draft prospects.
For Dart, meanwhile, it's just something he'd never been accustomed to doing and tested his own resolve in moments like that Arizona game where he led those back-to-back touchdown drives and then was subbed out again for the final 2:36 of the first half.
