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football Edit

Leinart has surgery, loses coach

Matt Leinart underwent successful elbow surgery according to the Associated Press. Leinart had tendonitis in his elbow and had successful minor surgery to repair the injury on Tuesday. He will also be without his quarterback coach next season with Carl Smith leaving to join former Trojan Jack Del Rio as the offensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
According to Dr. James Tibone Leinart's surgery was a success. He said that they went into his elbow with a small incision and found a small degenerative part of his tendon.
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Recovery wise Leinart will spend about two weeks in a splint and then they will begin the rehab process. The surgery did not require a stay in the hospital.
When Leinart does return it will be with a different quarterback coach. According to Jaguars.com the team finally found a replacement offensive coordinator after Bill Musgrave was let go a few weeks ago. Del Rio hired Smith and said he was a good fit for what he was looking for.
Del Rio wanted a guy with NFL offensive coordinator experience who wasn't looking for a head coaching position in the future.
As of yet USC has not named a replacement for Smith. The LA Times reported that Steve Sarkisian is a likely candidate to return to Troy. He was the QB coach in 2002 and 2003.
Receivers coach Lane Kiffin would like the job and could be promoted. If Norm Chow or someone internally will take double duty and act as the quarterback coach, it would leave a spot open for Ken Norton Jr. to be hired as a fulltime assistant.
Jethro Franklin is on campus now as USC's new defensive line coach. He replaces Ed Orgeron who is now the head man at Ole Miss.
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