USC defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast says he has to keep perspective sometimes that his young secondary may not match up against another depth of wide receiver talent quite like it's faced during this preseason.
"I try not to let my blood pressure get high when there's so many balls that are complete, intermediate or down the field," he joked.
Actually, it sounds like Pendergast's anxiety level about that mostly inexperienced group of corners is diminishing at least somewhat.
"It's just really good competition and it's really making us better, and I really have seen a jump in the last two or three days with our corners playing better," he continued Wednesday after practice. "I don't know if it looks like it to you guys watching practice, but the one-on-ones, watching the technique that we're stressing, coaching it up in the meeting with the assistants and then letting them take it to the secondary, we're seeing a lot of jumps."
Asked who in particular has made the biggest of those jumps, Pendergast highlighted in order freshman Chris Steele, sophomore Olaijah Griffin and redshirt freshman Isaac Taylor-Stuart, noting the latter had his best day of practice Tuesday and looked good again Wednesday from what he observed.
Defensive backs coach Greg Burns, meanwhile, included redshirt sophomore Greg Johnson -- who has been cross training at nickel -- when discussing the remaining contenders for those two starting corner jobs.
Burns said he mostly has his secondary rotation figured out and that the first-team and second-team groups will be decided officially after the next three practices (concluding with the Fall Showcase scrimmage Saturday in the Coliseum).
"I've got three more days to finish so-called 'assessing' and getting a better feel, playing around with the rotation a little bit before in our minds we start saying this guy's capable of that, this guy's capable of that and now let's start our gameplan stuff," he said. "I've got an idea. I'm close. It's not final at all in my head, because there's about two to three spots that I'm honestly trying to finish assessing [in the secondary]."
(Continued below with full video interview)
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