USC OC Graham Harrell piles more praise upon WR Bru McCoy
It was easy to peg redshirt freshman Bru McCoy as a potential breakout candidate this year for USC.
He's a former 5-star prospect, one of the most coveted recruits in the country, and his quiet 2019 had nothing to do with his on-field abilities.
USC never formally applied for his eligibility waiver after his dual transfers to and back from Texas because McCoy wasn't ever in football shape anyway due to a prolonged illness that sidelined him all summer and most of the fall.
Now, though, McCoy is unleashed and he seems to be piling up praise by the day from USC coaches.
"Bru's been fun to watch. I think he's a guy that could really make an impact for us," offensive coordinator Graham Harrell said Monday night on the Trojans Live radio show. "His size, his explosiveness, he plays really hard, he's really tough and he gets better every single day. That's the biggest thing about Bru. Last fall he wasn't able to be around as much, so spring ball would have been huge for him. We were excited about spring ball to see what he was going to do, and then with spring ball getting cancelled we get into fall camp and every single day he just improves, improves, improves because he just gets more and more comfortable with what he's doing.
"And that's as important as anything -- that's the key to this offense is we're not trying to complicate it for you; we're trying to make it as simple as possible so you can go use your natural abilities. And he has a ton of natural abilities."
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound wideout was highlighted by head coach Clay Helton as one of the standouts in the Trojans' first preseason scrimmage Saturday. (Media have not gotten to watch any practices or the scrimmage due to campus COVID-19 protocols.)
"There were guys we hadn’t gotten to see in live situations yet. Bru McCoy was one of those guys. I thought he had a good day," Helton said. "It was nice to see him really show his skill level and see what he can do. He looked extremely comfortable out there."
Harrell also touched on USC's freshman wide receivers -- Gary Bryant Jr. and Joshua Jackson Jr. -- noting that they've both been slowed by unspecified injuries.
"Gary when he hasn't been banged up has been very fun to watch -- explosive, great hands," Harrell said. "... Both of them have been a little banged up, but when they're out there they're special talents."
USC has a deep wide receiver corps regardless with veterans Tyler Vaughns and Amon-Ra St. Brown on the outside and sophomore Drake London continuing to work mostly inside.
That would seem to be the only obstacle to McCoy this fall is that those guys ahead of him don't often come off the field.
"I definitely see [McCoy] contributing. Now, how much of a contribution will be up to him and how he continues to perform over the next two weeks, but he made a major step forward this past Saturday," Helton said.
Said Harrell: "He hasn't disappointed. He's been fun."
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