USC IS DREAM JOB NO MORE.Byline: KAREN CROUSE The plum positions are easy to pick out. They're like Jim Carrey “James Carrey” redirects here. For the murder conspirator, see James Carey. James Eugene Carrey (born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian actor and comedian. - they rarely open up to outsiders. That's because the really cushy cush·y adj. cush·i·er, cush·i·est Informal Making few demands; comfortable: a cushy job. [Origin unknown. jobs, people tend to stay in longer than marriages. L.A. sports columnist? Definitely desirable. USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. head football coach? Twenty-five years ago, maybe. But not now. No way, no how. The USC job is the college football equivalent of the aging starlet star·let n. 1. A small star. 2. A young film actress publicized as a future star. starlet Noun a young actress who has the potential to become a star Noun 1. who vainly refuses to acknowledge she's no longer ready for her close-up. What Norma Desmond was to ``Sunset Boulevard'' and Dodgers managers are to Chavez Ravine, Paul Hackett's successor will be to Heritage Hall. A pitiable pit·i·a·ble adj. 1. Arousing or deserving of pity or compassion; lamentable. 2. Arousing disdainful pity. See Synonyms at pathetic. pit figure, mostly. It doesn't matter if Dennis Erickson Dennis Erickson (born March 24, 1947, in Everett, Washington) is the head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils football team. He has been the head coach of six college football programs and two NFL franchises. gets the job or nice guys Norv Turner Norval Eugene Turner (born May 17, 1952 at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina) is the head coach for the National Football League's San Diego Chargers. He also has served as head coach of the Washington Redskins and the Oakland Raiders, and as offensive coordinator for the Dallas or Mike Riley
It's not simply that Hackett's replacement will be saddled with the same meddlesome med·dle·some adj. Inclined to meddle or interfere. med  dle·some·ly adv.med boss in Garrett, who isn't above delivering a halftime pep talk when he feels the Spirit of Troy The Spirit of Troy, also known as the Trojan Marching Band (TMB), self-described as "The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe," is the marching band of the University of Southern California, representing USC at various functions. move him. It's that Hackett's replacement also will be burdened with 22-year-old expectations and facilities that are almost as antiquated. The weight facility, though augmented in recent years, looks pretty puny pu·ny adj. pu·ni·er, pu·ni·est 1. Of inferior size, strength, or significance; weak: a puny physique; puny excuses. 2. Chiefly Southern U.S. Sickly; ill. next to the muscle rooms that Stanford and Washington and Oregon State have painstakingly built. The Huskies, who are headed to the Rose Bowl, boast a 12,000-square-foot weight room. The Trojans could move the four Heisman trophies won by USC running backs out of Heritage Hall and put weight machines in their place and still not flex as impressive a recruiting muscle as the schools they're directly competing against. And assuming it had the will (and some donor to pick up the bill), where is USC going to find the way to match Stanford's four practice fields, one of them an artificial surface? There's hardly room enough left on the Trojans' urban campus to preen, much less expand. Maybe that's why USC persists in including in its football media guide the ``Trojans on Sports Illustrated Sports Illustrated is the largest weekly American sports magazine owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. It has over 3 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men, 19% of the adult males in the country. covers'' page instead of showcasing its football facilities, the way many of its conference rivals do. If the cardinal-and-gold suits think nobody will notice what the Trojans lack because of all the tradition they have, they're deluding themselves. Kids today have an architect's eye for buildings and an aristocrat's refined tastes. They are moved by all-weather indoor practice fields and football-only weight rooms that are really glass and chrome palaces, fit for sporting kings. They are less moved than their parents were by that which is visceral, be it an exquisite marching band Noun 1. marching band - a band that marches (as in a parade) and plays music at the same time band - instrumentalists not including string players , a stately white horse and rider This article is about the constellation. For the equestrian magazine, see Horse & Rider. The Horse and Rider is an informal name given to the stars Mizar (ζ UMa) and Alcor (80 UMa) because of their close proximity in the sky. or the afternoon light framing all those Heismans in their glass cases. Today's recruits are part of a highly visual generation, no surprise given that they were reared on television and video games and ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network games of the week. To their overloaded, overindulged senses, what happened last year is a matter of folklore. In the minds of today's recruits, what happened in 1978, when USC last won a national football title, is so ancient, it belongs not in Heritage Hall but in the Natural History Museum across the street from campus. The Trojans haven't finished in the Top 10 in the final Associated Press poll since 1989, before many of this year's recruits started playing football. Should anybody be surprised if ``Tailback U'' strikes any of them as another urban myth? Between 1962 and 1990, USC had at least one first-team All-America selection every year. But since 1993, the Trojans have had just two. The program didn't place a single player on the first-team All-Pac 10, which was announced Monday. It's true Hackett left the program well-stocked for his successor. The offensive and defensive lines will be back, as will quarterback Carson Palmer and his big-play target, Kareem Kelly. The entire secondary (plus redshirt Antuan Simmons, a projected All- America selection) is set to return, so whoever takes over the Trojans figures to inherit an embarrassment of riches An embarrassment of riches is an idiom that means an overabundance of something, or too much of a good thing, that originated in 1738 as John Ozell's translation of a French play, L'Embarras des richesses (1726). . And yet . . . If the job of guiding the Trojans' storied football program into a starry future is so alluring, why hasn't it been attracting sexier choices? The last four head-coaching hires were a USC assistant (Ted Tollner), the football coach of a Pac-10 basketball school (Larry Smith), an unemployed retread re·tread tr.v. re·tread·ed, re·tread·ing, re·treads 1. To fit (a worn automotive tire) with a new tread. 2. (John Robinson) and Garrett's third choice (Hackett). Doesn't exactly make you swoon, now, does it? Garrett can talk as smooth a game as he played. He can say leading the USC football team into the 21st century is ``a great job because we're a great program. We have a great tradition here. We're situated in an area with a great talent pool and great weather.'' Talk like that can grate on a coach, once the honeymoon ends and reality sets in. Hackett spoke Monday of ``a verbal and physical hostility in the Coliseum that I had never experienced before.'' Oh, well. The nightmare is over for him. This dream job will be somebody else's come the fall. May Hackett's successor go into it with his eyes wide open This article contains links, text or other information that has been inserted due to a business arrangement by the Wikimedia Foundation rather than the usual Wikipedia editing process. It may or may not comply with all of Wikipedia's normal editorial standards. . PAUL HACKETT TIMELINE YEAR ONE (1998) Hired: Dec. 17, 1997 Signed five-year contract to replace John Robinson, who was fired after five seasons First game: Beat Purdue, 27-17 Became first USC coach to win debut since Jess Hill in 1951 Season at a glance: After 3-0 start, Trojans finish 8-5 overall (5-3 Pac- 10, tied for third place), lose to UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX 34-17 but beat Notre Dame 10-0. Bowl bound: USC invited to Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, its first bowl game since Rose Bowl win in 1995. Trojans lose 28-19 to Texas Christian. YEAR TWO (1999) Season at a glance: After 62-7 win in opener at Hawaii, USC is 3-1 before embarking on five-game losing streak, snapped Nov. 13 with 31-28 victory at Washington State. Win final three games to finish 6-6 (3-5 Pac-10, tie for sixth place). Trojans lose all six games by 10 points or fewer. Rival watch: Notre Dame scores 22 unanswered points in second half for 25-24 victory on Oct. 16. USC beats UCLA 17-7, snapping the Bruins' eight-game winning streak in the series. YEAR THREE (2000) Season at a glance: A 3-0 start pushes USC at high as No. 8 in the Associated Press poll, but the second five-game losing streak in as many seasons wipes out any big plans. Rival watch: USC gets a last-second field goal to beat UCLA 38-35, making Hackett first coach to beat the Bruins back-to-back since Larry Smith in 1987-88. Notre Dame is too much, however, pulling away late for a 38-21 victory. HACKETT THROUGH THE YEARS A look at Paul Hackett's football coaching career, which began in 1969 and ended - for now at least - on Monday: Year Team Position Record 1969 UC Davis Frosh assistant - 1970 Frosh head coach 6-0 1971 7-0 1972 Cal Graduate assistant 3-8 1973 Receivers assistant 4-7 1974 QB assistant 7-3-1 19758-3 1976 USC QB/Receivers assistant 11-1 1977 8-4 1978 QB/Passing game assistant 12-1 1979 11-0-1 1980 8-2-1 1981 Cleveland Browns QB assistant 5-11 1982 4-5 1983 S.F. 49ers QB/Receivers assistant 11-7 1984 18-1 1985 10-7 1986 Dallas Cowboys Pass offense coordinator 7-9 1987 7-8 19883-13 1989 Pitt Offensive coordinator 7-3-1* 1990 Head coach 3-7-1 1991 6-5 1992 3-8# 1993 K.C. Chiefs Offensive coordinator 13-6 1994 9-8 1995 13-4 1996 9-7 1997 13-4 1998 USC Head coach 8-5 1999 6-6 2000 5-7 *- Served as head coach in Hancock Bowl victory #- Dismissed before season-ending loss to Hawaii USC IN HACKETT YEARS Year Overall Pac-10 UCLA/ND Postseason 1998 8-5 5-3 (tied for 3rd) L/W L/W Left Word Sun Bowl (lost 28-19 to TCU (Transmission Control Unit) A communications control unit controlled by the computer that does not execute internally stored programs. Contrast with front end processor, which executes its own instructions. 1999 6-6 4-5 (tied for 6th) W/L W/L Waterline No bowl 2000 5-7 2-6 (tied for last) W/L No bowl Totals 19-18 11-14 2-1/1-2 0-1 CAPTION(S): 3 photos, 3 boxes Photo: (1 -- color) Paul Hackett brushes past media members Monday at the USC campus. Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer (2 -- color) Many believe Paul Hackett's fate was sealed before Notre Dame quarterback Matt Lovecchio led the Irish to their second win in three years over USC on Saturday. Michael Caulfield/Associated Press (3 -- color) Paul Hackett leaves his office Monday at Heritage Hall at USC after being fired as the Trojans football coach. Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer Box: (1) PAUL HACKETT TIMELINE (see text) (2) HACKETT THROUGH THE YEARS (see text) (3) USC IN HACKETT YEARS (see text) |
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