Trojan Horse

(courtesy of thepomegranateapple.wordpress.com)

Much like the infamous Trojan Horse used to fool the citizens of ancient Troy, the fans of Southern California football have been fooled by their own Trojan Horse. Year after year, Pete Carroll is among the many college coaches that come up in discussions regarding NFL openings and year after year, Pete returns to his top recruiting class, extravagant lifestyle and enormous paycheck at the University of Southern California. Trojan fans have learned to deal with this over the years and don't get too worked up when his name swirls in the rumor winds of the NFL. However, this time the rumors are true and that darn Tojan Horse is poised to bring down the great empire that has been USC.

(courtesy of sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

For several years now, USC has grown accustomed to losing coordinators, but Carroll has been able to assure top recruits that he will be the constant in Trojan football and that the players can always count on him. With the latest news, it sounds like current players will be left holding the bag on this one (a bag which may contain some very dark and dreary secrets, I might add). Many of the national talking heads have criticized Carroll for the decision, saying he had it all at USC and that he is making a huge mistake. But I can't help but to think that Pete is a smart guy and that he knows exactly what he is doing. Throughout the years, he has remained steadfast in his stance regarding leaving college football, yet he is now on the way out. I have to believe there is something else out there which the national media does not know about, or at least does not want to know about. As many of our good friends over at ESPN have reminded us, it's good for college football (not in my view) if USC is dominating the PAC-10 and is ranked near the top of the BCS. It's good for college football (again, not in my view) when those top recruits head to the beaches of L.A. and on to the NFL. So I do wonder just how much will come of all this (i.e. how much will the national media make of the things that are leaked), but I do believe, deep within my heart, that there are some very dirty things going on at USC (and believe me, not just USC, but we will steer clear of starting new rumors).

So how will this affect college football? Only time will tell. But I can say this, there are already some big implications around the country. The ones we are most intersted in are, of course, with the Iowa Hawkeyes. I know, I know, most of the kids being recruited to USC are way out of our league. We don't have the tradition of USC, we don't have the fantastice lifestyle of USC and we sure as hell don't have the boosters of USC. But, quite surprisingly, there are two pretty big names which are being thrown around with the talks of Iowa football recruiting. We will kick this off with a name we haven't mentioned before. Kyle Prater (no relation to the two Prater's we inked in last year's class). Prater is the nation's #1 WR and is the #2 recruit overall. At 6'5" and 205 lbs., Prater looked like just about every other receiver to end up at USC over the past few years. He's big, fast, and was slated to start classes at Southern Cal in the next couple of days. However, Rivals.com reports that Prater was headed home following the HS All-American game this past weekend without his commitment to USC. When asked, RockyTopTalk.com reports that Prater had this to say:

"I’m supposed to enroll tomorrow at USC. Instead I’m headed back home to figure out what to do. I’m not sure whether I will sit out a year or try to get enrolled another school in a week’s time."

Scout.com is reporting that Prater is looking pretty hard at the other two schools that had made his original top 3 (Illinois and Tennessee). But this has left us wondering. Why would the kid ever decide to go to Illinois? Has he seen an Illini game? Does he know anything about Aurelius Benn's career? And what about Tennesse? When was the last time they were serious contenders in the SEC? Has he seen the latest rankings? But enough with the questions. Some of the other rumors that have been floated have us more intrigued. One such rumor is that Prater received two phone calls immediately following his announcement. One from Urban Meyer (whom, may we remind you, isn't even the head coach of Florida heading into next season...) and another from Kirk Ferentz (we'd like to take this opportunity to remind you that none of this has been confirmed and is purely speculation from around the message boards).

This is a little interesting for a couple reasons. Iowa was one of the first schools to offer a scholarship to Prater and was near the top of his list. That is, at least, until everyone else started to recruit him. It seems like Kirk and gang had a good eye out on the kid and tried to nab him early. However, he waited to commit and had offers from nearly every major program in the country. When he trimmed his list to 10, Iowa was not on it. However, with his recruitment re-opened, I would find it hard to believe we wouldn't be there as many of the other "top" programs have filled most of their scholarships or have at least booked up most of their receiver needs. Iowa, on the other hand, is shining in the national spotlight and is developing into a top-10 team (yet again). Not to mention that the kid is from Hillside, Illinois, a Chicago suburb (and we all know how the Hawkeyes love them some Chicagoland kids). This is still in the early stages, but will be very interesting to follow.


And now, for the big "what if?" (and by big, we not only mean a long shot, but also just a big, big man). Up until a few weeks ago, we had been following #1 recruit, Seantrel Henderson, quite a bit. He made an unofficial visit to Iowa for the Minnesota game, but then announced his final visit would be to Miami. Hawkeye faithful have tried not to get their hopes up and with good reason. Seantrel has been down to Iowa City, but kept pretty quiet about it. Given Iowa's stigma among those ever-so-mediocre Gophers, it's understandable that the kid would have some reservations about coming down to the "Fields of Opportunity." But, his words about USC had led many of us to believe it was where he was going to end up. After this fiasco, I have to believe the Trojans are out. Not only are they out, but so is ND and Miami. ND just brought in a new coach and will be running the spread (how many OTs in the NFL can you name that played in a spread offense in college?) while Miami just got taken to the woodshed by the 4th-best team in the Big Ten. I mean, feel free to live it up on South Beach, but don't expect to win the ACC, let alone a National Championship. So, by my count, that leaves Seantrel pondering 4 other schools. Oklahoma is on the down turn and Minnesota is a complete joke to anyone that doesn't live there (granted, Henderson does, but I have to believe part of him wants to win football games - not lose to Iowa State).

(courtesy of twincities.com)

So that leaves us with OSU and Iowa, the two that fought it out at the top this season. There's no doubt Ohio State has a lot to offer. They have a rich tradition and will be a power for some time to come. But which Big Ten school is it that constantly gives the whole conference a bad name? Who is it that the national media links to the conference's supposed downturn? That's right, OSU. Iowa, meanwhile, is developing three-star recruits into All-Big Ten players and sending them to the first round of the NFL draft. The Hawkeyes are winning bowl games against the SEC and ACC and will be ranked in the top-10 to start next season. They are building the next Big Ten power and will be on the rise for years to come. The only thing that separates OSU and Iowa at this point, is the past. Ohio State perrenially nabs top recruits. Some pan out, others don't. Iowa rarely grabs the cream of the crop, but still manages to take the Buckeyes to OT in their house. So, I have to ask Seantrel, who would you rather play for? The team that everyone sees as a failure on the big stage? Or the team coming to un-seat the Buckeyes and take over their reign at the top of the Big Ten? I know my answer, but I won't be expecting any from these two recruits for a few weeks. Until then, you can expect plenty more speculation, a few P.S. Posts, and a lot of love for the top two recruits in the country.