Altenberg disappointed in midseason move
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Without knowing all the details because it happened just hours ago, Gardena (Calif.) Serra coach Scott Altenberg said he's always disappointed when a coach is fired midseason.
USC terminated coach Lane Kiffin after the Trojans were beaten badly Saturday night at Arizona State, and Altenberg said he doesn't necessarily agree with how things might have gone down.
"I think it's really sad," Altenberg said. "As a coach, I hate it when anybody gets fired in the middle of the season. It's unfair to the team, it's unfair to the players and the staff, too. I don't get it. I understand recruiting and everything.
"(Kiffin) certainly worked hard on our guys. I'm a coach so anytime somebody gets fired (it's disappointing)."
Serra is loaded with prospects considering USC, including five-star athlete Adoree' Jackson and 2015 standouts John Houston and Rasheem Green, among others.
By no means will Altenberg steer his players elsewhere because he might not agree with Kiffin being fired midseason, but he said he will have - and has had - many discussions with his guys about not picking a school solely because of the coach. This is a perfect example as to why.
"The one thing we talk about every time, the one thing about college football is that everything can change," Altenberg said. "The No. 1 thing we say to our kids is the coaching staff is important but the school and everything else, the whole package, is the most important.
"I tell them don't make a decision based on one guy, ever. I'll go over it again with those guys. It's not about one guy because that can change."
This situation is close to Altenberg since he has former players, including star wide receiver Marqise Lee, on the USC team. The Serra coach said he'd prefer USC handled its coaching situation like UCLA did a few years back when it waited until after the season to fire Rick Neuheisel.
Altenberg argues there was still plenty of time to bring in a top guy - Jim Mora - and recruit a great class.
"Look at UCLA two years ago," Altenberg said. "They still had two months, plenty of time, and they still pulled in a great class. The message SC sends by doing this is saying this year's over, we're done with you guys and that's so unfair to guys with eight games left, especially when they're my guys."
Adam Gorney is a West Region football recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. You can click here to follow him on Twitter.
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