Smith opens up about USC situation
John Smith grew up watching USC football, and the Long Beach (Calif.) Poly standout has the Trojans as one of his favorites. But like many recruits, he's concerned about the program's direction.
Smith, who called USC his dream school, was frank about his thoughts on the Trojans after Poly's victory over Corona (Calif.) Centennial last weekend, a game the four-star dominated at times especially at wide receiver.
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The four-star discussed his thoughts before USC's 35-7 victory against Boston College. Most of the discussion revolved around the USC loss to Washington State the prior weekend.
"I hope SC can bounce back like we did," Smith said. "It was a big loss for them (against Washington State) and just learn from your mistakes.
"I'm worried, super worried. I talked to (assistant coach) Tee Martin and he was like, 'Just learn from your mistakes and moving on and forward.'"
Smith, rated as the second-best safety and the No. 26 prospect in the 2014 class by Rivals.com, said he does not plan to take an official visit to USC or UCLA.
His visit schedule is finalized now that he cancelled his Ole Miss and instead will see Oregon. He will also take trips to Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame and Ohio State.
His first visit will be to Columbus later this month when Ohio State hosts Wisconsin.
Smith, who is still seriously considering the Trojans, said he's not sure about some of coach Lane Kiffin's recent decisions. He also found it surprising that the USC crowd chanted to "Fire Kiffin" after the Washington State loss and that the team reportedly had a players-only meeting.
A comfortable win against Boston College might have soothed some concerns, but Smith still has some questions about the program.
"Lane Kiffin, I don't know," Smith said. "Lane Kiffin is a great coach but his moves right now are (not) very high to a lot of recruits like me. It's not going well.
"The SC crowd was saying, 'Fire Kiffin.' That is crazy. Later I found out USC had a team meeting without Lane Kiffin. That's really crucial. Just to have that without him is really hard."
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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