As Pete Carroll noted in this video he was extremely pleased with the first day of practice. Starting with QB Mark Sanchez it now appears that he has now settled into his role as the starter and is beaming with confidence.

Three months of preparation following a boost of confidence apparently make a difference.

At least, that's what USC quarterback Mark Sanchez indicated Wednesday after an impressive display of leadership and throwing accuracy during the Trojans' first training camp practice.

[...] "Going the whole summer knowing that you're going to be the guy, that feels good and you get a little more confidence as the days go on," said Sanchez, who invited receivers to his family's Orange County home during the summer, mixing in workouts with basketball games and other camaraderie-building activities.

"It's an ongoing battle and I need to keep competing and I can't get complacent. But still, it just felt good coming into [the first practice] knowing that they knew who was going to be with the first group."

Sanchez's confidence and comfort is key to setting the tone for this season as well as leading a new offensive line and receivers. We now get to see all of that talent without the pressures that he faced last season as a quick replacement to John David Booty.

The great thing I am reading is that a lot of the new faces are already making an impact.

Even without pads, this was not the team that walked off the Coliseum turf last spring. In fact, as Carroll pointed out, many of the players making big plays on Day 1 had never played in a USC practice before.

"It was hard to single anyone out," said Carroll, ticking off the names of freshman receivers such as Brice Butler, Blake Ayles, transfers Damian Williams and Jordan Cameron.

And that was an offense, he noted, with "just two seniors."

OL Jeff Byers sat out the first day because of a viral infection that caused his splee to enlarge so he is on the shelf until that clears up.

The competitive nature of USC's practices is already making its presence well known with WR Damien Williams getting to the outside on a kick return and Brian Cushing challenging WR Patrick Turner on a catch he made on the sideline. Freshman TE Blake Ayles also got a warm reception from Safety Will Harris.

Freshman tight end Blake Ayles from Orange Lutheran High had several receptions working with the first- and second-team offenses.

He also received a rude welcome from safety Will Harris, who knocked Ayles down three times.

Bear in mind, players practiced without pads.

One of the tackles was a pretty vicious-looking clothesline. After it happened a third time, Ayles said some words to Harris that I can’t reprint here.

“Blake’s a tough kid,” USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said. “He gives his body up. He’ll probably be a little sore, but that’s OK.”

And its only the first day!

Should be a very interesting training camp...

While we are shocked and disappointed at the conviction of Maurice Simmons the greater tragedy goes way beyond football. Its obvious that anytime a young adult's life is is ruined like this that there is shock and disappointment.

This isn't some kid that was gang banger. This wasn't a kid from the projects that was in and out of trouble and if I read it correctly this kid wasn't from a broken home. Simmons came from a loving family who obviously stressed education and personal responsibility.

For a young man from a Compton family whose children had all managed to get to college, not to mention their degrees, with an older brother Melvin (Champ) Simmons a starter on USC's 2003 national champs, the only thought was of the Simmons family and the tragedy this has become for them.

While partisan factions of our rival's fan base will try to make a big deal out of this, It doesn't matter if Simmons was a USC recruit or not. I can't answer with any certainty as to why he was at that place at that time anymore than I can answer why ucla kicker Justin Medlock got into a car while intoxicated injuring a fellow student or why Rey Maualuga punched a fellow student at a party. Kids do dumb things sometimes with dire consequences.

The tragedy here has nothing to do with football, it is that Simmons has not only ruined his life but he has ruined the expectations that his family set forth in becoming a productive member of society, instead he becomes a statistic and another story of what could have been...

This just hit the LAT Website

A Compton jury today found USC linebacker recruit Maurice Simmons guilty of two felonies and a misdemeanor in connection with a street robbery in March, according to a courtroom official.

Simmons' codefendant, Lamont Lee Hall, was also found guilty.

Simmons, a Compton Dominguez High graduate, had been charged with felony robbery, assault with a firearm and a misdemeanor charge of allowing someone to bring a gun into his car. He will be sentences Aug. 28.

Its a terrible shame and I feel bad for his family.

Here is the schedule for the Puerto Rico Tournament.

2008 Schedule:

Date Game Time (ET) Network
Thur., Nov. 20 Fairfield vs. Virginia Tech 10:30 am ESPNU
Missouri vs. Xavier 12:30 pm ESPNU
UT-Chattanooga vs. Memphis 4:30 pm ESPN2
USC vs. Seton Hall 8:00 pm ESPNU

Fri., Nov. 21 Game #5 (Game 1 vs. Game 2 winners) 10:30 am ESPNU
Game #6 (Game 1 vs. Game 2 losers) 12:30 pm ESPNU
Game #7 (Game 3 vs. Game 4 losers) 5:00 pm ESPNU
Game #8 (Game 3 vs. Game 4 winners) 7:00 pm ESPNU

Sun., Nov. 23 Game #9 (7th/8th place) 10:30 am ESPNU
Game #10 (4th/6th place) 12:30 pm ESPNU
Game #11 (3rd/5th place) 5:00 pm ESPNU
Game #12 (Champion/2nd place) 7:30 pm ESPN2

This looks like it will be a fun tournament. I wonder if we will get to play Memphis again?

Also, Demetrius Walker committed to USC.

Junipero Serra’s Demetrius Walker became the newest member of the 2009 USC recruiting class this past weekend, after he informed Head Coach Tim Floyd of his decision to join the Trojans.

“I committed to Coach Floyd over the phone,” Walker said.  “I’d been down to the campus two or three times and really liked it.  I felt like USC was the right place for me to be.”

As a middle schooler, Walker was unfairly labeled the “next LeBron James.”  He had the size, speed and athleticism to do whatever he wanted on the court.  He was destined for the NBA at age 11 and profiled by Sports Illustrated at 14.  But when the hype didn’t meet the production during his first two years of high school, the criticism came fast and furious.  He was labeled a bust as a freshman and saw his name continue to slide down the national rankings as a sophomore. 

Great news about Demetrius we welcome him and wish him the best when he gets here. As always my disclaimer is that I will believe it when the LOI is signed.

This almost comedic...

From the OCR:

At first blush, the UCLA football team looks like a movie without a leading man.

There’s no big-time, nationally renowned star player, just star coaches in Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow. A handful of players have made the preseason watch lists for national honors, but none is considered a front runner for the award or an established marquee attraction in this showbiz town.

Fall camp opened Tuesday, and this might have been the highpoint of a still undefeated 2008 season.

The starting quarterback is injury prone and one torn hangnail away from the sideline. The starting tailback is coming off rehab. When asked to assess the talent level of his team, one Bruin coach asked, “Is that (tape recorder) on?”

Ouch!!

Man that's gotta hurt....

Nothing really earth shattering here...

I don't know how he does it, all I know is that he is driven. He has his system which is a dash of mad scientist, a pinch of Zen, and a whole lot of determination. Sure there are rough spots and things don't always come out as planned, but can YOU think of another person you want coaching this team right now?

There are XX keys to Carroll: he tries to learn more about how to win, he focuses on competition inside the team as a key motivator, he focuses on the team rather than the individual, he tries to instill his hatred of losing, and he tries to keep continuity in coaching to make up for the steady turn-over of college players.

Carroll is not is not afraid to approach the greats and pick their brains about how they did it, as he did with John Wooden.

Pete Carroll regretted asking the question as soon as the words came out.

"How much did you change your philosophy from one year to the next?"

Carroll asked it of legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, who responded by giving Carroll a quizzical look. Carroll said he felt like a 10-year-old. But Wooden's answer helped make Carroll a wiser man.

"Coaches don't change their philosophies," Wooden said. "It's the players that change."

He will use what fits his personality to move this program forward.

As a fan I approach every new season with caution as there is always a new face in a key position. Team chemistry is key to any organization's success and Carroll always finds a way to bring it all together, even if it comes from a little known tennis book. Yet every season I am pleased with where SC finishes. Sure, it would be nice to go to the BCS title game EVERY year but that is just unrealistic.

Ted Miller, when he was at the Seattle P.I., found that out first hand just how intense Pete Carroll is.

It would be easy to reduce USC's going-on five years of dominance to a simple formula: Great players plus good coaching equals victory.

It's more than that. USC is a cult of competitiveness.

"One of the key statements that I make to the team is that we're going to do things better than it's ever been done before," Carroll said. "That mentality has to be throughout. It has to be woven through the fabric that we will not rest, that we will not settle, that we will be relentless in pursuit of a competitive edge."

I'm sure other coaches say the same things, but you need to produce results and Pete consistently produces results. So when others question his reasoning about the amount of tailbacks he has on the roster or why he rotates his players, I simply shrug and and say if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Carroll has admitted when he is wrong like after the Stanford game and it was appropriate for all interested parties to question why things were done the way where in that game. As pissed as I was over it I realized that you can't make a an omelet without breaking a few eggs. As painful as that loss was I think it served as a message that nothing should be taken for granted.

Everyone seems to have an opinion as to how Carroll should do it, so when I hear the likes of Petros chastise Carroll for not sticking to a one back set I just shake my head.

Papadakis isn’t a fan of USC’s tailback rotation. Not because he believes the Trojans lack talent, but because they have too much.

The ex-running back said it’s hard for running backs to get into a rhythm when they’re getting only a handful of hand-offs per game. That can lead to the wrong mindset, where the backs become consumed with their touches.

“They probably have a 1,500- to 1,600-yard rusher in there, and they’re never going to find out,” Papadakis said. “They’re just going to have to hurt somebody’s feelings. By trying to please everybody, they’re not going to please anybody.

I give Petros credit, he played the game and I didn't, so he has more experience than I do, but what he misses is that his "experience" is that of a player - and Carroll's job is to get the team to win games.  You don't win games by becoming too reliant on "the guy," and you don't win games when "the guy" gets hurt by rushing in a couple of back-ups with limited real-game touches. Petros should let those who are winning year in and year out continue to do what works best for the team and their results, and just enjoy the ride.

Petros needs to go back and re-read Miller's piece so that he can understand why it is the way it is.

It's not just about getting the best athletes, though that's obviously exactly what Carroll does. He emphasizes evaluating competitiveness almost as much. He wants great athletes who want to beat out other great athletes. He also wants them to hate losing as much as he does, so they buy into the idea of team over individual.

Continuity in coaching from season to season helps as well. Until the last minute departure of Sam Anno, the coaching staff has stayed pretty much intact from last season, so hopefully there will be  continuity in getting the team focused and on the same page. Sure, others have and will question how Carroll does it but you can't argue with the overall results. Yes, there have been some real humdinger losses but consider the alternative...relative obscurity like they have been living across town. I don't know why it works, but it does, and as long as Carroll is running the show he will continue to do it this way.