College Football Elites, Part 1: What makes a ‘blue blood’?
By Dante Pryor
- Conference championships: 38 last in 2017 (2 division titles)
- 10-plus win seasons: 27
- Consensus All-Americans: 80
- Heisman Trophy winners: 7
- NFL players: 480
The USC Trojans are the only Pac-12 representative on this list. Though the Trojans went to the Rose Bowl 11 times between 1929 and 1954, it was head coach John McKay who brought the Trojans into national prominence.
It was under McKay that USC began its reputation as “Running Back U”. McKay coached iconic running backs like Mike Garrett, OJ Simpson, Clarence Davis, Sam Cunningham and Anthony Davis. During McKay’s 16-year tenure, the Trojans went to eight Rose Bowls and nine conference championships winning four national titles.
John Robinson, who had two tenures at USC, continued the winning tradition started by McKay. Robinson’s first stint in Los Angeles (1976-1982) saw the Trojans go 3-for-3 in Rose Bowls and win the national title in 1978. After Robinson left the Trojans for the NFL, the Men of Troy went through a down period not claiming another title until 2003 — though two, 1979 and 2002 are unclaimed by the NCAA. Although there was a long period between national championships, USC won eight conference titles during that time.
The Pete Carroll era saw the Trojans return to national prominence. His time at USC was perfect since there was no professional football team in Los Angeles at the time he coached. They were truly LA’s team. In Carroll’s nine seasons at USC, the Trojans won 10 or more games seven seasons in a row, won seven consecutive conference titles (2002-2007 — 2002, 2006 and 2007 were shared), and two consecutive national titles in 2003 and 2004.
This period was not without controversy, however. USC’s 2004 National Championship and Reggie’s Bush’s Heisman Trophy were vacated due to NCAA violations in their athletic program.
All of the sanctions levied by the NCAA were lifted by 2014. There were plenty of other issues, however. Both Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian were fired under great controversy. Currently, Clay Helton serves as the Trojans’ 28th head coach. After consecutive 10-win seasons, his first two full seasons — including a Pac-12 title in 2017 — the Trojans have struggled the last two years and are looking to contend in 2020.