John Morton the front-runner for USC offensive coordinator job

It's time to better know Johnny Mo.

USC passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach John Morton is the leading candidate to replace offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, who will take over as head coach at Washington after the Trojans play Penn State in the Rose Bowl. Though Morton hasn't been officially named, Coach Pete Carroll said that he was the front-runner.

Morton met with reporters after the BCS selection show on Sunday night wearing a baseball cap that said "Life is good." It couldn't have suited his outlook on USC's program any better.

"Whatever they've been doing here, we should keep doing," said Morton. "No reason to change it. You win 11 games a year, you're in the Rose Bowl almost every year, win the Pac-10 championship seven years in a row. Why change anything?"

Morton has been with USC for two seasons after working as an assistant in the NFL for New Orleans, San Diego and Oakland. Asked if he had to adjust between the college and pro game, he said, "Not too much. We still game plan the same way. Probably the biggest difference are the hashes. In the pros, pretty much it's all the same. In college you've got a wider hash and a short side of the field. That's about the only difference."

His philosophy is straightforward and fits the system at USC. "Make sure the quarterback gets in rhythm," said Morton. "You always establish the run game. You always try to have a well-balanced attack so you try to keep the defense on their toes. That's what we do here, we try to maintain a certain balance."

Though he prefers to call plays from the press box, Morton said he would be willing to do whatever Carroll asked. He presented himself as a coach with a solid resume, but still eager to learn and willing to do what was required.

"That's one of the reasons why they brought me here -- to be the guy that has a little experience coming from the NFL. They brought me because of this situation, just in case this did happen. In this coaching profession, things change every day. I'm very humble. If it happens, it happens."

Over his time at USC, Morton said he had worked with Sarkisian to devise the team's passing game and that he had improved his relationships with the guys on the field. "One of the biggest things I've learned here is communicating with players. That's something that I didn't really learn a lot in the NFL game because you don't see the players a lot. You're around these guys all the time [in college], and it's made me a better coach."

-- Adam Rose
Photo by Dan Avila, courtesy USC Athletics.

Comments

[Trevor Sazim]

"Make sure the quarterback gets in rhythm," Morton is a terrible person for the job, Sanchez isn't living up to any potential even with the great receivers he has. Same with Booty. We need to look outside the USC inner circle and get a real coordinator.
"No reason to change it. " = no national championships. Lets be honest, the Rose Bowl has been a consolation prize for us for the last 2 years.

[Nancy]

I miss Norm Chow!!!!

[ldytrjn]

Let's pass the blame around, shall we? Yes, we have great receivers but for every errant pass Sanchez makes, there's a drop or misplay. As much as I love Patrick Turner, he hasn't been the poster child for consistency. Plus the defense has been so on fire, there's been little need to pass the ball past the 10 minute mark in the 3rd quarter. It's hard to put up huge numbers when you're only actively trying to score for have the game.

And just because Morton is familiar with the system doesn't mean he's going to call plays the same way.

[EJK]

So we're basically going to run the same offense that we've run under Sarkissian? I'd like to see SC experiment more with the spread offense next season.

Virtually every college FB powerhouse is using the spread now. It may help us utilize our star players better in the open field. Not to mention that Sanchez is a mobile QB also.

[Jack Ryan]

USC needs either a master a la Norm Chow or an innovative coordinator, Johnny Morton-- a helluva a receiver in his playing days-- is neither. USC has been on the decline for the past 3 years and no one, it would seem, is recognizing it. It's a very, very slow process initally, but when the symptons are full blown it's a free fall to the pit. Just look at Florida St. after Mark Richt left. That is what USC will look like in about 4 years if Pete Carrol doesn't bring in a good coordinator.

[Jeff]

Under the continued leadership of Coach Pete Carroll the Trojan Machine will continue to roll on. If USC could stop overlooking the Oregon States of the world they would be a true dynasty.

[Jonathan K]

SPREAD OFFENSE?! Are you kidding?

Some teams/coaches are designed to run the spread. Others are not.

See what happened at Auburn when they tried to change what was working and use the spread? Or how about at Michigan? (Remember, Michigan only lost 4 games last season and beat Florida in a bowl.)

I agree with Morton. If the system ain't broke, don't fix it. Changing offensive styles is something you do after a bad season or when a new coach comes in.

(Though at Michigan it was necessary with the hiring of Rich.)

[PDD]

Spread not the answer. Did anyone listen to Todd Blackledge coveing the game. Or Belichick on Matt Cassel? The benefit of the USC QB is the foundation of the 3 stp drop, footwork. It is what is used in pro systems. Follow the logic, guys come to USC to play on Sunday. We are getting the best QBs in the country because of our offense, not in spite of it. Mark will improve (he gets into most problems when ge gets hapy feet); someone will step up and deserve to wear #1 (Patrick just did not live up to exectations, good yes, Mike William while at USC, no). And by the way, Fl State sucks because they are losing the recruiting war, which is coming back thanks to Fisher coming over from LSU. Watch LSU drop like a rock, Gary Croton hasn't been worth much since La Tech days. And who is the QB at LSU? Who cares, that team should have been much better. So kep the system, continue to prove execution, and leave the "spread offense" to high school teams or teams looking to overcome a lack of talent (not an issue for USC)

[the_play]

So the last offensive link to Norm Chow has been broken with the departure of Sark and the promotion of Morton.

Morton sounds like a decent guy but he'll never develop players like Chow or stand up to Pete and be a true partner. You don't create greatness this way.

The rest of the Pac-10 looks forward to the Carroll-Morton era and Pete Carroll calling the plays.

[dino]

One thing, for sure, is that we desperately need a QB coach next season. Hopefully, Smith will take on that job, and we can see some positive results with Mark or Mitch or Aaron.

[Trevor Sazim]

So it's official, Morton has the job. We lost our offensive power Kiffin, if got worse with Sarks, and now it's going to even worse with Morton. Why would you promote someone who's in charge of our receivers when our receivers have shown sign of excellence in the last two years.

Winning a conference title and going to the Rose Bowl is not good enough for USC right now. With Morton in control, we are a 1-2 loss team. On paper, our offensive looks good, but in reality, we do not look sharp.

[Agnz]

N. Chow is past history. You can never go back, His talent will serve the Trojans the best by him staying at UCLA. It sound like those ND fans saying, "we need Lou Holtz". But this offense should really be glad that they had a defense to keep them in the game until the offense figured out what to do. This is the difference between those top 4 that can poor it on for 60min. This style scores point and points get you in the big game.

[EJK]

I don't see the problem in incorporating spread offense plays into our system. If you think the spread offense doesn't work in the NFL, look at the Patriots and how often they drop Brady in the shotgun and run 3 or 4 receiver sets. It's about letting your best athletes operate in space and giving your QB time to pick apart the defense.

[Mike]

Every year we re-load with exceptional talent. And for the past 3 years have not been able to truly get the most of the talent we have... Time to put in a true coordinator, not a converted receiver's coach.

Yes, we are spoiled, but we have a right to be... it is that one loss each year that keeps us from reclaiming "OUR" trophy, and we need a high powered mind to direct those high powered and highly rated recruits.

I realize that many come to SC to be in a better position for the NFL, but I would submit that many would come just for winning national championships alone. Put in an offense that realizes the strengths of the recruiting process.