Chip Kelly has 'unfinished business' at Oregon

After receiving an offer to become coach of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chip Kelly released a statement Monday saying he would remain at Oregon.

According to several reports on Sunday, Kelly was ready to leave the three-time conference champion Ducks but had a late-night change of heart.

"I am flattered by the interest of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' organization. I enjoyed meeting with the Glazer family and General Manager Mark Dominik, but after numerous discussions, I concluded that I have some unfinished business to complete at the University of Oregon," Kelly said.

Kelly's flirtation with the NFL harks back to former USC Coach Pete Carroll, who was pursued by the San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons, among others, before finally returning to the pros with the Seattle Seahawks after the 2009 season.

Kelly's mention of "unfinished business" caught the attention of USC quarterback Matt Barkley, who used the same phrase in December when he announced that he would return for a final season with the Trojans.

"Looks like we both do," Barkley tweeted Monday.

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-- Gary Klein

Photo: Chip Kelly. Credit: Greg Wahl-Stephens / Getty Images

USC football: School settles lawsuit brought by Stafon Johnson

USC has settled a lawsuit brought by former running back Stafon Johnson, who was injured in 2009 when a bar carrying 275 pounds fell on his neck in the school’s weight room.

A hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court had been scheduled for Wednesday, but it was taken off the calendar because a notice of settlement had been filed, a court clerk said.

Johnson filed the personal-injury suit against USC and former assistant strength coach Jamie Yanchar in January 2011. The suit sought unspecified damages, claiming Yanchar negligently caused the bar to fall during a training session Sept. 28, 2009, because he was “distracted and not paying attention” to Johnson.

Johnson was sidelined the remainder of the 2009 season and underwent multiple surgeries for neck and throat injuries.

Johnson was signed as a free agent by the Tennessee Titans after the 2010 NFL draft, but suffered a season-ending ankle injury during an exhibition game.

More later at latimes.com/sports

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-- Gary Klein

Photo: Former USC running back Stafon Johnson, center, appears with his attorney Carl Douglas, left, and mother Kim Mallory during a news conference announcing his lawsuit against USC in January 2011. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Paul Dee, who handed down USC sanctions, cited in Miami scandal

USC fans were reeling last June when Paul Dee, then-chairman of the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions, oversaw the handing down of some of the most severe sanctions in college football history.

Now Dee is back in the news.

In a report on Yahoo!Sports, Charles Robinson details how imprisoned University of Miami booster Nevin Shapiro allegedly provided impermissible benefits to more than 70 Hurricanes athletes from 2002 to 2010.

Dee was Miami’s athletic director from 1993 to 2008.

Wrote Robinson:

Shapiro said he was enabled by the university, allowed to run the entire Miami team out of tunnel and onto the field -- twice -- and once honored on the field by former athletic director Paul Dee during a game. The same Paul Dee who wagged a finger at USC as the chairman of the NCAA’s committee on infractions in 2010, chiding the Reggie Bush/O.J. Mayo scandal as a systematic failure.

“High-profile players demand high-profile compliance,” Dee said while announcing USC’s sanctions.

Now Shapiro says Miami’s athletic compliance -- Dee’s own backyard while Shapiro was operating -- suffered one catastrophic oversight after another.

USC football: Devon Kennard moves from middle linebacker to defensive end

Devon Kennard is returning to where he began his USC career.

Kennard, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound junior who started at middle linebacker last season, will enter fall camp as a defensive end.

“They wanted to see me off the edge again, so I’m doing that and excited about it,” Kennard said Thursday after the Trojans’ first players-only workout of the summer.

Kennard, from Arizona, came to USC as an end and impressed former Coach Pete Carroll and his staff with his pass-rushing skills and overall athleticism. Kennard was an oft-used reserve for most of his freshman season before starting the ninth game against Arizona State. The next week, he started at strong-side linebacker and held the spot the final four games.

Lane Kiffin and his staff moved Kennard to middle linebacker last season and he started the first eight games. But Chris Galippo, the 2009 starter, regained the spot for the final five.

Pete Carroll to preside over coaches workshop, football festival for kids at L.A. Live

Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll returns to Southern California this weekend to preside over “Win Forever” events, which include a workshop for coaches on Friday night at the Grammy Museum at L.A. Live and a football festival for kids on Saturday.

The workshop, which is sold out, includes four “quarters”:

-- Self-Discovery: Uncovering Your Philosophy and Describing Your Philosophy

-- Learn Your Learner: Communicating and Motivating Every Player

-- Practice Is Everything

-- A Balanced Scorecard: Perform in the Absence of Fear

The free football “campetition” for kids will be held Saturday on Chick Hearn Court at L.A. Live from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Event organizers said Friday that limited spots are available.

For more information, call (213) 763-2173 or email winforever@winforever.com   

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-- Gary Klein

Photo: Pete Carroll. Credit:  Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times.

USC Football: Versus to rebroadcast Trojans' 2005 'Bush Push' victory over Notre Dame

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, Versus will rebroadcast USC's 2005 victory over Notre Dame.

The game will be shown at 4 p.m. PDT Thursday. 

USC's 34-31 victory featured Matt Leinart's fourth-and-nine pass to receiver Dwayne Jarrett and Reggie Bush's infamous push of Leinart into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.

The game will be shown as part of a Notre Dame tripleheader that includes the Irish's 1992 game against Penn State at 2 p.m. and 1993 game against Florida State at 6 p.m.

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-- Gary Klein

Photo: Trojan Matt Leinart spins and reaches for the endzone on a quarterback sneak to make the score 34-31 and put USC ahead for good against Notre Dame in the fourth quarter Saturday Oct. 15, 2005 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

Carl Smith and Pete Carroll are reunited (again) in Seattle

For the fourth time in his career, Carl Smith has accepted a position on a coaching staff headed by Pete Carroll.

Smith has been hired as quarterbacks coach of the Seattle Seahawks, the team confirmed Friday. He first worked under Carroll for three seasons with the New England Patriots in the late 1990s, one as quarterbacks coach and two as tight ends coach.

He later served as quarterbacks coach USC in 2004, guiding Matt Leinart to the Heisman Trophy and helping Carroll's Trojans on their undefeated run to the BCS championship.

After leaving USC the following year to return to the NFL, Smith was hired by USC and Carroll again in 2009 to coach the quarterbacks and call plays. Before even arriving on campus, however, Smith decided instead to become quarterbacks coach for the Cleveland Browns.

He will replace Jedd Fisch, who left to become offensive coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes.

-- Chuck Schilken

USC football: Thursday night kick-off against Cal at AT&T Park set for 6 p.m.

USC's game against California on Thursday, Oct. 13 at AT&T Park in San Francisco will kick off at 6 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN, the Pacific 10 Conference announced Monday.

Cal is playing at AT&T Park because Memorial Stadium in Berkeley is under renovation.

It will be the Trojans' second game at AT&T Park. USC defeated Boston College in the 2009 Emerald Bowl, 24-13, in what turned out to be Pete Carroll's final game as the Trojans' coach.

USC also announced that season tickets for new subscribers would go on sale Tuesday at 9 a.m.

The cost is $410 for the Trojans' seven home games:

Sept. 3 vs. Minnesota
Sept. 10 vs. Utah
Sept. 17 vs. Syracuse
Oct. 1 vs. Arizona
Oct. 29 vs. Stanford
Nov. 12 vs. Washington
Nov. 26 vs. UCLA
 
Information: (213) 740-GOSC or online at USCTrojans.com. Ticket locations for new season ticket purchasers will be in the west end zone.  Information on seat upgrades: (213) 740-4155.

--Gary Klein
 
 
 

 

USC football: Pete Carroll reluctantly revisits 'What's your deal?'

With Jim Harbaugh having left Stanford for the San Francisco 49ers, football fans are looking forward to the times Harbaugh goes up against the Seattle Seahawks and former USC coach Pete Carroll.

Their famous "What's your deal?" postgame exchange after Stanford routed USC, 55-21, at the Coliseum in 2009 is the stuff of legend.

Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee caught up with Carroll at the Senior Bowl and asked him about Harbaugh. You can read the complete post here.

Some highlights:

Carroll told Barrows he has no beef with Harbaugh and cannot understand why anyone would think otherwise. "If you write that, it's because you think that," Carroll said. "Because it's not true."

Carroll told Barrows he had no recollection of the incident: "You'll have to talk to Jim about that. I don't know anything about it. I don't care about it. It means nothing to me. That meant nothing to me. The other coaches get to do whatever they want, and I don't hold anything against them. I'm not one of those guys who is looking for issues with guys. They can do whatever they want to. I don't even remember the circumstances other than we were getting our butts kicked. Other than that I don't know."

Carroll told Barrows he expects a competitive rivalry to continue in the NFL: "He's a really good coach, and he's going to bring them a spirit and an enthusiasm the 49ers fans are going to like. I don't know him one way or the other. I think he's a really good coach, and I really respect him."

 --Gary Klein

USC Football: Receivers coach John Morton joins 49ers staff

John Morton, USC's receivers coach for the last four seasons, is leaving the Trojans to join the San Francisco 49ers coaching staff.

Morton, who coached previously in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders and New Orleans Saints, will be reunited with new 49ers Coach Jim Harbaugh. Morton and Harbaugh were Raiders' assistants in 2002 and 2003 and Morton worked under Harbaugh at the University of San Diego in 2005.

"This is a great opportunity for John to further his career," USC Coach Lane Kiffin said in a statement. "We appreciate the great work he did at USC and wish him the best of luck."

Morton came to USC in 2006 as passing game coordinator and receivers coach. Former coach Pete Carroll named him the offensive coordinator before the 2009 season, but later hired Jeremy Bates as the quarterbacks coach and play-caller.

Bates joined Carroll as offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks before the 2010 season, but Carroll fired him Tuesday, two days after the Seahawks were eliminated from the NFL playoffs.

--Gary Klein

 

Football writers strip USC of its 2004 national title trophy

The Football Writers Assn. of America announced Thursday it was stripping USC of the 2004 Grantland Rice Trophy as a result of recent NCAA sanctions levied against the school.

The Grantland Rice Trophy has been awarded to the nation's top team by the FWAA since 1954. This is the first time a school has had to vacate the championship. The FWAA also announced it would leave the 2004 title vacant. Auburn finished unbeaten that year but finished third in the BCS standings. Utah also finished with an undefeated season.

No.1 USC defeated No. 2 Oklahoma, 55-19, in the Orange Bowl to claim the BCS and Associated Press championships.

Citing the June 10 NCAA Infractions Report, Tim Griffin, 2010 FWAA president, stated in his letter notifying USC of the FWAA's decisions: "Had these facts been known, USC would not have been selected for the award ... in light of standards applicable to FWAA poll participants, award candidates and award recipients. All finalists for FWAA team and individual awards, including the Grantland Rice Award and Trophy, reasonably are presumed to have been in material compliance with certain qualifying standards at the time of award issuance."

The FWAA added that while it reserved the right to pick a substitute national champion or award winner in the future, a majority of the FWAA special committee nevertheless could not agree on the selection of a 2004 replacement for USC.

The BCS is expected to vacate USC's 2004 title once the school's NCAA appeals process is completed.  The Associated Press has decided to let USC keep its trophy for 2004.

The FWAA also announced USC will not be eligible for the Grantland Rice Trophy this year. The FWAA is an independent, nonprofit made up of 1,200 journalists, publicists, broadcasters and others with special college football expertise.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com

Photo: USC Coach Pete Carroll and quarterback Matt Leinart after beating Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 4, 2005. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times