Smith’s Statement Doesn’t Strike Reader as Smart

Trojans who argue that their school’s reputation for light academics is unjustified just got stabbed in the back by one of their own. USC football Coach Larry Smith claims (Aug. 18) that “with all the time a player spends on football,” a realistic step to preventing his premature departure to the pros is to “lighten the player’s academic load during the football season.” This statement comes only a couple of weeks after one of his own recruits was admitted after having “failed” the SAT five times.

Instead of cutting the academic loads of athletes, the intelligent solution is to reinstate the freshman-ineligibility rule into football and basketball and shorten the seasons.

SCOTT D. ALLEN

Pacific Palisades