Marinovich Put on Suspension : USC: Quarterback is punished after missing mandatory team meeting. He is expected to enter the NFL draft.

USC quarterback Todd Marinovich was suspended indefinitely Friday by Coach Larry Smith, which, in essence, means that his football career at the school has ended.

Smith said he took the action because Marinovich missed a mandatory team meeting Friday and hasn’t registered for spring semester classes.

“By not attending the team meeting or registering for classes, that tells me that he doesn’t really care or want to be here,” Smith said. “Our team and program is going to move on. I made the decision for the best interests of the program.

“We wish him well and, basically, a chapter is over.”

Smith said that the term indefinite suspension meant at least one semester.

The USC coach said that Marinovich, a redshirt sophomore, could come back to school and use his scholarship but added, “He is not part of our football program in any way.”

Marinovich probably will make himself available for the NFL draft in April, as has been rumored since the John Hancock Bowl game with Michigan State in El Paso Dec. 31.

Marinovich and Smith had an apparent dispute on the sideline during that game after the quarterback was benched in the fourth quarter.

Marinovich, who returned Wednesday after a fishing and hunting trip in Northern California, was unavailable for comment.

Smith said that Marinovich had been informed about Friday’s team meeting while the team was at the John Hancock Bowl. The USC coach said that he also left messages for Marinovich with his mother, Trudi, and his uncle, Craig Fertig, a former USC quarterback and assistant athletic director, concerning the meeting.

Smith said he had no problems with Marinovich during the previous season. The quarterback led the Trojans to the Pacific 10 championship and a Rose Bowl victory over Michigan. He was chosen the nation’s top freshman quarterback in 1989 by both the Sporting News and United Press International.

“But he seemed like a different person when he came back this year,” Smith said. “He didn’t seem fired up about the season. It was nothing bad. His intensity and attention to detail were inconsistent. Then, after the suspension, it was right up where it should be.”

Smith was referring to Marinovich’s one-week suspension for missing classes, which led to his sitting out an Oct. 27 game against Arizona State at Tempe.

“I thought after the earlier supsension that his works habits and attention to detail were going in the right direction,” Smith said. “Why it’s going this way is impossible to explain.

“Everybody in this unviersity has worked very hard the past semester to help Todd. I hope his future works out well. He is the one that has to do it and make it work.”

Smith said he has never had a problem dealing with Todd’s father, Marv Marinovich, who has orchestrated his son’s athletic career since he was a child.

“I’ve never had any problems with the parents. We’ve seen eye to eye and it hasn’t been a stressful situation for anybody,” Smith said. “Every decision that has happened they have backed me 100%. It just comes down to Todd doing his own thing.”

With Marinovich gone, Smith will be relying on inexperienced quarterbacks next season.

Reggie Perry was a redshirt freshman last season, playing only briefly against Oregon State.

Smith has three incoming quarterbacks, his son, Corby, from Loyola High; Rob Johnson of El Toro High, and Kyle Wacholtz from Norco High.

There is a possibility that Curtis Conway, a standout quarterback at Hawthorne High who was moved to flanker, might be used as a quarterback again.

Marinovich’s statistics last season were similar to those he had in 1988-1989, but he was inconsistent.

In his last game, the 17-16 loss to Michigan State in the John Hancock Bowl, he fumbled while trying to score a touchdown and threw three interceptions.’

“It’s evident to everybody that he has no interest in this program,” Smith said. “He is on his own. I can’t wait for a person, or see what he wants to do. It isn’t fair to the other players or coaches and it would leave a cloud over the program and recruiting.”