Local Recruits Wonder What USC Switch Means

Sean O’Brien was at the Fiesta Bowl last week when a friend broke the news to him: USC football Coach Larry Smith had just resigned under pressure.

The news came as no surprise to O’Brien, the Santa Margarita High quarterback who’s being recruited by several colleges, including USC.

But it did raise some concern.

O’Brien is one of a handful of Orange County players whom Smith and his staff recruited. But O’Brien now wonders if the Trojans, with John Robinson returning as coach, are still interested in him.

“It leaves me in a bad situation,” O’Brien said of the coaching change. “I’m still interested in USC, but with the change, I’m not sure where I stand.”

Trojan defensive coordinator Chris Allen told O’Brien Sunday night that Smith’s staff was leaving and that Robinson’s new staff will handle the rest of the recruiting. He also told O’Brien that his Jan. 22 visit to the school was still set.

But O’Brien fears the new staff might not pursue him as aggressively as Smith’s staff, which wanted him as a quarterback or all-around player.

O’Brien, 6 feet 4 and 220 pounds, can play several positions well, including kicker, punter and free safety. Santa Margarita ran an option offense during O’Brien’s two years as a starter, and he could figure prominently in the power offense that Robinson says he plans to use at USC.

O’Brien already has visited Cal and has scheduled trips to Southern Methodist this weekend, Arizona on Jan. 15 and Washington on Jan. 29. All of the schools want him as a quarterback.

“I really want to go to USC,” said O’Brien, whose uncle, Coley O’Brien, played quarterback for Notre Dame in the 1960s. “I think it would be great to play for Robinson. He’s a great coach and he has established himself. He beat Notre Dame six times.”

USC hasn’t received a commitment yet from a county player, although the Trojans were among the final choices for Los Alamitos quarterback Tim Carey and Rancho Alamitos linebacker Leon Vickers. Both players committed to Stanford.

Smith’s resignation upset Vickers, who liked what Smith had done this past season.

“I think they (USC administration) cut Smith a year short,” Vickers said. “They went 3-8 last year and this year had three chances to win the Pac-10 title. I think that’s a hell of a turnaround. It’s like USC told him to do something, and then didn’t give him a chance to do it.

“If I had committed to USC and Coach Smith left, I would not have gone there. I really liked his staff.”

The Trojans had shown some early interest in Mater Dei free safety Ray Jackson, but began pursuing other players in mid-December. Jackson has scheduled trips to Oregon, UCLA and Washington State, and said he’s still considering USC.

“They (USC coaches) told me they were looking for someone who could play cornerback or wide receiver rather than a free safety,” Jackson said. “After they told me that, I started to move on and look at other schools.”

Jackson said he hopes Robinson’s staff will renew interest.

“After the coaching change, I thought it would be fun to go play there,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who it’s for.”

Sunny Hills’ Brian Willmer will visit USC this weekend, but the linebacker said UCLA is clearly the front-runner among his final five choices. He visited Cal last month, and will visit UCLA on Jan. 15, Notre Dame on Jan. 17 and Colorado on Jan. 22.

“USC isn’t among my top three (UCLA, Notre Dame and Colorado),” Willmer said. “USC is a little more appealing now (with Robinson), but I’m still leaning toward UCLA.”

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It looks as though Carey could have some competition for the starting job down the road at Stanford. Coach Bill Walsh is offering a second quarterback scholarship this season.

And Spencer Frost, a Parade All-America quarterback from Wood River, Neb., said he’s favoring Stanford over his other final choice, Nebraska. Frost has canceled recruiting trips to Brigham Young and Colorado. Miami and Notre Dame also have shown interest.

Frost, 6-3 and 210 pounds, has compiled some incredible statistics in his career at Wood River, which plays in Nebraska’s third-highest division.

This past season, he passed for 2,142 yards and 21 touchdowns and rushed for 1,585 yards and 33 touchdowns in leading Wood River to a 13-0 record and the Class C-1 championship. He has 6,859 career passing yards with 67 touchdowns and 4,278 yards rushing with 78 touchdowns.

His father, Larry Frost, played on the offensive line at Nebraska in the late 1960s and is the coach at Wood River. His mother, Carol, finished fourth in the discus in the 1968 Olympics and is Wood River’s receivers coach.

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Last add Stanford: How tough is Stanford academically? Vickers’ 3.5 grade-point average and a 900 Scholastic Aptitude Test score would get him into most colleges, no questions asked. But he had to wait nearly two weeks after committing to Stanford to see if the college would accept him academically.

He received his Christmas present a day early, when Stanford coaches notified him that he had been accepted.

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As in past years, UCLA has done a good job recruiting county linemen. The Bruins landed early commitments from Esperanza’s Travis Kirschke, a two-time Times Orange County lineman of the year, and Irvine offensive tackle Sean Gully.

But the Bruins also were hoping to get one of Southern California’s top quarterbacks--Trabuco Hills’ Pat Barnes. But Barnes, 6-4 and 207 pounds, has narrowed his choices to Cal, Notre Dame and Arizona State. He canceled his visit to UCLA.

Barnes’ brother, John, walked on as a senior this past season, earned the starting job after several injuries to other quarterbacks, and then led the Bruins to an upset of USC.

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Although Kirschke already has committed, four of his Esperanza teammates are still considering colleges. Among them:

--Defensive end Bryan Werner, who has visited Cal and will visit Stanford this weekend and Washington and Notre Dame later in the month.

--Offensive lineman Travis Pulliam, who has attracted interest from Villanova, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Oregon State, Northern Arizona and some Ivy League schools.

--Linebacker Travis McCullough, who’s looking at Iowa State, Northern Arizona and Oregon State.

--Tight end Ken Hall, who’s considering Navy, Army and Princeton.

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Beast of the East: For the first time in recent years, Villanova has appeared on preference lists of a few county players. Among the players considering the Wildcats, who play a Division I-AA football schedule:

--Rancho Alamitos running back Jeff Byrd, who’s also considering Dartmouth, Nevada, Navy, Northern Arizona and UC Davis.

--Servite defensive back A.J. Gass, who has scholarship offers from Villanova and Fresno State.

--Newport Harbor defensive tackle Phil Bloomberg, who’s also looking at Oregon State, Penn State and Washington.

--Pulliam, the Esperanza offensive lineman.

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Quotebook: Cypress High volleyball Coach Jerry Gregg, announcing where middle blocker Heather Lowe has committed: “She’s going to Santa Clara. She doesn’t know what the mascot is there, but that’s where she’s going.”

For the record--it’s the Santa Clara Broncos.

Recruiting Notes

Mater Dei linebacker Parker Gregg wants to leave Southern California to play in college. He has scheduled trips to Army, Pennsylvania, Colorado State and Navy. . . . National signing day for football and girls’ volleyball is Feb. 3-April 1. The late period for basketball and other sports is April 14-May 16.

Orange County’s Football Commitments

Player Pos. School Ht. Wt. Commitment Tim Carey QB Los Alamitos 6-4 175 Stanford Sean Dumas OG Servite 6-2 240 Navy Sean Gully OT Irvine 6-5 245 UCLA Travis Kirschke OG-DT Esperanza 6-5 255 UCLA Kyle Murphy DT Edison 6-4 255 Arizona State George Roberts DT Edison 6-4 245 California Leon Vickers LB Rancho Alamitos 6-1 200 Stanford

Note: Signing period for football is Feb. 3-April 1