Robinson Gets USC’s Support

USC President Steven B. Sample, possibly responding to criticism by USC quarterback Brad Otton for what the player perceived as a lack of administrative support for football Coach John Robinson, did so Thursday.

“Very simply, I strongly support John Robinson,” Sample said in a telephone interview.

“I also strongly support the Trojan football team and I urge every member of the Trojan family to do the same. I’ve said that in speeches, to alumni groups, and to anyone who stops me on campus and wants to talk football.”

On Tuesday, Otton, a senior, said a lack of administrative support had put Robinson “in a horrible situation.” He said he thought a delegation of players calling on Sample and Athletic Director Mike Garrett was “a good idea.”

Thursday, Sample responded to a reporter’s request for a comment on Robinson’s situation a week after the request was left. On the subject of possible coaching staff changes after the season, he said:

“None of us have tenure, including me. I serve at the minute-to-minute pleasure of the USC board of trustees. And I would never evaluate anyone in the press, in any case.

“John’s our coach and a great group of young people are our football team. They deserve our support.”

Last week, Robinson told reporters he would “step aside, if the university felt I wasn’t the right guy.”

Sample and Garrett were then asked, through USC spokesmen, if they would comment on Robinson’s status in view of his offer to resign.

Garrett declined, pointing out that he had previously said he would not comment on the football staff’s status until after the season.

Sample said Thursday that he had not seen the message to contact the reporter.

The Trojans, a nationally ranked team at the start of the season, have been a major disappointment. They are out of the running for the Pacific 10 Conference title, have a 5-5 overall record and have lost their last two games, with UCLA the opponent Saturday and Notre Dame the opposition in the regular-season finale Nov. 30. Teams need to win at least six games to get a bowl bid.

Last year, the Trojans were 9-2-1 and defeated Northwestern in the Rose Bowl, after which Robinson’s contract was extended five years. He is in his fourth season of his second tour of duty at USC.

At the same time he made his “step aside” remark, Robinson challenged USC backers critical of the team to renew their financial support of the football program. USC’s football facilities are the worst in the Pac-10, he said, and the No. 1 shortcoming is Howard Jones Field, the practice facility.

It’s the equivalent of 1 1/3 fields. USC recruits against schools with multiple full fields. Notre Dame has five. Only this season were lights installed for late-afternoon practices at Jones Field, after daylight saving time ended.

The field--also used by the women’s soccer team in the fall--is down to bare dirt on its most-used areas and USC does not own a tarpaulin to cover the field. On Thursday, while rain turned Jones Field into mud, the team had to work out indoors in staggered practices in Lyon Center, an intramural gym.

The Trojans’ athletic administrative and coaches’ offices are in Heritage Hall, built in 1971.

“Heritage Hall was built in response to a crisis,” Robinson said. “Now we have another crisis.”