It Could Get a Bit Drafty on This Tour

The next stop on what is more than likely Chris Claiborne’s farewell tour is today in Orlando, Fla., where the Butkus Award honoring college football’s best linebacker will be presented to one of three finalists.

Claiborne was honored as USC’s most valuable player at the team’s banquet Thursday night, then hopped a red-eye flight with linebacker coach Shawn Slocum for Orlando, scheduled to arrive at 6:47 a.m.

“It’s going to be a grinder,” Slocum said.

Claiborne just smiled.

“I’m extremely excited,” he said. “I’m very, very excited. I’m just going to go down there and have fun, and good luck to everybody. Everyone there deserves this.”

Claiborne and Texas A&M;’s Dat Nguyen are the favorites ahead of Florida’s Jevon Kearse, and if Claiborne wins, he’ll become the first USC player to win the Butkus, one of the few major awards no Trojan has ever claimed.

Next stop is the Sun Bowl in El Paso, and sometime between now and the Jan. 8 deadline for declaring for the NFL draft awaits the biggest decision of Claiborne’s life.

Not many think he’ll be back, not after a season that could hardly be improved on, and not when some think he could be a top-five pick.

“Yeah, I think I’m going to look at Chris and know, ‘This is his last game,’ ” fellow linebacker David Gibson said. “It’s too bad we don’t get to play in a better bowl. This is his first bowl game.”

And, Gibson assumes, his last.

“Oh, man, I only wish we could pay him under the table to stay,” Gibson said with a laugh. “No amount of money could match what he’s going to be able to make. He’ll leave a big void. You can try to fill it, but you can’t replace him.”

Like just about everyone else, Gibson watched Claiborne amid the celebration after the Notre Dame game, lingering on the field as he made his way toward the Coliseum tunnel among scattered calls of “One more year” from fans.

“I think he was soaking it up, thinking it was the last time,” Gibson said.

Claiborne likes to keep a little suspense in things and goes from being giddy about the NFL one day to talking about how good USC will be next year, with the core of the team back from what could be a 9-4 season.

To those who think he won’t consider staying, he says, “I think I’m just my own man. People will always have their opinions. I’ve just got to do what’s right for me.”

Slocum believes there’s a reason Claiborne wavers.

“I really don’t think he knows,” said Slocum, who insists he believes there’s still a chance Claiborne could return. “Sure I do.”

Defensive coordinator Bill Young looks at the handful of seniors he’ll lose from a young defense that was the Pacific 10’s best and makes a mental note he could be adding one more.

“Obviously, until he’s gone, he’s still here. We’ll cross our fingers and hope he stays, but Chris has to make his own future and think about his family’s security,” said Young, who looks at Mike Pollard or Zeke Moreno as the candidates at middle linebacker should Claiborne leave.

“We’ll all hug his neck regardless,” Young said. “Obviously, we’ll hug it real hard if he stays.”

No matter what happens, Claiborne gave the Trojans quite a year.

“This is probably one of the most amazing seasons I’ve ever seen a player have,” Gibson said. “On top of his stats, leading our team in tackles, he had six interceptions as a middle linebacker. That’s pretty much unheard of. It’s inspiring to see someone play that well.”

Claiborne has given a lot of credit to Slocum, and so does Young.

“Chris improved fundamentally so much from what he looked like last year on film. Footwork, pass coverage, he made very few errors if any on his drops.”

Along with 107 tackles and five sacks--including a TKO of Arizona State’s Ryan Kealy--Claiborne shared the Pac-10 lead with his six interceptions. He returned two of those for touchdowns--showing his old high school running back form--and averaging almost 27 yards a return.

“Generally, a middle linebacker doesn’t have the range to get to the places Chris got to,” Young said. “And the amazing thing is, once he got his hands on the ball, he put it in the end zone.”

It has come down to Claiborne and Nguyen for the Butkus, one an 8-4 team on its way to the Sun Bowl and the other from an 11-2 team on its way to play Ohio State in the Sugar.

Slocum, who coached for his father, R.C. Slocum, at Texas A&M; last year and knows both players well, has a unique perspective.

“Dat and Chris both had great years. Dat had a few more tackles, but he’s in a conference that features the run. Chris had more interceptions and more touchdowns. They’re very similar in production and instincts. The one big difference is size. Chris is 6 feet 3, 250 pounds. Dat’s 5-11, 6 feet and 230.

“I’ve been given some credit, but I consider it luck of the draw being around both of these guys.”