USC Gets Full-time Coach Wednesday

There was one more closed-door meeting with Coach Marty Schottenheimer on Sunday, a meeting today with Kansas City players, then a day to re-energize before Paul Hackett leaves his duties as offensive coordinator behind and arrives in Los Angeles on Wednesday to begin working full-time as USC’s new football coach.

His first order of business will be to talk with Herman Edwards, Tampa Bay’s secondary coach, about becoming the Trojan defensive coordinator.

He said he recently added Texas A&M; assistant Shawn Slocum, son of Aggie Coach R.C. Slocum, to his staff as special teams coach and defensive assistant, and will need to add another four or five coaches in the coming weeks.

He expects to meet with several visiting recruits this weekend, and while admittedly off to a slow start, said there is no sense of urgency because the football program has only 15 scholarships to use this year.

“I know my big date now is Feb. 4 [signing day] and I may be 120 pounds come Feb. 4, but I know what I have to do and I will find the energy to do it,” Hackett said. “We’ll be going at it full tilt from now on.”

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Running back Terrell Davis continues to make a strong case for the most valuable player honor, although the voting has been completed and Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre and Detroit running back Barry Sanders shared the award.

Davis, who might have been in the running had he not injured his shoulder against San Francisco in the second-to-the-last game of the regular season, injured his ribs last Sunday but only after running for 184 yards to trample Jacksonville.

Facing a Chief defense that had not allowed a rushing touchdown since Nov. 24, 1996 against San Diego--a span of 42 quarters--Davis scored on a one-yard plunge in the second quarter, then came back in the fourth quarter with another one-yard scoring run on third down.

“When you play us with five or six defensive backs, you dare us to run the football,” Denver tight end Shannon Sharpe said. “Terrell took it as an insult.”

Davis ran for 101 yards in 25 carries, keeping the pressure off quarterback John Elway.

“Defense wins championships,” Davis said. “But our commitment to the run shows we are going to run regardless of the situation.”

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The Chiefs lost to the Colts two years ago at Arrowhead Stadium, 10-7, after kicker Lin Elliott missed five field goals.

In a game still scoreless with the Broncos in the second quarter, Pete Stoyanovich kicked a 34-yard field goal for a 3-0 Kansas City lead, but had it wiped out after linebacker Greg Manusky was penalized for holding.

Stoyanovich’s attempt from 44 yards hit the left upright and bounced wide.

“When you watch the film you can see it for yourself,” said an irritated Manusky. “If I held, I held, but I didn’t. Three years I’ve been blocking like that, so I guess I’ve been holding for three years. But it’s the first time it’s ever been called.”