Garrett Caught in Trojan Blitz

USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett over the past few seasons has established a pattern of berating Trojan football players during games and practices, several current and former players have told The Times.

Players said Garrett, a former running back and Heisman Trophy winner at USC, showered insults and cursed at members of the football team, creating an atmosphere in which players believed he did not support the football program.

Several players and a former assistant coach who was replaced when Garrett fired John Robinson as coach in December also said that Garrett repeatedly interfered with Robinson’s staff by telling coaches whom to play during games and tried to coach players during practices though Robinson had asked him not to do so.

Players said Garrett conducted his halftime tirades when Robinson was not in the locker room, rarely offered encouragement to the team and might even have led some players to steer high school re-cruits away from USC.

Seniors Delon Washington, Lavale Woods, Jonathan Himebauch, Chris Brymer and Jim Wren; former team members Matt Koffler, Darrell Russell and Jeremy Hogue, and current team members Ken Bowen and Marvin Powell III were among those who spoke with The Times on their perceived friction between Garrett and Robinson’s program.

“One thing for sure is that Garrett is a distant figure in the lives of most USC athletes,” Hogue said. “Athletes only hear from Garrett when he has something negative to say.”

Asked Wednesday if his relationship with players has been poor, Garrett said, “That is absolutely false. Not even close. . . . I’ve always been supportive of the team and the players.”

Robinson declined to comment for this story, and USC President Steven Sample also declined comment.

According to the players, Garrett’s first halftime confrontation with the team occurred when USC played Washington in Seattle during the 1995 season.

Coming off a blowout loss to Notre Dame the week before, USC’s offense was sputtering against the Huskies and trailed, 13-0, after the second quarter.

When the team got to the locker room for halftime, Garrett was waiting. All the players The Times interviewed said Garrett began to yell.

“Garrett pointed at the quarterbacks and told them ‘Throw the [expletive] ball,’ ” said Bowen, a starting offensive tackle who will be a senior next season.

“Then he turned to the running backs and said ‘Run the [expletive] ball and then told the offensive line to ‘Get off the [expletive] ball and open some [expletive] holes.’

“Some people just have different ways of trying to motivate players. I think Mike was just trying to fire us up. But some of the guys didn’t like it.”

USC came back to tie Washington, 21-21, in that game.

Said Garrett: “I would never degrade a player or call any player an insulting name. . . . If they misconstrued that I called them names when I was describing their actions, then it was a mistake.”

1997 Outbursts

Several players said that last season, Garrett yelled and cursed at the team in the locker room during at least three games--against Washington, Stanford and UCLA.

It was in the Nov. 22 game against the Bruins that they said Garrett became the most enraged.

The game was a shootout, like many between the cross-town rivals. The Trojans, who were 6-4 before the game, put together two of their best quarters of the season in the first half, including an 80-yard pass play from quarterback John Fox to receiver R. Jay Soward on USC’s first play from scrimmage.

The Trojans exchanged touchdowns with the No. 7-ranked Bruins and went into halftime tied, 21-21.

But when the team entered the locker room, they were met by Garrett, who began to stalk the horseshoe-shaped room cursing and shouting at different players, the players said.

Robinson was meeting with his staff in another room when Garrett began dressing down the players, they said.

“Yeah, he was yelling. He called me a ‘stupid [expletive],’ ” said Washington, a three-year starter at running back, who gained 67 yards in 10 carries against the Bruins.

“He told me ‘You’re [expletive] killing us.’ I told him to get the [expletive] away from me.”

Garrett also severely rebuked several linemen, including Himebauch and juniors Travis Claridge and Marc Matock, the players said. “We felt pretty good about ourselves going into halftime,” said Himebauch, a center and one of the team leaders last season. “And there he was chewing us out.”

Sitting at his locker, Himebauch said he told Garrett that the team was doing fine and didn’t need his negative statements. Garrett did not respond, Himebauch said.

From across the room, a couple of players began yelling jokes about Garrett, several players said.

“It’s expected that coaches get angry at you when you don’t play well,” Himebauch said. “If administration is involved in competition, it should be in a supportive role.”

After Garrett finished with the linemen, several of the players said he started yelling at senior punter Wren. Two players said Garrett told Wren: “You [expletive] piece of [expletive], all you have to do here is kick. Pull your head out of your [expletive].”

Wren, a preseason All-American after his junior season in 1996, said the tongue-lashing was one of about five that Garrett had given him during his two years at USC.

Garrett said, “I might have told a player he played like [expletive], but I never called any player a piece of [expletive].”

Himebauch said many players were as bothered by Garrett’s method as by his comments and demeanor.

“For the athletic director to come down at halftime and rip the players behind the coaches’ back was way out of line,” Himebauch said. “He never did it when the coaches were there.”

At halftime during the UCLA game, Robinson apparently did hear part of Garrett’s comments when he entered the locker room after the staff meeting.

Several players said Robinson watched for a few moments and bluntly told Garrett to “just shut up.”

But during the second half, Woods said he saw Garrett on the sideline yelling at Washington again. He heard Washington again tell Garrett to leave him alone.

“We didn’t need that,” Woods said. “We didn’t need anybody screaming at us, least of all our own athletic director. . . . Who did he think he was helping?”

USC lost to UCLA, 31-24, the seventh consecutive Trojan defeat against the Bruins.

According to Hogue, the mere fact that Garrett swore at them is not what angers and disturbs the USC players. Harsh language and insults from coaches are part of the football culture.

But Hogue and others said that most players viewed Garrett as an outsider, someone who would very rarely offer encouragement when he showed up at practices wearing a USC swim team cap.

“It hurt the team to know that it wasn’t backed by the administration,” Himebauch said. “It hurts the entire program. I think having a good administration can only help a team, it builds up the players.

“It was not like that at USC the last couple of years.”

Hogue said his first contact with Garrett was in 1992, Larry Smith’s final year as Trojan coach, when Garrett was associate athletic director. Hogue said players were eagerly anticipating the former Heisman Trophy winner’s first speech to the team.

“He told us the only time we were going to see him was when we screwed up,” Hogue said. “He stormed out. He’s not a guy who comes out to practice and says good job.”

‘Bad Blood’

Russell, a star defensive lineman for the Trojans who made himself available for the 1997 NFL draft after his junior year, said the relationship between the athletic department administration and the football team was one of the reasons he left USC early.

“The bad blood here was definitely one of the factors,” said Russell, a first-round draft choice of the Oakland Raiders. “It hurt the team and I didn’t appreciate what they were doing to Robinson. I could see what was coming.”

Said one player: “I know there are a lot of guys, especially seniors, that were telling recruits that they shouldn’t come here. We all love this school, but it’s hard to recommend a place, especially when parents or the kid asks, ‘How do you like the administration?’ The administration always seemed against us, always seemed to be on opposite sides as us.”

Said Garrett: “What you got is a coaching staff that has been replaced and some of the players are hurt and want to lash out and will carry on about how bad I’ve treated them or something. Those players that identified with Robinson are going to say those things. But what they’re saying is not accurate at all.”

Brymer, a senior and one of the Trojans’ top offensive linemen last season, said he witnessed an early confrontation between Robinson and Garrett over control of the football team.

At a practice at UC Irvine in 1993, Robinson’s first season in his second stint at USC, Brymer said Garrett was on the field instructing several players when Robinson walked over and said to Garrett, “Mike, this is my football team. I’m the coach. Leave those guys alone.”

One of Robinson’s assistants who was fired said that Garrett--during games and practices--occasionally tried to tell assistants which players should start and which players should play.

“It’s tough to tell him to stay out of it,” the assistant said. “Because of his position, he can do anything he wants.”

Three of Robinson’s former assistants who remain on the staff supported Garrett. Hue Jackson, Mike Wilson and Dennis Thurman all said that they never heard Garrett scream at players, call them names or interfere with coaching duties.

Paul Hackett, who was hired Dec. 17 as Robinson’s successor, said his relationship with Garrett so far has been excellent.

“Mike has been nothing but in my corner,” Hackett said Wednesday. “I can assure you Mike and I will be on the same page when it comes to how to motivate the team.”