Freshman Already Making a Mark

USC begins training camp at UC Irvine today but the team already got a peek at its freshmen, who reported last Thursday. It didn’t take long for Keary Colbert, a swift receiver from Hueneme High in Oxnard, to impress the veterans.

“Oh man, Keary’s amazing,” said Kareem Kelly, the Trojans’ top returning receiver who was the Pacific 10 Conference freshman of the year last season.

“He kind of looks like me when I came in. He’s going full speed on every play and catching the ball well.”

Safety Matt Grootegoed and offensive lineman Joe McGuire stood out, as did three young tight ends--Alex Holmes, Gregg Guenther Jr. and junior college transfer Doyal Butler. Quarterback Matt Cassel also practiced well over the weekend.

“Maybe the surprise will be Jamaal Williams,” said Coach Paul Hackett, who added that the freshman defensive end from San Diego “might play more than expected.”

Offensive lineman Travis Watkins made a different kind of first impression. Senior Brent McCaffrey said Watkins looks old enough to be on the coaching staff.

“We call him ‘Uncle Travis,’ ” McCaffrey said.

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Not all the new faces belong to players. Dan Ferrigno is the new wide receivers coach and, perhaps more important, special teams coordinator.

It is an area of concern for the Trojans.

“How are we going to get the esprit de corps in the special teams that we had two years ago when we scored five touchdowns, when we returned kicks, we blocked kicks, we returned punts?” Hackett asked. “Last year it fell apart on us.”

Kicking was especially problematic. Junior David Newbury and senior David Bell were inconsistent and neither performed well in spring practice. They get another chance to compete for the starting position--with freshman John Wall thrown into the mix--starting today.

“That will be a big part of every day’s practice,” Hackett said.

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Not that Hackett likes to dwell on last season’s dismal 6-6 record, but he admits to spending time in the off-season watching films of two games in which the Trojans squandered big leads.

Hackett joked that it took a little bourbon to help him review losses to Notre Dame and Stanford.

Two things were evident. First, his players eased up when they built big leads. “When you keep looking at the damn scoreboard, you become affected,” Hackett said.

Second, the coaching staff might have been careless in calling too many risky plays, leading to some crucial turnovers.

“After I got through the Jack Daniels fog, those two things stay with us,” Hackett said. “Let’s hope we learn from that.”