Toledo: It’s Not Good to Live in Past

Bob Toledo won’t wear it around Westwood, but the UCLA coach has a championship ring from USC. He was an assistant coach on the Trojans’ 1978 national championship squad.

Times have changed at USC. The Trojans will finish without a winning record for the second consecutive season, which has not happened at USC since 1960-61.

After the Trojans lost to Fresno State in the 1992 Freedom Bowl, and just before he was fired, USC coach Larry Smith infuriated fans and alumni by saying that NCAA scholarship restrictions had brought about parity and that schools could no longer win “just because of your name and your logo.”

Said Toledo: “That’s exactly what happens. He was telling the truth.”

“It’s no longer the ‘70s. Look at Northwestern, Oregon, Oregon State. You just don’t have the numbers you used to have. Guys that used to be sitting on your bench are playing against you.

“It’s not good to live in the past, but a lot of people do that. It would be like our basketball team talking about all the national championships in the past [as the reason why it should win today]. When you have great tradition, people are used to that. They can’t accept otherwise.”