There Are New Faces on the Sideline Too

Don’t count Norm Chow among the doubters.

Fans and the media might have spent the off-season wondering how USC would survive without him, but the offensive coordinator figures his jump to the NFL in February was no big deal.

“They won’t miss a beat,” he said of his former team. “They’ve got good coaches.”

But Chow, who took a similar position with the Tennessee Titans, wasn’t the only assistant who left the Trojans.

Ed Orgeron, the defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator, took over as coach at Mississippi. Offensive line coach Tim Davis went to the Miami Dolphins, and quarterback coach Carl Smith became the offensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Coach Pete Carroll has said that he welcomes the challenge that comes with change, an opportunity to prove that, no matter what, his team can remain on top of college football.

That quest begins Saturday against Hawaii, with much of the focus on the Trojans’ new offensive brain trust.

In effect, USC will fill Chow’s spot with two men. Former assistant Steve Sarkisian has returned from the Oakland Raiders as assistant head coach in charge of the offense. Lane Kiffin, who has been on the staff since 2001, becomes the coordinator.

The new arrangement works like this:

During the week, Kiffin and Sarkisian develop the game plan. On Saturday, Kiffin sits in the booth, calling plays down to Sarkisian, who has the authority to change them.

Of course, Carroll can make the final decision on any play.

If this sounds complicated, Kiffin insists that he and Sarkisian, both of whom spent considerable time working under Chow, think alike.

“Working with Steve makes it easy because, going into the game, we know what we want to do,” he said.

Replacing Orgeron and Davis may be just as crucial. Both were dominating personalities on the practice field, fiery, almost larger than life.

Pat Ruel arrives from the New York Giants to guide the offensive front five. The former University of Miami guard has Davis’ sense of humor, if not quite the same volume.

Taking over the defensive line is Jethro Franklin, who held a similar position with the Green Bay Packers for the last five seasons.

In other coaching changes, David Watson and former Trojan linebacker Sam Anno will work as graduate assistants. Dennis Slutak was promoted from graduate assistant to director of football operations.

Running back coach Todd McNair, a newcomer to USC last season, said joining the USC staff was particularly easy.

“Everybody’s so personable here, so you don’t have to be on edge about who you are,” he said.

But the new coaches will have to fit into Carroll’s system, his way of running a team, not to mention his up-tempo pace, which colors everything from meetings to full-speed practices.

“It’s a style in everything we do,” McNair said. “He’ll spell it out for you, he’ll paint the picture.”

The transition shouldn’t be too tough, Orgeron said. Like Chow, the departed assistant doesn’t foresee any problems with new guys fitting in.

“You come into USC and they’ve won national championships back to back,” he said. “You readily adapt.”