Cardinal
and Gold: The Oral History of USC Trojans Football
by Steve Delsohn
The history of USC football is ripe with glory,
fanaticism, defeat. ESPN Outside the
Lines reporter Steve Delsohn carries forth the gauntlet of Trojan oral history
in his new book, Cardinal and Gold: The
Oral History of USC Trojans Football.
What remains unique about Delsohn’s diving into USC history is that he
did hundreds of interviews from players and coaches as far back as 1972-1973 to
now. These interviews show up in the book
like clerics would show up at a roundtable meeting, each pointing out their
various perspective and vying for their voice to be heard most
vociferously.
One of the best parts of the book was Delsohn’s focus
on the 1978 season, in which USC traveled to Alabama to take on Bear Bryant’s
Crimson Tide. Just a season prior, the
Tide rolled into the Coliseum and took down the #1 Trojans. 1978 was a new year and coach John Robinson
had his boys fired up for a fight down in Alabama. Coach Robinson spoke about this game saying, “Alabama
was ranked number one and they were ten-point favorites, and we really
dominated them. We won 24-14, but it was
an ass kicking. I remember meeting Bear
Bryant at the middle of the field after the game. He was about 6-4, a big man, and he was like
a god. Bear Bryant just drawled, Y’all
just beat the living shit out of us,” I said, “Thank you, sir! Thank you, thank you!” (26)
The change of coaches and the player’s response to
the changes was a big focus of Delsohn in the book. After John Robinson was fired, USC brought in
Paul Hackett, not quite the player’s coach like Robinson. Part of the radical departure from Robinson
was due to Hackett’s version of the West Coast style offense he had honed in
the NFL. Yet, new styles were emerging in
the college game that needed focus on also.
Chris Huston voices his opinion, “That bowl game (1998) really showed
that Hackett was out of his depth in the college game. He was very much focused on implementing the
West Coast offense with an incredibly thick playbook and play calling that
required a paragraph to call something in the huddle. At the same time he wasn’t prepared to take
on the new styles that were emerging in the college game. The Sun Bowl revealed that.” (170)
T
aking the reader all the way up to 2015, Delsohn
carefully weaves the story of USC football for both the die-hard fan and those
who just want to know the real story.
Thanks to Blogging for Books for the copy of the book
in exchange for an honest review.
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