LOS ANGELES — Assistant secondary coach Sam Carter walked the rows of USC football players during warmups, dishing out high-fives or custom-made handshakes as players stretched.
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He wore a black jersey with No. 25 printed in white – a mismatch from the No. 17 he wore as a second-team All-American safety at TCU. The next day, that jersey number will be 24, continuing a countdown until the season opener Aug. 29 against San Jose State at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
“We just got to make sure we get a jersey for him each day,” head coach Lincoln Riley said with a laugh. “It’s a good reminder for the guys of how close this is, and making every day count and understanding that the season’s close and we’ve got to be ready to roll.”
On Tuesday morning, Carter was coaching alongside defensive coordinator Gary Patterson and safeties coach/defensive pass game coordinator Paul Gonzales during an individual period. The three created a small Horned Frogs reunion that’s working to build a formidable secondary.
Carter played for Patterson from 2010-14 at TCU, culminating with a 12-1 record and a Peach Bowl victory while outscoring opponents 604-247 in 2014.
“He’s high energy,” Riley said of Carter. “He’s got a lot of experience in Coach Patterson’s system both as a player and a coach and has been a really good addition to our defensive staff, our secondary. He fits really well with Coach Gonzales, with (cornerbacks) Coach (Trovon) Reed and, obviously, Coach Patterson. That group really works well together.”
USC ranked in the middle of the Big Ten in terms of passing defense last season, giving up 207.5 passing yards a game, and allowed 22 touchdowns through the air.
All three former Frogs take a hands-on teaching approach to working with the secondary, which was evident Tuesday, the fourth day of camp. A new defensive scheme under Patterson has equalized players and made them willing learners.
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“We have a really mature group that came in this year,” redshirt senior cornerback Prophet Brown said. “We all just feed off of each other. We’re all learning. This is all our first year under this system together, so nobody’s more experienced or anything, but I feel like everybody’s learning and picking it up together.”
Older players offer advice to younger players, and younger players give their own feedback in return while in the meeting room.
“It’s encouraging (words),” Reed said. “Showing them where they went wrong or if they did it right; if they made a PBU, how you could’ve got the pick. Holding a higher standard and never lowering the bar no matter the situation.”
The primary drill during the media viewing period Tuesday appeared to focus on leverage and vision in the secondary. Players lined up and ran a designated route toward simulated quarterback play.
Work like this done during fall camp could increase the amount of pass breakups this season. The Trojans had the third fewest in the conference last season with 30, but their 12 interceptions ranked sixth out of 18 teams.
Safeties Christian Pierce and Kennedy Urlacher, as well as Brown, comprised the first group to complete the drill, but the order of participation might not mean much on a team rife with position battles that could continue after Carter’s jersey countdown expires.
“The fun thing for me,” Riley said, “is I can go through most of the positions and make a pretty fair argument there that we’re gonna have a lot of guys play and we’re gonna be able to rotate. That matters for competition. Iron truly does sharpen iron at this level.”
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