Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
What We Learned: Why did Jack Sears leave the USC football team now?
Jack Sears has been prepared for the possibility that he wouldn't be USC's starting quarterback for a long time, perhaps since word leaked in the fall of 2017 that JT Daniels would be reclassifying in the summer.
Sears himself arrived at USC in January of 2017 after making a well-calculated decision. He had been committed to Duke in the time that Sam Darnold emerged as not only USC's starter but a high-end NFL prospect that was unlikely to stick around past his third year.
In the very week that Darnold took that leap, in November of 2016 against Washington, Sears flipped his pledge from the Blue Devils to the Trojans. He began his USC career knowing he'd sit a year behind his former high school teammate but the job would be completely up for grabs in 2018. As he ran the scout team in practice his first year, Sears took on an aggressive academic course load off the field.
This gave him options that ultimately led to Tuesday's announcement that he has indeed entered the transfer portal. The only question is, why did he choose to leave the team now rather than after the season?
Sears' standing in the portal, which signifies the school has granted him his release, already affords him the opportunity to be in contact with other schools as he completes his degree at USC. Coach Clay Helton confirmed Tuesday that he extended Sears the option of remaining on the team while in the portal but noted that Sears decided instead to focus on academics in his final semester.
That's exactly what I expected to hear from Helton, and it's not untrue. Sears has to remain on campus for the time being to complete his degree in order to be a grad transfer with two years of eligibility remaining. Moreover, Helton wasn't going to encourage a scholarship quarterback to leave the team days before the season opener. But it's also very likely that Sears was insulted by being slotted No. 4 on the depth chart last week, just a few months after being No. 2.
"We went into the competition knowing we had some elite talent," Helton said. "But we also said we were going to go into those 30 practices that we got to evaluate and we were going to rank who had given the absolute best production. It didn't matter their age, it didn't matter how long they had been (here), it didn't matter how great a kid they are, it was about who produced and who was the most consistent, and that’s how we ranked them both as a head coach, as a coordinator and as an offensive staff."
That's fine. I had the luxury of observing all of those practices and, while I'm not a coach, my objective opinion is there's no way Sears was the fourth-best performer at quarterback through this process. He might have been second, which is where he stood on the depth chart after spring practice, and was third at worst. So why make him No. 4? It puzzled me for a good part of last week. The only logic I could come up with was that because Matt Fink, after a brief stay in the transfer portal himself this spring, committed to play his final two years at USC, Sears, whom the staff knew would be leaving in December if he wasn’t going to play, was no longer as important of a commodity on the roster.
Tuesday, though, I was tipped off to another, more pressing reason for making Sears fourth string. It kills controversy, which seeped into the locker room late last season as players privately debated who should start at QB. By making Kedon Slovis No. 2 and Fink No. 3, it effectually communicates to the team and the public that Daniels and Sears aren't even close, that Daniels is clearly the best option. That way, if the USC offense were to struggle or get off to a slow start to begin the season, people are less inclined to call for the rookie Slovis, and no one would be lobbying for Sears.
Sears, surely miffed by his free fall on the depth chart and perhaps disillusioned by what's transpired over the past 10 months, decided he's had enough. He already participated in USC's graduation ceremony this past spring because he knew it was unlikely that he'd stick around campus past this fall. What he couldn't have predicted, and probably doesn't for a moment believe, is that he would be deemed the worst scholarship QB on the roster. In the end, he played just one game for USC, an indelible debut that prompted a personal congrats from Arizona State coach Herm Edwards. You can debate whether he deserved better. There's no question he was better.
ONE AND ONLY
Three years ago, after choosing Max Browne to open the season as the quarterback following a close competition, Helton also played Sam Darnold in each of USC's first three games before ultimately making a switch. Is there a chance we'll see the same with Daniels and Slovis? Only if there's a blowout.
"For us, JT is the quarterback, he's going to progress," Helton said. "We hope that we have opportunities to play other quarterbacks. Usually you're up in games for that to happen. Every opportunity we get to play other quarterbacks, we want to progress them and get them reps. But right now JT is our quarterback and he's going to help us win a game."
Slovis and Fink shared reps with the scout team Tuesday.
FOOTNOTES
USC's practices are closed to the media for the remainder of the season. The Trojans are expected to release a depth chart on Friday, but here is what sources tell me the first team looked like Tuesday as the team prepared for Fresno State.
Jalen McKenzie took the bulk of his reps at right guard, with Drew Richmond at right tackle. Vavae Malepeai continues to get the first reps at running back, while Stephen Carr and Markese Stepp are vying for the No. 2 spot.
On defense, freshman defensive end Drake Jackson is starting next to Jay Tufele, Marlon Tuipulotu and Christian Rector in the Trojans' base four-man front. The first-team cornerbacks were Olaijah Griffin and Isaac Taylor-Stuart on the outside and Greg Johnson at nickel.
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Helton confirmed after practice that freshman cornerback Jayden Williams was cleared by the NCAA to play this year. Of course, he was also asked about the status of freshman wide receiver Bru McCoy's waiver and if he was surprised that it's taken this long for the NCAA to make a decision.
"The waiver has a lot of details with it," Helton said. "This is not a common occurrence, when you go from one university to the next, back. So there's a lot of things that could go into it. We're taking our time with it."
I'm told McCoy, just as he hadn't during his four-month stay at Texas, has yet to actually file a waiver. I don't know why he didn't in the spring, but his expectation that he won't be eligible now, after returning to USC, has apparently deterred him from submitting the paperwork.
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Helton opened his session by sending his condolences to Matthew Olson, the incoming USC student who died over the weekend after being struck by two cars on the 110 freeway.
