USC can learn from Clemson on road back to spotlight

USC’s history of success is enough for them to handle being at the top, but lessons from afar could be key toward where they want to be.

Just as it is in life, the peaks and valleys of college sports proverbially become defining ones. The USC Trojans are a modern-day example of the team that has transitioned from peak to valley and now, they hope they’re back at a peak. The Trojans made what they believe to be their return to the spotlight as a top team again with their stunning victory over Penn State in the Rose Bowl.

It was a long road to seeing Sam Darnold lead a heroic comeback for the Trojans. Before they were taking back the college football landscape, USC was getting out from underneath the shadow of sanctions, defeat and a myriad of poor personnel decisions. It only dug the hole of rebuilding a national power even further.

The fallout of the Reggie Bush saga and the eventual departure of the people that built the Los Angeles dynasty plunged the Trojans into an unfamiliar area. For the first time in the program’s history, there wasn’t a quick fix back to the top of college football, let alone the Pac-12.

Enter the Clemson Tigers. While the Trojans were busy leaving their dismissed head coach at the airport (Lane Kiffin) or being blindsided by one ousted mid-season (Steve Sarkisian) to deal with personnel issues, Dabo Swinney began putting the pieces in place for the Tigers to become a powerhouse program.

When Swinney took over the Tigers as an interim in 2008, the program was walking a fine line of mediocrity. They were good enough to make bowl games and occasionally, decent ones. They weren’t trending the way of a team that eventually won the National Championship.

Clay Helton currently finds himself in a position not far from the one Swinney was in. Like the latter, Helton became interim of a program trying to stay afloat amid high expectations while navigating the valleys of recruiting sanctions and another change at athletic director.

Their first full seasons as a head coach started opposite of expectations. Clemson would lose three of their first five games in 2009 and pressure mounted. They followed it up with six wins the following year and things weren’t any easier. The start of this past season was an absolute disaster for the Trojans. At 1-3 and a couple of bad losses on national television, it looked as if the program still wasn’t ready to flip the switch.

In what was their last loss of the season, Helton made the decision to trust the redshirt freshman Darnold. Swinney put that same trust in Tajh Boyd in the renaissance of the Tigers in 2011. He did again with Deshaun Watson when it was his turn to lead three years ago after a 1-2 start behind Cole Stoudt.

A rainy night in Salt Lake City changed the fortune of the Trojans. Darnold put forth a victorious effort in defeat against the Utah Utes and you could feel the change. Week after week, the Trojans picked off each opponent one by one.

The legend of Darnold began to grow and he carried himself with the same weight that the greats in their program’s history did. The Trojans were at a crossroads heading into Seattle. Taking on the undefeated Washington Huskies, questions surrounded the program about whether this was for real or merely yet another delusion of their return.

Dominating Washington at the point of attack signified USC was on their way back. They made the Huskies play out of their comfort zones. A team that was expected to rip through the conference took a step back and ultimately, was better off from it. The Huskies were able to take plenty from defeat and earn their way into the College Football Playoff.

Although they had three losses attached to their name, there was no doubt USC was one of those teams no one wanted to play at the end of the year. Like the teams throughout their history that won a title with a swagger and belief in the system, this team believed and played like they were the best.

Flashback to the Trojans and Darnold getting one last crack to drive down the field and win the Rose Bowl. When the ball was in USC’s hands, there was nothing that was going to stop them from seizing their spot as a giant once again.

The parallels between the return of the Trojans and the championship ascension of the Tigers are there. Both schools had to do soul-searching while they were stuck in a valley and the way their coaches stuck to their beliefs brought them back to a peak. If the Trojans are serious about making a playoff run next season, they need to look no further than the champs for the blueprint to success.