Southern Cal’s Pete Carroll offers Georgia DE prospect
Southern Cal offered Garrison Smith (left), who also likes UGA and Georgia Tech. His older brother played at Georgia Tech (AJC)
Douglass defensive end Garrison Smith, one of the nation’s leaders in early scholarships with around 30, had been offered by all of his dream schools except for one. That was Southern Cal, and Pete Carroll called with the news on Wednesday night.
“[Carroll] said he thinks I’m a good player, that I’d be a good fit, and I ought to come out to the West coast,” Smith said. “I was real excited about talking to him. USC is a legendary team with a legendary coach, and always winning championships. It’s just another blessing.”
The 6-foot-3, 255-pound Smith was offered by Oklahoma last week, and also holds scholarships from Georgia and Georgia Tech. His older brother, Greg Smith, played for Georgia Tech.
He was rumored to be considering making an early decision, but says he is unsure about when he will commit. “I just want to check out all of my options,” Smith said. “When I commit and give my word, my recruiting is over. So I want to see everything before committing.”
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39 comments Add your comment
Southern Cal’s Pete Carroll offers Georgia DE prospect | AJC College Sports Recruiting
April 16th, 2009
10:02 am
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Reality
April 16th, 2009
10:34 am
Championships? I assume he was talking about their PAC10 championships and the Rose Bowl Championships. As much pub as USC gets, they have only ONE national championship in their ‘great run’.
MHS
April 16th, 2009
10:43 am
This kid is the real deal I agree, but to find the premiere athletes in the city you have to go the premiere school in the city, Mays High. Smith’s defense was down 28-0 at halftime to the Raiders last year, while Mays has there entire offensive line coming back. I keep hearing about all these kids from Doug, Mr. Carvell what about the boys over at Mays??
NABoi
April 16th, 2009
11:09 am
Mays sucks nutz
mcdawg
April 16th, 2009
11:25 am
Reality makes a good point-USC reminds me of FSU back in the old ACC-Bowden was given the Nat. Champ in 1993
'ol sport
April 16th, 2009
11:34 am
Hey, it’s “Hollywood”. The big time. Stars, celebs, and wierdo’s. Hollywood, California, the big time. It lasts for four years, then back to reality.
An education has much more substance.
Pi$$onaDAWG
April 16th, 2009
12:29 pm
Don’t try to paint this young man as bad. I know his Grandmom and he was raised well. he is thinking about the future in both sports and education. “Mom” is all about the BOOKS.
Judge Smales
April 16th, 2009
12:59 pm
mcdoggie, your comment is ironic considering who you obviously cheer for. How did that pre-season #1 work out for you last year. get your nose out of your butt.
noneya
April 16th, 2009
2:53 pm
USC may only have one championship in this run in the BcS era but how many total championships do they have? USC is a great program and to be offered by them along with the 30+ other offers he has is a great accomplishment. Let’s applaud these children as oppose to analyzing and trying to break down everything that they say.
78 DAWG
April 16th, 2009
2:56 pm
USC gets the pub but doesn’t produce in big games. SI kisses theyre tail and they usually loose at least one game. USC is a 2nd rate program, you should play for the top team in the top conference, GO DAWGS!
USC
April 16th, 2009
3:33 pm
4-0 verse the SEC in the BCS period… They will play anyone, anywhere… Just ask Arkansas and Houston Nutt how weak of a team they are… 2nd rate… I don’t think so! Georgia would never play them.
Diamond Dawg
April 16th, 2009
3:51 pm
He’s a bulldog at heart! Who cares bout all the cupcakes in the Pac-10. Go Dawgs!!!!!!!!!
Sam Bam Cunningham
April 16th, 2009
4:03 pm
Hey, Georgia fans…I really want thank you guys for Jarvis Jones. NO hard feelings that he chose sunny California over his home state of Georgia…OK. Have a nice day. =]
Hal Vernon
April 16th, 2009
6:40 pm
SI kisses So Cal’s tail? Who’s the feeble school they selected as preseason #1 who failed miserably in that endeavor last year? USC would wipe UGa off the map given the opportunity. Not even close.
Big Bee
April 16th, 2009
8:06 pm
78Dawg, if I were you I would not talk about someone not producing in BIG GAMES.
PortlandTrojan
April 16th, 2009
8:08 pm
‘ol sport said:
Hey, it’s “Hollywood”. The big time. Stars, celebs, and wierdo’s. Hollywood, California, the big time. It lasts for four years, then back to reality.
An education has much more substance.
-
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Um…
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U.S. News and World Report College Rankings – National Universities:
USC – #27
Georgia – #58
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So… I think he’d get a pretty good education at USC.
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78 Dawg: I really don’t understand your comment. USC has been at their very best in big games. It’s the little games that get them. Oregon State in 2008, Stanford in 2007, Oregon State and UCLA in 2006.
Dave In Tampa
April 16th, 2009
8:46 pm
Hey, I’m a Bulldog through and through, but for some of you knocking USC’s tradition just aren’t right. Southern cal is a great football school that would do well in the SEC. I hope he becomes a Dawg, but don’t going showing a lack of class and intelligence by saying USC is not a good football program.
SugarHillDawg=Nerd Tormentor
April 16th, 2009
9:28 pm
Why does Pete Carrol come to Ga. to get players? Cali is full of them.Guess he wants to sell the kids on the gang scene.USC IS in Compton.
Gilligan
April 16th, 2009
9:55 pm
USC is really located in South Central and strangely enough it is a very good academic school. If you knock USC for its campus location you could also knock other high academic institutions that also include some Ivy League schools.
USC only offers scholarships to out of state students who have the potential to become an NFL first round draft pick. It is a high compliment for a non-California student to receive a scholarship offer from USC.
Grip
April 17th, 2009
1:02 am
Not only is USC not in Compton, it is located in the same type of community that Yale and Harvard are in. Superhilldawg, looks like you may need to get out of Athens more.
PortlandTrojan
April 17th, 2009
1:33 am
SugarHillDawg – are you familiar with Pete Carroll’s program A Better L.A.? – http://www.abetterla.org
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A BETTER LA, founded by USC football head coach Pete Carroll, is a 501(c)(3) comprised of local leaders from the private, non-profit, social service, faith-based, education and law enforcement sectors. We are committed to supporting Los Angeles communities in their goal to reduce violence by empowering change. Our first target area is in South Los Angeles.
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Included in the Overall Vision:
Gangs are significantly re-directed from negative to positive activities and are natural helpers within the community, helping the community to grow.
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So… your comment about the gang scene seems really inappropriate, given Coach Carroll’s commitment to helping at risk youth in South Central L.A.
Jennifer
April 17th, 2009
1:54 am
Bama get’s a highly touted QB from Virginia, Phillip Sims. Woohoo!!! Roll damn Tide. Nick Saban’s a recruiting machine.
abe
April 17th, 2009
3:09 am
Reality…thats b/c we have computers deciding who plays in NC games and who doesn’t. I am a Cal fan, and I hate ‘SC, like any Can fan does, but make no mistake there is NOT ONE FOOTBALL PROGRAM, that will even compete with ‘SC’s at a NC game. You should change your name from “Realty” to DILUSIONAL b/c thats precisely what u are.
78DAWG…you must be the all state RETARD, or maybe the 78 refers to the actual number brain cells that are found in your DAWG skull, b/c if you had an ounce of brain you would know better than to say ‘SC doesn’t perform at big games…its funny, thats actually the opposite of ‘SC’s tradition…they tend to get bored at unimportant games and hurt their rankings but given the opportunity, they tend to blow out any decent football team that gets in their way, whether during the regular season or the bowl season. i mean seriously wtf is wrong with u people, can’t u be a fan w/o being a retard?!!!!!!
Cory
April 17th, 2009
11:13 am
What is Southern Cal? The school is USC. I hear that South Carolina is not USC, and should only take on the name of USC when they start winning National Championships
David
April 17th, 2009
3:19 pm
No one can touch SC in big games? Ever heard of Vince Young or the Texas Longhorns? I rest my case. The “big” games lately have ALL been in Cali. I’m not knocking SC. I think they are an awesome program with great teams. The reason SEC fans are hostile towards them is because the fans talk all of the crap in the world and do not play the same schedule. I am not saying SC could not win in the SEC, because I am convinced they could. I am saying they would not dominate the way they do on the west coast. 4-0 against SEC teams. SC fans usually bring that out, but they have only played arkansas and auburn. I’m not saying they are slouches, but if you played arkansas, auburn, florida, lsu, tenn, alabama, georgia in consecutive weeks, I think they would have a hard time being dominant the way they are over there.
Gilligan
April 17th, 2009
4:41 pm
David, not trying to sound like a prick but USC is 6-1 in BCS bowls with VY’s superhuman performance as the lone exception. I know I am not the only USC fan who hated losing that game but at the same time gave a lot of credit to VY’s performance. Two of the 6 wins were in the Orange Bowl (vs. Iowa and OU).
I know for a fact USC fans want to play the elite SEC teams but according to some of the local USC beat writers it seemed that Mike Garrett (USC AD) received no interest fromm the SEC schools. From my understanding, USC wanted a home and away series but according to previous writings it seemed that a couple of the SEC teams only wanted to play USC in their own turf.
I also think the PAC 10 receives very little credit for scheduling tough non-conference games.
The reason only Pac 10 teams are able to beat USC is because they are used to playing their pro-style type of offense and non-conference opponents are not used to defending this type of offense. I mean think about it, how many teams utilize both the TE and FB in the game plan? It seems that a majority of schools are changing their offense to a spread and you notice this factor a lot in the SEC.
Kuschelbear
April 17th, 2009
5:03 pm
Not an SEC fan, but I totally understand why an SEC school would NOT want to schedule USC. They have NOTHING to gain by playing them, whereas USC NEEDS to schedule a school like a UF or UGA because their competition out west is pedestrian. When they lose it’s usually because of not being focused for playing pansies each week. One school that wouldn’t turn USC down is Georgia Tech. GT usually plays a great OOC schedule every year. Maybe USC should ask them.
abe
April 17th, 2009
8:39 pm
Texas and Vince Young…THAT IS IT. In the world of logic that, which is where I come from, that was the EXCEPTION NOT THE RULE. And yes to echo Gilligan that was more VY than Texas, I can’t for the life of me remember an entire team’s success relying so heavily just on one player, conveniently so on the QB. A close one is Oregon in ‘07 which was ranked 2nd until their hiesman front runner QB went down and so did their season with him. The fact that Texas edged ‘SC in that game was not so much a statement of Texas’s overall strength, but rather the superhuman talent of their QB. Furthermore, ‘SC’s wins in bcs games are usually not just edges they are blowouts, teams completely unable to even compete, I mean total domination in every facet of the game. That my retarded friend is POWER. I hate ‘SC but I admire them.
Brent
April 18th, 2009
5:41 pm
actually, USC has TWO national championships in the BCS era, not to mention they played in another and they are in the title talk every year. They also still hold the most weeks being ranked number one.
and the “great run” still isn’t over, its just the beginning.
sc4life
April 18th, 2009
10:30 pm
SC has more than 1 National Championship.. Check your facts…
BowDown
April 19th, 2009
12:42 pm
Not a USC fan but I respect them as a Pac-10 fan and an intelligent person. Always amazed at the simpletons in the SEC, you guys can’t ever seem to get your facts or your logic straight which says volumes about an SEC “education”. The SEC is seriously overrated. Alabama last year was a JOKE. PAC-10 went 5-0 in bowls, plays anyone, anywhere and the SEC still can’t figure out a map to get out of the South. lol
Sam Bam Cunningham
April 19th, 2009
5:09 pm
Come join your boy Jarvis Jones in sunny Los Angeles, Garrison.
joe
April 20th, 2009
4:11 am
I’m just saying. There are now, 2 teams with 2 Crystal Balls, LSU & Fla.
The rest of this conversation is conjecture.
Also a Dawg Fan
April 20th, 2009
7:07 pm
Jarvis Jones won’t qualify academically…..Can u say Hargrave Military Academy…
timthebrave
April 21st, 2009
1:22 pm
Bowdown—GA played a Pac 10 team and completely destroyed them on their home turf last year. ASU fans remember. It should have been worse without the terrible referees. USC is definitely a top tier program. They could compete and win in the SEC. The problem is their schedule is weak. You can’t point out 6 tough games like you can on UGA schedule. Compare GA Schedule
Oklahoma State
South Carolina
Arkansas
Arizona State
LSU
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Florida
Tennessee Tech
Auburn
Kentucky
Georgia Tech
vs USC schedule
San Jose St
Ohio State
Washington
Wash. St
California
Notre Dame
Oregon State
Oregon
Arizona State
Stanford
UCLA
Arizona
billy
April 23rd, 2009
9:25 am
USC SUCKS everybody
PortlandTrojan
April 23rd, 2009
12:57 pm
That’s very profound, billy. I like the way you supported your position with evidence.
urban saben
April 23rd, 2009
2:44 pm
billy’s right on this
PORTLAND TROGAn is a “Douche”
PortlandTrojan
April 27th, 2009
2:15 pm
I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was best to just make blanket statements about a program/university. Maybe if I lived in the South, I would understand. Here, let me try it your way:
SEC Suckks! Bama, you got killed by tha utes! Bulldogs, how you like yo’ preseason number 1 ranking now! Yeah!
Hmmm…
I didn’t enjoy that. See, I like to visit media sites dedicated to covering regions for other conferences to get some new information and perhaps have an open discussion of what’s happening now in college football. Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of these sites attract a very simple-minded (although passionate) kind of fan.
On the other hand, it’s not even fair for me to say that. There have been a number of very smart, well-articulated comments on this story. I guess it’s just hard to notice them with all of the screaming, slobbering superfans drowning them out.
What if, instead of just railing against all things non-SEC, you welcomed a discussion with fans from other conferences? What if we could all just explore our thoughts on what we can expect from this coming year. For instance, I know all there is to know about USC’s depth chart, spring practice performances, likely future starters and stars, etc…
I don’t know these things in such detail about SEC teams. But I’d love to learn more. And by learn more, I’m not talking about hearing how the Pac-10 is weak, how USC sucks or any of that. First of all, it’s not based in any kind of reality. Secondly, I’d much rather hear about why you’re excited about this coming year for your teams. Who are the under-the-radar players who will become well-known by season’s end? Who are you most excited to see take the field? Which games in particular do you have circled on your calendars?