Obviously it hasn’t been all roses for USC the last 30+ years either but we did have the Carroll era. And the Sam Darnold 2 year run too! 😂
But right when ucla looks to be dead in the water the football gods do some things to save them.
Troy Aikman (1987-1988)
Troy Aikman breaks his ankle. Replaced by J. Halloway and OU wins 1984 NC. Troy transfers to Westwood.
After redshirting leads them to back to back 10 win seasons, although he NEVER beat Peete and the Trojans, he was a #1 overall pick and a BIG story.
His future and quick NFL team success led to legendary status. Now a HOFer and a broadcaster he is no question the Bruin benchmark in football.
Cade McNown and Bob Toledo (1994-1998)
8 game win streak against USC. Clearly the best team in LA a few years in a row.
Cade and company far outperformed Their recruiting rankings. Interestingly the top ranked Bruin classes after Cade never lived up to their billing.
Finished with back to back 10-2 seasons after being mediocre since Aikmans two years.
Hiring Rick Neuheisl (2008-2011)
BIG name hire. Huge excitement.
Total flameout. Replaced radio right?
His timing was horrible as he faced the monster that was Pete Carroll.
Hiring Jim Mora Jr. and Brett Huntley (2012-2017)
9,10 and 10 team his first 3 years. He was not a hot commodity when hired but soon became One. The opposite of Rick N. Didnt hurt that Caroll left town. Not sure when he stopped running stairs at rose bowl but the bloom def fell off that rose. In life timing is everything.
Chip Kelly Era ( 2018-2024)
Huge hire. Great 1st presser. Turns out he couldn’t recruit without ducks bag money.
story was he didn’t “like too”.
Amazingly dissapointing return to college football. He went from walking on water to sinking to the bottom. UCLA was happy to see him walk and he was happy to leave.
3,4 and 3 wins his first three seasons. Career high of 9.
Deshaun Foster and Nico I (2025-)
Stadium has never been so empty. Passion never lower. CLR has finally turned corner on recruiting. USC is a hot name this offseason.
We shall see. Kid is best athlete on
The field And has a cannon.
Physically he is the real deal.
He is rail thin and of course the QB position is also played between the ears. It also depends on coaching and teammates. He also is playing in the B10 and not the
Old pac 12. Yes the new b10 is as tough of a conference as the sec. But in the the post Carroll era pac he would be a beast.
Nico is a better prospect then anybody USC has now. I would be excited if I wore baby blue and pastel yellow Clothing.
Funny how things work out. and not always as we expect. Remember when Caroll Was the 4th choice. Caroll era (2001-2009).
Sorry, your examples don't support your theory.
Your premise is that everytime UCLA looks dead, there's a divine intervention to save them. But except for the Aikman example, most of your examples are things that did nothing to revive the program or turn it around -- hiring Neuheisel or the Chipper or Foster, etc.