- Ed Orgeron has reopened practices to the media. "I miss y'all," he said when asked why he did it. "It is good for the team. It is good for USC. I like the exposure. We are what we are, come see us and write about it."
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Coach O also released an injury report: OLB Morgan Breslin (hip strain), WR De'Von Flournoy (sprained ankle), Marqise Lee (knee sprain), Darreus Rogers (ankle sprain) and Silas Redd (knee). Freshman RB Justin Davis sprained his ankle during practice, but the severity is unknown at this time. For more, watch the video below.
- Orgeron on Lee: "We're going to try to get him ready for next Thursday. You know Marqise Lee makes some miraculous recoveries."
- Senior RB Silas Redd announced that he will make his season debut in eight days against Arizona. He declared himself 100%.
- Orgeron will not be using injuries or scholarship limitations as an excuse, "We have our team. It's what it is. It's what we are. We're Trojans. We put 11 out on the field and we fight."
- New offensive coordinator Clay Helton is moving from the press box to the field to call plays. WR coach Tee Martin will switch to the press box. "I have total trust in him," Helton said of Martin. "He has great vision."
- As for the plays, Helton is keeping the game plan close to his vest, but in general, "We're going to establish the mentality of Coach Orgeron, our head coach, being able to run the ball and do play-action off of it," he said.
- Practice today was spirited as the Trojans kicked off the bye week with an aggressive session. "We just weren't out there going through the motions. Football is there to be fun," said Orgeron.
- While Orgeron is a defensive minded coach, he did not limit himself to that side of the field. "I love being able to get into the offense," he said with a big smile. "Get them right. Scream at the quarterback. All that kind of stuff."
- QB Cody Kessler noticed a new voice in the offensive huddle today. "There's no one else like him," Kessler said. Most of all, he admires Orgeron's "competitiveness" saying, "You gotta love that in a head coach."
- The players were rocked by the news of Lane Kiffin's ousting. Redd described the initial feeling as "shock and awe" as he did not find out until the next morning because his phone battery had died. "I had no clue that it was coming after the game."
- Kessler dismissed reports that players were "happy" or "relieved" saying, "That's not the case at all, especially losing a coach. It's never a good situation regardless of where you are at."
- According to Redd, Coach O's first message to the team was "that we are going to have fun. We are going to make this a fun team, and so far, it has been exactly that."
- In terms of comparing the two head coaches, Redd said, "They are just two different type of people. Kiff is a little more strict, a little more stringent, and Coach O is a little more loose."
- As for immediate changes, Orgeron brought desserts back to the team's training table dinners, "You feed a lineman a cookie, he's happy."
- Orgeron described the weekend as a "whirlwind." On Sunday, "It was a lot of sadness. [Kiffin] did a lot of things for us, and I felt for him. I have been fired before." Orgeron said the toughest part is explaining it all to your kids who are seeing the coverage on TV.
- Finally, the realization that he was the USC head coach hit him early Monday morning around 2 a.m., "We gotta go," he said to himself. "This is my shot. This is our shot as a team."
- Here is the always entertaining Ed Orgeron...
