At Saturday's Senior Day, the Coliseum will bid farewell to the final recruiting class of the Pete Carroll era. The 2009 club took awhile to get to that promised land, but they are finally playing Trojan football."It's very exciting, how we're playing right now," said fifth-year senior OT Kevin Graf. "It's been very enjoyable because Coach O has really made it that way. He's brought back the fun and the enjoyment that SC football is all about."
Graf is one of the seven Trojans left who played for Carroll. He will be joined in the Heritage Tunnel on Saturday by OLB Devon Kennard, WR De'Von Flournoy, DL Kevin Greene, CB Torin Harris, LB Marquis Simmons and OL John Martinez.Â
Kennard is the perfect microcosm for the last five years. He arrived as a 5-star defensive end only to be moved to SAM linebacker as a true freshman trying to plug a gap in a defense decimated by the 2008 defections to the NFL Draft.
Upon Lane Kiffin's arrival, Monte Kiffin moved Kennard to middle linebacker and then back to defensive end the following season. Hit with a pectoral injury which knocked him out for 2012, Kennard was the ultimate square peg trying to fit a round hole when Clancy Pendergast provided one last opportunity to play outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme, which proved to be his natural position.
"Adversity, I think, is a good thing," said Kennard, who will leave USC with a Master's degree. "It made me become a better man and a better football player. I think my best football is ahead of me."
While Kennard and Graf have found individual success, the true achievement of the senior class was persevering long enough to bring back winning football to the Coliseum.Â
"I always knew we were such a better team," said Graf. "With the talent we have, I knew we were so much better than how we were playing. It was frustrating. I feel like we've finally found it, finally found what we are capable of, and we found it at the right time."
These seniors have made more memories in the last two months than most players generate in a career. They came to USC where football was fun, and made it so again.
"It's crazy. I am so grateful for my teammates and the year we are having. It has been an experience that I am never going to forget," said Kennard, who is embracing the light at the end of the tunnel. "It is going to be a sad moment, but I've been here awhile now, I'm kind of the grandpa on the team, so I think it's time for me to get out of here."
2009 USC freshmen class top row from left: James Boyd, Jarvis Jones, Hebron Fangupo, Kevin Graf, Kevin Greene, John Martinez and T.J. McDonald
Middle row from left: Simione Vehikite, Torin Harris, Devon Kennard, Matt Barkley, Byron Moore, De'Von Flournoy and Marquis Simmons
Front row from left: Jawanza Starling and Jake Harfman
