Name: C.J. PollardPosition: S
Class: Freshman
Size: 6-foot-1, 185 pounds
Age: 18
High School: Serra (Gardena, CA)
Game: Another spring enrollee, Pollard is battling with the vets for playing time at the safety position. The freshman is a strong, physical safety who has a great pedigree as the son of a former Trojan defensive back.
Prep Career: Pollard earned 2015 Prep Star All-American, USA Today All-California second team, Cal-Hi Sports All-State second team honors, and more, as a senior DB-WR at Serra. Pollard had 62 tackles, including 2 TFL, and 5 deflections in 2015.
Secondary coach Ronnie Bradford on the freshmen defensive backs: "They're young kids. It's one of those things where, one, you gotta just make sure that they're not overwhelmed with the situation, being next to good players. On this roster, you're gonna be playing against some guys who are going to be playing on Sunday. And they've done a good job of coming in and understanding that probably in high school when they were shutting down and no one was throwing to their side of the field. Guess what? They're throwing to their side of the field. So it's gonna be one of those things where you hope the kids don't get overwhelmed, but like I told somebody earlier, we're giving them this defense, it's kind of like trying to get a drink of water through a fire hose. And the kids are absorbing it. They're paying attention in meetings and they have questions. They come back with questions written on, 'Hey, Coach, how do we do this vs. this motion?' and that's all you can ask for from a coach is that they're absorbing what you're teaching."
Fun Fact: Both of Pollard's parents, Marvin and Pam, attended USC. His father was a CB on the football team from 1988-91.
Here is C.J. Pollard on learning Clancy Pendergast's defense, and more:
