Robinson’s Contract Has a Loophole

John Robinson, who last spring signed a five-year contract extension with USC, might have been made more vulnerable by the late-season collapse of his football team than many thought.

Two sources close to Robinson say there is a one-year buyout option by USC in his contract, meaning the university, if it terminated him, would owe him one year’s salary, not five.

The contract is estimated to be worth $3 million and pays him about $600,000 this year.

Still numbed by the shock of Saturday’s 48-41 overtime loss to UCLA, Robinson wasn’t talking Sunday or Monday about his or his staff’s future at USC.

“I’ll talk Tuesday,� he said Sunday, referring to his regular media luncheon today at Heritage Hall.

Speculation about the 61-year-old Robinson’s job security intensified after his team lost the fourth game of its last five Saturday, and a sixth in a row to UCLA.

The Trojans, who finish against Notre Dame on Saturday, are 5-6.

Also silent has been Robinson’s boss, Athletic Director Mike Garrett. He has said throughout the tailspin that no review of the coaching staff would occur until after the season.

But a preview of the review isn’t difficult to imagine.

“Mike really took the loss Saturday hard,� a friend of Garrett’s said.

“Now he’s getting a lot of pressure, calls from people pulling him in two different directions.�

Said one USC source, “I think there’s going to be a change. I didn’t before Saturday . . . now I do.�

Garrett, the 1965 Heisman Trophy winner at USC, is known to be unhappy with USC’s pass-oriented offense since Robinson returned in 1993, which might put offensive coordinator Mike Riley in jeopardy.

Riley, 43, like Robinson in his fourth USC season, was interviewed Sunday for the vacant Fresno State head coaching job, and will be interviewed after this weekend by the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who also have a head coaching vacancy.

Riley was a finalist in 1994 for the Vanderbilt vacancy, which went to Rod Dowhower. Riley received a raise at USC after that season, an inducement to get him to stay.

Defensive coordinator Keith Burns, 36, another four-year staff member, was given a raise last year.

Burns is from Dallas and his name is mentioned whenever Texas jobs open, as did Baylor’s Sunday, when Chuck Reedy was fired, and Southern Methodist’s Monday, when Tom Rossley was fired.

Riley and Burns say they have had no indication that their jobs are endangered.

Rumors also have two other Robinson assistants on the hot seat--Charles White, USC’s 1979 Heisman winner who coaches the running backs, and David Robinson, the coach’s son who coaches the linebackers.

White has been under scrutiny because of USC’s erratic running game. The Trojans finished eighth in team rushing this season in the Pacific 10 and have finished no higher than third since Robinson returned for his second term.

Offensive line coach Mike Barry is safe, sources say. He is considered one of the best in college football, and also is regarded, as is John Robinson, as a master recruiter.

Last spring, Barry recruited freshman guards Travis Claridge, who started every game this year, and Faaesea Mailo, a 350-pounder who also started at times this season.

USC pass-blocking was poor most of the season but Barry had to play virtually all freshmen and sophomores this year, after starting an all-senior offensive line in the 1996 Rose Bowl game.

As for the rest of Robinson’s staff:

Mike Sanford, wide receiver coach, is the only holdover from the Larry Smith era (1987-92); defensive line coach Jeff McInerney is in his first year; Doug Smith assists Barry with the offensive line; former Trojan Dennis Thurman is the secondary coach, and graduate assistant DelVaughn Alexander assists Sanford with wide receivers.

A major, glaring failure of this coaching staff was special teams preparation.

The staff has no designated special teams coach, and it showed. Kickoff coverage was a hold-your-breath experience. Stanford ran one back all the way and nearly broke two more.

Other, lesser criticisms are surfacing--the kind that would never be aired if USC were 11-0:

The appearance of the team on the road. Many college teams travel in slacks, blazers, shirts and ties. USC goes casual, with headsets everywhere. It grates on some Trojan followers who travel with the team.

--Robinson’s sideline appearance.

Said a USC source, “A lot of people were struck by the contrast between John and Steve Mariucci in the Cal loss. John never wears a headset, and it kind of gives him a phlegmatic appearance in the games.

“Mariucci had on a coat and tie and a headset the whole time and seemed completely in command.�

Mariucci’s coat and tie didn’t help him much, though, after he beat the Trojans. He lost five of his last six.

Meanwhile, business seemed reasonably normal Monday at Heritage Hall. Robinson, chairman of the Pac-10 Football Coaches’ Assn., chaired a midday teleconference, during which coaches discussed pending NCAA football legislation, and picked their all-conference team.