One Day, Chow Might Get Top Job Out of His System

There’s so much talk about who moved on from USC that there might not be enough attention paid to who stayed behind.

Yes, Carson Palmer is gone. But the mastermind of the system that showcased Palmer’s skills in a Heisman Trophy season is back.

Offensive coordinator Norm Chow didn’t go anywhere. That non-news is good news for the Trojans, who take a revitalized program and a No. 8 ranking to Auburn today for the 2003 season opener.

Stability and consistency are elusive traits in college football, and the Trojans hung on to a little of both on Christmas Eve when Chow turned down a chance to become Kentucky’s head coach.

“I was scared and I didn’t want him to leave,” reserve quarterback Matt Cassel said. “Thank God he didn’t.”

Chow also talked to his alma mater, Utah, about the head coaching position there, and was linked to job openings at East Carolina and Michigan State.

“It’s always flattering,” Chow said. “But you know, there’s a real world. I have a wife, I have children.

“Professionally, just to go to a program to be a head coach and then two years later get fired, what good is that? I’m not saying that was going to happen, but there were a lot of reasons, a lot of factors involved. We just decided to stay. Not that big a deal.”

Oh yes it was. Coach Pete Carroll made more news with less of a threat when he stamped out talk of his own departure to the pro ranks. But Carroll’s retention wouldn’t mean as much if he didn’t have Chow, the 2002 Broyles Award winner as the nation’s top assistant coach, by his side.

Carroll’s specialty is defense -- and that’s the side of the ball where evidence of this coaching staff’s impact first appeared. Then, midway through last season, the increasing familiarity with Chow’s offense and the adjustments he made to suit Palmer clicked in. The Trojans scored at least 38 points in their last seven games, topping 40 three times and 50 once.

After averaging 314.5 yards a game in 2001, the first year this coaching staff was in charge, USC averaged 449.2 yards (the third-best in the school’s record book) in 2002.

The components have changed, with Matt Leinart replacing Palmer and a fleet of running backs for Sultan McCullough and Justin Fargas. However, the blueprint remains the same -- with another round of spring practice and training camp to let it settle.

“We have a system that’s really intact now,” Carroll said. “We can grow with it and build with it and draw back on the experiences that we’ve had with it. The players have been through a lot with it. Sometime down the road the faces will change, but the system’s going to hold up. I’m real excited about that. It’s taken us three years to get this thing going, but now it is intact.”

Chow’s offense utilizes the entire field. It features an even mix of running and passing and is set up to capitalize on whatever the defense allows. He’ll go for the long ball, but you’re more likely to see the ball thrown underneath, with a big gain resulting from the run after the catch.

Those same traits were evident in the 1997 Cotton Bowl game that popped up on College Sports TV the other day. It featured Brigham Young, where Chow was an assistant for 27 years, against Kansas State. BYU quarterback Steve Sarkisian, now USC’s quarterback coach, moved the ball downfield with ease in the fourth quarter, utilizing some familiar plays. Sarkisian almost broke Cotton Bowl passing records against a Kansas State defense that ranked fourth in the nation against the pass. It was like stumbling across an old Sports Illustrated and finding someone you now easily recognize in “Faces in the Crowd.”

And it showed the effectiveness of Chow’s offense. It doesn’t have a catch label, like “West Coast” or “Fun and Gun.” It just works.

“It’s a great system,” Cassel said. “It’s player-friendly. It’s easy concepts, easy strategy. It’s not hard for us to be able to grasp the concept. He simplifies it. That’s always a great thing, especially with younger players, because we’ve got a lot of things going on, especially with school.”

Chow’s a valuable asset in those matters as well.

“He’s a good guy and he’s a father figure,” Cassel said. “He’s been around the block, so you have respect for him.”

One example: While walking through Heritage Hall on Thursday, Chow admonished a player to wear his cap properly. The player quickly obliged, pulling his cap down, with the bill facing straight ahead.

“These young guys, we’re allowed to be with them, for what, 20 hours a week?” Chow said. “And they’ve got girlfriend problems, school problems, money problems. It’s hard to devote it all to football. I spend more time doing that than football.

“We all like to win. Nobody likes to win more than me. But when it’s all said and done, what are you going to know? Hopefully you’ve taught them a lesson or two. Hopefully you’ve had a small hand in their growth. I don’t pretend to be these kids’ psychologist, but there’s more to it than football.”

Despite his outside interests and his easygoing disposition, Chow is still a football coach. He still wants to be a head coach somewhere, sometime in his life. He wants to advance in his profession.

“We all want to get better,” he said.

At 57, he knows there won’t be too many more opportunities in the future.

“Everywhere I’ve ever been, guys I’ve coached with have gone on,” Carroll said. “It makes it hard on you, but it’s their life and they need to take their career as far as they want to go, and I support them and recommend them strongly and give them the opportunity they want.”

That’s not a concern for now. Norm Chow is here, and the Trojans are better for it.

J.A. Adande can be reached at [email protected].