Greg Katz, Columnist, WeAreSC.com 10y

Kevin Bruce on the College Football Playoff, John McKay, more

LOS ANGELES -- One of those in attendance last weekend for the Trojans' game at Boston College was Kevin Bruce, a former co-captain on the 1974 USC national champions and recent seven-year resident of Boston.

I had an opportunity to break bread with Bruce in Beantown’s Italian North End and got his views on a variety of subjects that pertain to the past, present, and future of Trojans football.

What are your thoughts on the 2014 Trojans defense after it gave up 38 points and a whopping 452 yards rushing against Boston College?

Kevin Bruce: The defense lacks an identity. This is a winner group waiting to happen. BC blew the Trojans apart first by [offensive] complexity then physicality; yet they were one-dimensional. My view is that [defensive coordinator Justin] Wilcox has not demonstrated that he knows what to do with personnel and scheme yet. If in doubt, then simplify and get aggressive and disrupt offenses. We're missing upperclassman leadership right now, and the impact of the guys who left early for the NFL, especially [George] Uko, [Dion] Bailey and the loss of [Josh] Shaw are all showing.

Switching gears, Kevin, you played on two national championship teams (1972 and 1974). What’s been the biggest change in the college game from then to now?

KB: Greg, the game has changed by rule and as you look at how, for example, pass blocking. The first thing that happens (now) is the hands go to the chest and you grab because that’s what offensive players do. Back in the day, you couldn’t do that, at least not legally, but of course it happened all the time, but not legally.

I think the other blocking changes that I’ve seen is the amount of below-the-waist blocking, chop block, cut blocks, whatever, that’s routine. If you were going to play in the box, that front seven if you will, when I played, you had to be prepared to play it all from head to toe, literally.

Could the teams that you played on at USC compete with today’s Trojans teams and the current top echelon teams of college football for that matter?

KB: We wouldn’t compete, we would win! One of the reasons we’d win is because we loved to play football, and there isn’t a tougher group of folks than the USC teams I played for (1972-75). I don’t care what the rules are. Strap it on, go out there, and we’re going make you pay if you’re playing us.

Are players that play for USC today different than when you played?

KB: You know what, I don’t think so. We are all cut from the same cloth, and the great equalizer, you go on to a 100-yard football field, put on the uniform, the rules are the same, you keep score, and you play the game and enjoy it. Hopefully, you enjoy it. You play hard and you get a good outcome. That has never changed. Some of the rules change, some uniforms change, some of the colors changes, ask Oregon on that one. That’s the sizzle on the steak. The steak is the same. That hasn’t changed.

What are some of the good memories you took with you after you finished your football career at the University of Southern California?

KB: The opportunity to play, to wear the uniform and put on the cardinal and gold is unbelievable. Winning in that environment is even better. Winning national championships is always a good thing. For us, some of the traditions, for example, is getting to the Rose Bowl. We had a very made clear, articulated goal, at the beginning of every season. We’re going to win every game, and we’re going to go the Rose Bowl and beat whomever the Big Ten sends out. That was our season, that is what we could control, and that’s what we did.

My memories are that we accomplished that more than we didn’t. In my four years, we were able to win two national championships, and we got to play Woody [Hayes'] team three times (1972, 73, 74) and beat them two out of three (1972 and 1973). I’d love to go back and get that third one, but you can’t go back in time and change all that. I’ll tell you, those games in the Rose Bowl were physically the most demanding football games I’ve ever played in.

I have great memories of that 1975 Rose Bowl game in January with the two-point conversion, we win by a point (18-17), and I was totally spent. I went into that game just sick. There wasn’t nothing left in me after that game, nothing. I had cuts over both eyes and so did the guy I played against at Ohio State who had cuts over both his eyes. That’s the truth because I talked to him after the game and we were both bleeding on each other.

What are your views of the new College Football Playoff? Do you wish they had this new system when you were playing or is it a bad idea?

KB: You know, there’s a good and a bad. You know what I like is a little more football and getting good, elite teams playing each other. Those are good football games and I like that part. I am not sure it really supports the student part of student-athlete as much as I’d like to see because frankly that is part of the college experience and, yeah, you do go to class as required.

What I don’t like is that it is destroying the traditions of over 120 years of college football. That is something that should be considered. The bowl games now, the Rose Bowl -- is that really the Rose Bowl now or is it like the precursor to another BCS game that has the name of some corporation? For me, it detracts from the tradition and the pageantry of the college game. It’s more akin to the professional game, and I know this is big business. I get that. I am not naive.

You played for a legendary Hall of Fame coach in John McKay. What are your memories of Coach?

KB: It’s interesting. My memories of Coach are that he was the best teacher of football that you could imagine. As a coach, he did all the things right. He was a great, great game-day coach. On the sidelines, he knew what he was looking for. He was able to make the kind of calls that were necessary, and he would make gutsy calls all the time.

I remember a fair amount of two-point conversion attempts in the Rose Bowl games, some were successful and some were not. Coach never hesitated. It was never even a decision in his mind. He didn’t go to those games for a tie. He went to win, and that’s what he instilled in all of us: accountability.

We didn’t talk about accountability, it was expected. You loved football, you loved the university, you put the uniform on, and you went out and gave it your all. Your preparation preceded the game, you transferred it to the playing field, you executed the game plan and you did what you had to do. And in nine times out of 10 -- in my case, it was more than that in my four years -- we would win and be successful. It was great memories and that was on Coach McKay. He was a great teacher. He wasn’t your friend; he was your coach.

Finally, was there a difference as a player coming down that famous Coliseum tunnel before a UCLA game as opposed to a Notre Dame game?

KB: No, the dislike is the same. When we played UCLA, we knew we were going to impose our will. With Notre Dame, we were going to impose our will, but we might get into a fight. You know what, it only happened two out of the four years I was playing, so I don’t know what happened in the other two years. Somehow we got along. [Laughs.]

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