Tollner and Trojans Battle Distractions

In any other year, the USC football team would be concentrating completely on the task at hand--a New Year’s Day bowl game against a respected opponent.

But there are distractions this holiday season that Coach Ted Tollner is doing his best to overcome.

Even though USC’s opponent in the Florida Citrus Bowl is 10th-ranked Auburn, which has a 9-2 record and an All-American tailback in Brent Fullwood, the Trojan players aren’t completely focused on the game.

Tollner was fired recently and will be with his team only through the bowl game. Who is the next coach, the players wonder, and how will they fit in with his personality and system?

Tollner talked about those distractions Thursday, saying: “I know it’s hard to play your best game if you’re not totally focused on that being the most important thing in your life that day and, for the most part, several days prior to it if you’re going to play at your optimum level.

“I don’t know what the distractions we are under right now will have to do with us reaching that point. We have a staff looking for jobs, we have some players unhappy about the situation and some players concerned about what the future holds for them here. I don’t know what effect that will have when we play the game.

“We’ve been very business-like in practice, but also unemotional. Part of it is the fact we’ve been in finals. But there really isn’t the joy and the total commitment and camaraderie within the program right now toward being in a New Year’s Day bowl.

“If we’re going to play top-notch football, I must find a way to eliminate these distractions to rock bottom. If we do those things, we have a chance. We’ll find out.”

So Tollner carries a burden. Is it possible for him to stay completely focused on the game while he ponders his future?

“I’ve told the staff that our team is going to respond as to how we (the staff) respond. And the staff will respond the way I respond. So it’s a filtering-down process.

“I can’t say it’s easy. If you expect your people to be focused, then I have to find a way not to get distracted. So I’ve tried to stay (away) from concerns of mine.”

Tollner said he wants himself and his assistants to approach practice with the same intensity they would if they knew they were going to be back next season.

He is also trying to keep the players from blaming themselves for the team’s 7-4 record and season-ending losses to UCLA and Notre Dame that led to the firing.

“I don’t want our players to come up with a guilt feeling, such as if we’d won the Notre Dame game,” Tollner said. “I’m trying to erase that. There is some adversity in a season and some adversity in a game. Now, all of a sudden, all of us have a little adversity.

“Are we just going to mope about the situation, or make something positive happen? I don’t know how well I’m doing, but I’m making a 100% effort to achieve those goals.”

As for Tollner’s own situation, he said he has talked to some people about job prospects but hasn’t actively pursued any of them.

There’s a vacancy at New Mexico, for example, and Tollner said he has talked to the Lobos’ athletic director, John Bridgers, but hasn’t set up a meeting with him.

He said he is keeping his options open regarding both college and pro coaching jobs.

Tollner’s last job for USC will be the bowl game Jan. 1, but he has another assignment on Jan. 10--to coach the West team in the East-West Shrine game at Stanford.

He is also examining legal avenues regarding his severance from the university.

“My people representing me want all the information,” he said. “I’m not going to jump into anything that we feel we can’t substantiate.”

James H. Zumberge, USC’s president, has said the school will honor the financial obligations of the two years left on Tollner’s contract.

“There’s a lot more to it than that,” Tollner said without elaborating.

Presumably, he was alluding to the fringe benefits that come with the job.

Other matters were discussed Thursday, such as drug testing. Tollner confirmed that some of his players have undergone drug testing by representatives from the National Collegiate Athletic Assn.

He said that 22 starters were identified and then 14 of that group were picked at random for testing.

“They were tested the day after our football banquet (Dec. 5),” he said. “We have no results.”

Tollner was upset about the timing of the testing.

“Our players had their last free weekend, and I told them they could have it off if they didn’t have Friday classes,” he said. “Some of the guys scheduled flights and had to cancel them. Let’s have some consideration for the student-athletes.”

At this time of year, Tollner and his staff are usually recruiting in the evenings. But recruiting has been at a virtual standstill because of the coaching change.

“It has to hurt (the program),” Tollner said. “How much so depends on what happens in the month of January, and who makes the decisions. You can’t recruit on the phone. People are what sell the university.”

The first day that recruits can sign a letter of intent is Feb. 11.

Tollner said he would try to discourage any of his players from transferring, although none have indicated to him that they will.

“I’ve told our players that the No. 1 reason you chose USC was because of its potential greatness,” he said. “It’s a temporary thing they’re fighting through now. I’ve told them they’re real close to going back to the Rose Bowl next season and not to let anything distract from the reason you came here.

“I told them I would get no joy out of seeing them fail next year. My ego doesn’t need that. I’d rather see these people go to the Rose Bowl and win than have it go the other way.”

Tollner has said he is bitter about the decision to fire him and believes it was wrong, but he added that the positive experiences he has had at USC far outweigh the negative ones.

“I’m trying to go into this bowl game thinking that we are going to coach just as if we’re coming back,” he said. “Anything less would be cheating the people we recruited here. Whether we’ve accomplished that or not I don’t know. But that’s been our goal.

“I’m also talking about the classroom. I jumped a couple of kids the other day because they had their commitments out of whack.

“So I have a few more days here and a week in Florida, and they’re going to hear what I believe until the end.”

Trojan Notes USC Coach Ted Tollner said that outside linebacker Marcus Cotton and cornerback Greg Coauette haven’t been able to practice because of ankle injuries. He anticipates that both players will be able to play against Auburn, adding that Cotton’s injury is more severe and that it may limit his effectiveness. . . . As for Auburn, Tollner said: “The more we look at them on film, they’re a legitimate top 10 team and, if they had played a tougher schedule earlier, they’d be ranked higher than they are right now. They’re only four points away from being undefeated (losses to Georgia and Florida). Also, nobody has scored more than 20 points on Auburn this season. That gets our attention.” . . . Tollner says that tailback Brent Fullwood is the best breakaway big back in the country. Fullwood, who stands 5 feet 11 inches and weighs 209 pounds, is averaging 8.3 yards a carry, leading the country in that category. The Tigers also have a competent quarterback in Jeff Burger, who has completed 56.8% of his passes for 1,671 yards and 9 touchdowns while throwing 11 interceptions. USC’s defensive line has been vulnerable to assaults by good running backs, notably UCLA’s Gaston Green. Tollner is also concerned that his team has yielded 83 points in losses to UCLA and Notre Dame. . . . The Citrus Bowl game will be televised by Channel 7 starting at 9 a.m., PST.