Kiffin was given a huge boost when star quarterback, Matt Barkley, decided to return for his senior. The bowl bans are a thing of the past and Kiffin looks to have a title contender in Southern Cal this season.

Lane Kiffin joined ESPN Radio Los Angeles with Mason and Ireland to talk about how many of the players he signed this year are expected to play early in their college careers, how tough it has been for him to deal with reduced scholarships, how tough it is to be a head coach now compared to being the main guy recruiting like he used to be, and how much Matt Barkley coming back for his senior season helped in recruiting this year.

How many of the players he signed this year are going to be expected to play early in their college careers:

“I think nowadays, especially at a place like this, where you lose a couple of guys early to the draft every year it’s going to open up some spots for guys to come in and play. We’ve kind of always been fortunate to have a good system here of getting our freshmen ready where our guys have been able to step up and play. Hopefully a couple of these guys will do that this year too.”

How tough it has been for him to deal with reduced scholarships:

“We always have a very thorough process over the years of evaluating the players but more than ever we can’t really take any risks on guys where maybe before we did because we have to make sure our guys are doing a phenomenal job in our program and succeed on and off the field.”

How tough it is recruiting as a head coach compared to as an assistant and how different his role is now:

“I don’t get as many opportunities to go. They only allow you to go one time as a head coach. You can’t go in the spring so it makes it more difficult to develop relationships and get yourself on the ground. I think when you get on the ground in the city, the school area, the home area where the kid is at, you can figure a lot out. Unfortunately now I can’t really do that until the end here when we do the home visits over the last couple of weeks. It’s why you have to have a really good staff like we do here.”

How much of a boost USC got in recruiting with Matt Barkley staying for his senior season:

“I think it did a little bit. Maybe not as much as we hoped but I think it did with a guy like Nelson Aguilar and Darius Rogers being receivers. They could go anywhere they wanted but coming here knowing they have a chance to be around Matt for a year.”

Listen to Lane Kiffin on ESPN Radio LA here

You couldn’t help but wonder if he was thinking about turning in a more productive and highlight-reel performance playing in the title game a year from now as he’s decided to return to USC for his senior season. The Trojans will almost certainly be a contender next year as they come back from two years of probation and not being able to play in the postseason.

Matt Barkley joined XX Sports Radio in San Diego with Darren Smith to discuss his decision to return to USC for his senior season, living with no regrets about his decision, tweeting about being bored during the title game on Monday night, his definition of a fun game to watch, if USC’s offense would have scored on the Alabama defense, being the Heisman favorite heading into next season, playing through two years of probation and  his thoughts on Tim Tebow and the stir he’s created this season quarterbacking the Broncos.

How tough was the decision to return?:

“It was very lengthy, very time-consuming. A lot went into that decision, trying to figure out both sides of the coin in this whole thing and weighing the pros and cons and talking to a lot of people. … A lot went into it, but at one point we’d pretty much gathered all the information we had and ultimately just had to come to a decision and it seemed to me that USC is where I needed to be.”

Before you make a decision like that do you have to convince yourself that you can’t have any regrets?:

“Correct. I think that’s something you have to establish. At the same time, we do have very high expectations for myself and this team. … We have lofty goals and things you want to achieve, but I think it’s going to be important for us to keep the same mentality that we had this last season. We couldn’t play in a bowl game so it was kind of us against the world at times of trying to make a statement and trying to prove a point. I feel like we have to do the same thing this year even though we’re going to be highly ranked entering the season.”

On tweeting that he was bored during Monday night’s national championship game:

“I actually got excited toward the end with Trent Richardson. For a second there, I thought the kicker was going to get MVP of the game. … I just think it was something that people weren’t used to. … You could definitely tell Bama had more juice from start to finish and earned that championship.”

What’s your definition of an exciting game to watch?:

“I think just great, quality football, great matchups of player personnel to where you can see certain matchups where it’s a receiver and a cornerback or a quarterback and his receiver or a running back and a certain linebacker. I think things like that can make a game exciting.”

Did you watch that game as a fan of college football or with the mindset that you could be playing one of those teams next year?:

“A little bit of both. I think every USC fan thought that at one point during the game that that could be us next year. And we can say that all we want, but it doesn’t mean anything right now. … We’re not really going to say much about where we think we should be or where we should end up.”

Would your offense have scored against Alabama last night?:

“We haven’t played in over four weeks so, at this point, due to the fact that we weren’t practicing, no. But I think the way we finished the season as a team with that win up at Oregon and rolling over UCLA was a great way to finish and our team was really clicking. We were starting to get that rhythm back … and I don’t think we could’ve been stopped.”

How do you feel about being the Heisman Trophy favorite heading into next year?:

“It’s just something that is a statement. That’s all it is right now. There’s no validity behind actually winning anything right now. It’s an honor to have my name in the talk, but to me I’m approaching the season like I’m not considered for anything.”

How tough was it to go through those two years of probation?:

“It was rough; it was brutal. I like being a positive guy and always keeping a great attitude and looking at life that way, but the last couple years, they were tough. We had to find ways to challenge each other. … We definitely found ways to do that, especially the last half of this season, of blocking all those negative things out.”

What do you think when you’re watching Tim Tebow play in the NFL?:

“When I heard what happened, I was both shocked and in awe that he’s been able to do this. I’m proud of the guy. He’s a winner; he’s a gamer. And he can certainly capture a team, just a passionate player who stands up for what he believes in. I love that about him. … When he needs to make plays, he makes plays.”

Listen to Matt Barkley on XX Sports Radio in San Diego here

Barkley’s completion percentage is a few points lower than Stanford’s Andrew Luck, but Barkley has nearly 200 more yards with two more touchdown passes and one fewer interception. It’s an interesting argument from Kiffin in what’s become an increasingly interesting Heisman Trophy race.

Lane Kiffin joined The Dan Patrick Show to discuss why he wasn’t surprised the Trojans beat Oregon, battling the Ducks’ tempo, his halftime speech, Chip Kelly not using his timeouts late, where USC should be ranked, why he would vote for Matt Barkley for the Heisman Trophy, and comparing Barkley to Andrew Luck.

How surprised were you that your team started the game against Oregon like it did?:

“We weren’t surprised at all, really. We felt that we had a great week of preparation and our players were very confident. They’ve played especially well this season, especially the last four or five weeks, and we really felt if we executed well that we’d go up there and win. It was good to see it come together. The surprising thing was, going back over it, we actually didn’t play very well in the fourth quarter at all, or coach very well. Luckily we had built up a big enough lead to hold on.”

How did you guys disrupt Oregon’s tempo?:

“I don’t think we disrupted it, I just think we tackled really well through three quarters. We really played good assignment defense, and when the ball broke we tackled and limited big plays, especially in the run game. … It got to us in the end, but early on we were executing well and tackling.”

What kind of halftime speech did you go with?:

“At the beginning of halftime, before we went to make adjustments, just to calm them down and make sure they knew this is where we were supposed to be. We’re supposed to be ahead, we expect to win. … They came out and responded great in the third quarter. … Unfortunately we screwed up after that.”

Were you surprised Chip Kelly wasn’t using his timeouts?:

“If you saw the game, I actually used a timeout during that period. Our guys were gassed. We had so many injuries that we were at the point that we weren’t rotating guys. The two freshman linebackers were up to 78 and 79 plays, respectively, between the two of them. … I actually used a timeout to help us a little bit. I’m sure he noticed how tired we were and wanted to keep the tempo and they do a great job of that.”

Where should USC be ranked?:

“I don’t know. I don’t watch enough to know what all the other teams do. That’s the voters job. They do watch that and don’t have any bias based on other things.”

Are you a top-five team?:

“We could be. We were for three quarters. … I think even though they had the nation’s longest home winning streak, if you’re a top-five team, when you have a chance to knock ‘em out up 24, you do it.”

If you had a Heisman vote, who would you vote for?:

“Matt Barkley. No question, because I think what happens is he get less credit because of probation and sanctions. It should be the other way around. How many of these other guys don’t have a bowl game to play for? He’s potentially missing two games of stats … with a conference [championship] and then a bowl game. To me, really, what he’s gone through, with all the transfers leaving, we played 43 scholarship players at Eugene the other day. I think that actually should favor him even more, and for whatever reason I think it hurts him.”

Compare Barkley to Andrew Luck:

“I think that they’re both no-brainers. They’re both great players, both top-five picks. The one thing Andrew does, he runs a little bit better than Matt. But, if you look at what’s happened here late, it’s hard to argue with Matt’s numbers in these big games. You go into South Bend and the Stanford game. Matt didn’t fumble on the 3 in the Stanford game, or not stop Andrew on that last drive of regulation. If you take those games and then this Oregon game and compare the stats between the two, they’re both great players, but the stats favor Matthew.”

Listen to Lane Kiffin on The Dan Patrick Show here

His focus right now is on the Trojans upcoming showdown with the No. 4 ranked Oregon Ducks, who are heading to Los Angeles fresh off an impressive win over Stanford and intent on keeping their BCS Championship Game hopes alive.

Matt Barkley joined The Jim Rome Show to discuss overcoming adversity and playing with emotion and pride despite his team not being eligible for a bowl game, if he’s thought about whether he’ll enter the NFL draft or stay at USC for his senior season in 2012, his thoughts on how good the Oregon Ducks are this year, Steve Sarkisian saying he would take him over Andrew Luck and who he thinks will be taken with the first overall pick in next April’s NFL Draft.

This is not necessarily what you signed up for at USC not being able to play in bowl games. You are left to make the best of it. How did you get your arms around that and reconcile that?

“Yeah not entirely what I envisioned when I committed to USC having grown up watching all the National Championships and Heisman Trophy winners, but that is a different time. We’re in a different era now. I wouldn’t change though what I have gone through for anything. I wouldn’t want to leave or do anything. I think this has made me who I am and made this team who we are. Definitely think I am here to stay for a reason and in my opinion there’s no greater feeling than playing Trojan football. I always wanted to play here, so I am living the dream I have had since I was little.”

Ultimately what is it going to come down to in terms of staying another year in USC or going into the NFL draft?

“It’s going to be tough. I don’t know if I can pinpoint it right now what the deciding factor is going to be. Even in two weeks when I sit down and think about it my circumstances will have changed for better or for worse. It’s going to be a business decision, but it’s also going to be a personal and family decision. There are a lot of factors that are going to go into that and we have a great team that is going to be returning next year for a chance to play in a bowl game or potential National Championship. Our new athletic facility is going up, which is going to be one of the top facilities in the country, but it seems like both sides have their perks. I mean playing in the NFL is awesome and not too bad. We’ll see what happens with that.”

You have Oregon in your place this weekend. You said last week after the Washington game that Oregon is not as good as they were last season. In your eyes what is the difference between them then and now?

“That comment was before I even watched film on them. It was just based on a perception of scores that I had seen. In years past we had seen some pretty lopsided scores with Oregon destroying everyone and this year teams have hung with them. After watching tape and after watching even the Stanford game on Saturday night they are definitely one of the best…probably the best team we will face this year. They got a fabulous defense, who gets after it. You saw Stanford turn over the ball five times. We’ll definitely be challenged this week and they are a great team.”

Washington coach Steve Sarkisian said recently if he were an NFL coach he would take you over Andrew Luck. What was your reaction to hearing that?

“I forgot to ask him about that after the game to see if he would have stuck with it. I think he was pouring on the sugar a little bit before our game like we always do to the other team. I definitely think there was some truthfulness to that because we respect each other and he did recruit me out of high school when he was still at USC. I respect him a bunch. If that’s true then it means a lot coming from him.”

What are you thinking if both of you guys [Andrew Luck] are on the board. Who is going first?

“Well I obviously have to have self confidence in myself and believe in myself and I think Andrew Luck had a great year. It’s interesting too after last game about Oregon being by far the best defense he faced all year – hearing that from a guy like him makes me know we for sure have to get ready for this weekend.”

Listen to Matt Barkley with Jim Rome here

All of that said, Kiffin did temper some of his anger in the following interview, mentioning several times that those things weren’t correct, but that the Trojans had other opportunities to win the game and didn’t.

Lane Kiffin joined The Dan Patrick Show to discuss putting USC’s heartbreaking loss to Stanford behind him, watching film of the game, the plays that he keeps watching over and over, the final play of regulation, the play of Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, how his quarterback played and the potential to keep Matt Barkley around for another year.

How do you put this kind of loss behind you?:

“You have to. It’s no different than the week before, coming off a big win in South Bend where there’s a lot of questions about would they come back for another physical game and our players did. They responded. You can’t keep sitting around dwelling on it. We’ve got to move on.”

How many times have you watched the game?:

“A lot. I don’t watch the TV copy, I watch the other film. … Those are the hardest games, where one play can make a difference. Both teams played great. Both teams played their hearts out and the game could’ve went either way. Those are the hardest ones to deal with because it’s just one inch here, one thing here or there and the game changes.”

What’s the play that you keep replaying?:

“Well, the end of the game and just Marqise Lee makes a great play and his foot’s out of bounds by two inches and then it’s first-and-goal from the four and … it looks like we’re going to score and go to another overtime. Unfortunately the ball pops out. That and really I just with the T.J. McDonald penalty wouldn’t have happened just because it makes Andrew Luck go to a fourth-and-seven in their own territory there with two minutes left in the game. It would’ve been an interesting play.”

On the end-of-game situation where the clock ran out but you attempted to call a timeout:

“It was wrong. Don’t tell me one thing and have a communication process that’s supposed to take place with officials and then that didn’t really happen. I was disappointed with that for our players that they didn’t get the right opportunity to have a chance to win it. But even with that … we had a bunch more opportunities to finish the game off and, unfortunately, we didn’t.”

What did you think of Andrew Luck?:

“Same as always. I’ve said perfect and he really kind of was outside of one play.”

And how about your quarterback, Matt Barkley? It felt like he really rose to the challenge and took this game like it was his bowl game:

“This wasn’t our bowl game. We’ve still got a huge game versus Oregon. The game before was a huge game in South Bend. … We’ve had some big games and we’ll be having some more big games. But I do think he did play really well. I don’t think he treated it any different. … Really we’re just a couple inches away from having a big statistical day. … I thought he managed the game really well. … Matt did everything that he could.”

Can you use the fact that probation is over and you can be bowl eligible next year to keep Barkley on campus?:

“That’s going to be part of the conversation and he knows that already. We joke about it and stuff. He’s going to have, obviously, a big decision to make. He can go be an early first-round pick, which he will be. Or, he can stay and have a chance to come here when it was at it’s brightest, coming off of seven straight BCS bowls, and then the dark clouds … and then ride us back to the top. It’s going to be a big decision and we’ll support whichever way he wants to go.”

That’s got to be tough for you, because you know he’s NFL-ready but would love for him to stay:

“I think Matt, just being around him for two years, I think Matt understands that I have the best interest for him. I would never tell him to stay when he’s going to get drafted where I think he is. … Matt’s just a different person. Matt is the type of guy that will really think about this and will possibly stay because of the factors of being a special USC guy that comes back as a three-time captain and four-year starter. … The money and fame isn’t what it would be to a lot of kids.”

Listen to Lane Kiffin on The Dan Patrick Show here

Barkley definitely has a point. As he puts it, it’s not like he’s going out there to defend Luck, or vice versa. That said, it’s always about the quarterbacks in football and when you have two of this caliber playing against one another in a game of this magnitude, that’s the easy storyline.

Matt Barkley joined XX 1090 in San Diego to discuss coming off a victory at Notre Dame, how good it felt to beat that rival on the road, the hype surrounding this weekend’s game against Stanford, the Barkley vs. Luck storyline, if he enjoys seeing his name in lights and standout receiver Robert Woods.

What’s it like coming off the big victory at Notre Dame?:

“Huge win in South Bend and I think it’s what we really needed as a team. We’ve had flashes of greatness on offense and flashes of greatness on our defense at times this year during different games, but I think Saturday we came together as a team and really got a victory that you can say the offense and defense really finished the game out. I think it was great momentum going into this week and we really need it.”

How much does it add to the enjoyment that Notre Dame is a rival, it was a night game, they busted out the new helmets, etc.?

“We knew all that stuff going into the game and I was happy that we didn’t let it affect our preparation or how we got ready for the game. … You can easily be distracted by all that goes around. I was proud of our guys of how we didn’t let that get to us and stuck to Trojan football. But, afterward, we were really happy. It was one of the funnest locker room environments that I’ve been in this year.”

You’ve got Stanford in town this week as well as ESPN. You know this game is going to be hyped:

“Yeah, it’s going to be way more than this last week with Notre Dame with College Gameday and all the hype that it usually gets with a big Pac-12 matchup and Andrew Luck coming to town and all that stuff. But, again, I think it’s going to be huge for our team to just focus on USC football. When we’ve been able to do that this year we’ve been really successful.”

What about the game being billed as Matt Barkley vs. Andrew Luck?:

“I don’t have an issue with it, I just think it’s kind of funny how people will pit me against him. … When during this game am I going to be going against him? I’m going against the Stanford defense, right? I can see how all the hype is built up with two good quarterbacks, but he’s not going to stop me on defense and I’m not going to stop him when he’s on the field.”

But doesn’t it feel good all week just to see you and your name in all the promos?:

“I haven’t seen any of the promos, I don’t know. I don’t like to get caught up in all that stuff surrounding a game. I think it’s great coverage for USC and the Pac-12, but I think once you start getting caught up in that, you lose focus and you lose what you’re trying to get accomplished this week.”

How good is wide receiver Robert Woods?:

“He’s a special player, a really fabulous receiver. He’s grown up even recently. He had a great freshman year and he’s even gotten better this year.”

Listen to Matt Barkley on XX 1090 in San Diego here

It was a game that Lane Kiffin wants to move on from as he tries to keep the mindset of his young football team on getting better each week even though ‘SC can’t qualify for a bowl game. Kiffin’s squad looks to bounce back against ASU’s rival, the Arizona Wildcats, at The Coliseum in Los Angeles this weekend.

Lane Kiffin joined ESPN Radio Los Angeles with Mason and Ireland to discuss Matt Barkley regressing in USC’s loss to Arizona State last weekend, being disappointed in Barkley’s comments about Vontaze Burfict, his quarterback’s struggles when playing on the road,  Barkley’s mechanics being off, and if there’s one game on the schedule this year that he would categorize as a ‘must-win’ for his team.

What happened with Matt Barkley? It look like a regression? What did it look like to you?

“I can totally understand that when you look at it on the surface, but if you really go back over the film in real detail, which I think a lot of times gets overlooked because people make the judgements whether you win or lose. Robert Woods if he scores on that kickoff return we take the lead again and all of a sudden we win? We don’t say that. There’s all kinds of circumstances that go into it. He actually as you break it down he missed a couple of throws. That’s where he was on most of his throws. He missed a couple of throws that were big plays. We had Robert Woods for a touchdown and he overthrew it on the third play of the game for a 60-yard touchdown. He missed a couple of others, but the turnovers are what everyone wants to focus on with him and those are really out of his control. Those two turnovers…the three turnovers really, the interception, the screen is a jail break screen versus blitz zero that scores 99-out-of-100 times. His other interception he is just trying to get rid of the ball. He’s getting pulled down and the pass rush at that time was too much for us and his fumble he gets hit from behind like everybody does. I’m not as concerned with that in his play as the inaccuracies on the road.”

There’s talk of Barkley just not playing well against Arizona State? What about his comments regarding Vontaze Burfict?

“Yeah he had not played well down there. The last time he went down there he was about 7-for-24 or 7-for-27. His worst game ever. He did play better than that, but this time around we were not…he went out on his own and made that statement, which I told him we were not excited about him making that statement. He shouldn’t have done that regardless of his feelings or regardless of his viewings or the whole countries feelings about the guy [Vontaze Burfict]. It’s not his position to do that. We’re disappointed he did that and it had nothing to do with the game.”

Does being on the road really hamper Matt Barkley’s game? What about the road could it be?

“Well I don’t know for sure. We’ll see. You can’t make a judgement off one game. Let’s go through a couple more and see how he does on the road again eventually going into Cali and going into Notre Dame coming up here two or three weeks from now. Any time you go on the road it can be different. It’s different environment. It’s not as comfortable and when emotions go up and everything is around you sometimes decision making goes down. It’s what the great, great, quarterbacks of all-time don’t do. They go on the road into those environments and be as level as can be and still play at a high level, so that’s our goal. We can play better. He can play better. I can coach better and that won’t be a problem.”

You said it was Barkley’s decision making process. There’s also mechanical problems. Why are Matt Barkley’s mechanics off?

“A lot of times that has to do with everything going on around you. When your team is playing really well in all phases of the game and your protection is really good it’s easy to be technically sound because everything is in rhythm. Now all of a sudden here goes the tight end getting knocked back in. Here goes the right tackle getting beat on a pass rush. Here goes your receiver getting jammed around. Here goes this big wind in your face all of a sudden. Here comes the crowd. All that stuff goes into it and now it’s not as easy. It’s why those home games versus what are supposedly lesser defenses you usually play better against.”

Your commentary after the game against Arizona State sounded as if you didn’t think you could win. Is there a game on the schedule that you have circled that you have to win?

“No not really. Not a specific game. I do believe now that the two things that always happen with young guys is the first game they ever play period they are going to have growing pains and then the first time they are on the road. They are going to have growing pains. We saw that in the opener and we just saw it here. Now we gotta get over that. There’s no more way out here. We’ve gone on the road in a tough place. We played at home and now it’s time for no more freshmen mistakes. I think part of your question to is why are we so positive in a loss? This is a different time and a different era then most people ever deal with. You come in now and start totally being critical of your players and your team with no bowl game to play for, sanctions and all that stuff around them and stuff they came here for got taken away from them. That’s when you start losing your team. We’ve gotta stay positive. We gotta stay focused on the big picture. How are we going to get better so we don’t lose these games anymore? Instead of talking about why we did lose.”

Listen to Lane Kiffin on ESPN Radio Los Angeles here [Interview begins at the start of the podcast]

Woods explained to KLAC in Los Angeles that he knew it would be a special game for him last Saturday after Lane Kiffin told him on Friday night that the single game reception mark would be broken. Hard to imagine a young man making something like that up, which I suppose means that Kiffin deserves quite a bit of credit either as a psychic or a master motivator. I’m leaning towards the latter, as Kiffin has plenty of experience getting his Trojans ready to play even though they are ineligible for a bowl game.

Robert Woods joined KLAC in Los Angeles with Petros and Money to discuss his record breaking receiving performance during ‘SC’s win over Minnesota last Saturday, how Lane Kiffin told him that he would set the record during a Friday night team meeting seeing a difference in Matt Barkley’s play already after one game this season, the mood of the USC Trojans locker-room after the victory over Minnesota, taking the energy from his record breaking performance last Saturday and bringing it to the game against Utah, and USC not being able to play in a bowl game this season even if they finish undefeated.

How soon did you know last Saturday’s game was going to be a special day for you?

“At the Friday night meeting Coach Kiffin let me know that the record would be broken on Saturday. I had been feeling good ever since that meeting and went to sleep well. I woke up and got ready for the game.”

Have you seen a difference in Matt Barkley this season?

“The ball is definitely flying out a lot faster and getting there with some velocity on it. The timing is there and the confidence is definitely there with Matt Barkley throwing the deep balls and the short ones.”

There’s no question you had a good game, but afterwards it feel like you didn’t win with the comments coming out of the coaching staff. What was the mood amongst your teammates after the victory last Saturday?

“Throughout the game it felt like the score was totally different like we were blowing them out, but it stayed 19-3 for awhile and once they scored it was like ‘oh we are in a game?’ After the game it was like it shouldn’t have been that close. We had to squeeze out a few hairs with the game saving interception, but the moods were down and I felt like we should have done better. The score should have been totally different.”

How do you take the performance from last week’s game into next week against Utah?

“It is onto the next one. We need to totally change the game. Last game was kind of similar to last year’s performance, so we need to do a lot better and separate the score a lot more. Utah is coming in playing smash mouth football and they are going to hit you in the mouth, so you just gotta be ready and be physical right with them.”

What does it do to the team emotionally knowing there is no chance of a bowl game at the end of the season?

“Last year was kind of the big thing because it was new for us, but this year there’s no talk about the bowl ban or anything like that. Now we just need to win our games. Coach [John] Baxter said that he has it on our schedule with the Pac-12 Championship and we need to get there, but we obviously can’t. We just play like we are going to get there and leave no doubt. If we play well then the opponents know we need to be in that game.”

Listen to Robert Woods on KLAC in Los Angeles here

At the top, Haden says he and other athletic directors need to do a better job of educating their university presidents to make the best decisions when they come up. Like most others, he also believes the system needs to be more transparent and the decisions on sanctions need to be more efficient. But also like most others, he remains vague and simply says all options must be considered.

Pat Haden joined ESPN Radio Los Angeles with Mason and Ireland to discuss his reaction to the NCAA’s decision not to punish football coach Lane Kiffin, how to fix the broken system, if an athletic director maybe needs to head the disciplinary committee and why Matt Barkley should be considered for the Heisman Trophy despite USC’s postseason ban.

Your reaction to the NCAA’s decision not to punish Lane Kiffin:

“We’re obviously pleased. I was there. I was really more of a character witness than anything else. This really kind of had to do with Tennessee, not USC. … I think we got the right result. I think it was a fair hearing.”

On the need to fix what you have called a broken system:

“I think we have to think of all available ways to make it better and I think President Emmert has come out and has his own ideas. Really, the universities have to take a little control. At the end of the day, it’s the university presidents who really make the decisions in the NCAA. … My own personal observation is we, athletic directors, me included, don’t do a good enough job of educating our presidents … so they don’t have the right information in front of them to have their votes make sense.”

Should an athletic director maybe be in charge of the disciplinary committee?:

“I’m not sure I have a great answer for that. … First of all, there must be a lot more transparency I think. These decisions must be made much more quickly. … I think there could be guidelines, sentencing guidelines, if you will. … There’s a variety of models, I think, you could toy with and play with to make it better and fairer and more transparent so we all know what’s going on.”

How realistic is it to think that Matt Barkley could be a Heisman candidate despite the team being banned from the postseason?:

“I know Matt Barkley is a Heisman Trophy kid. He’s an incredible young man. You couldn’t ask for more from a player and a leader and a captain in times like this than have a guy like Matt Barkley. And he’s an awfully good player as well. I would hope that if you do it on the field and play really, really well and you represent your school well, which he does, that he would have an opportunity to do so.”

Listen to Pat Haden on ESPN Los Angeles here (Interview begins about one minute in)

The avalanche of negative news has prompted some to speak out on behalf of sweeping changes by the NCAA if there’s to be any shot at fixing an undeniably broken system. Don’t put USC head coach Lane Kiffin in that category though. Take note, of course, of the fact that Kiffin was a central coaching figure on two of the programs on the aforementioned list. No, in Kiffin’s mind, it’s not that the system is broken in college football. Instead, Kiffin points the finger at an excessively negative media landscape and the relentless scrutiny programs face by the press. According to Kiffin, the witch hunt is distracting the media from sharing stories about all that’s good about college football. There’s some truth to that, no doubt, but Kiffin perhaps should hammer on that point and say that he wished the media would tell the good and the bad, rather than chastise the media for inconveniencing everybody with its fixation on uncovering the salacious scandals waiting to be uncovered on campuses across the country.

Lane Kiffin joined XX Sports Radio in San Diego with Darren Smith to discuss his team’s progress in camp to this point with the 2011 season just around the corner, which areas he feels his team needs to improve upon the most, how he’ll measure ‘success’ for the Trojans this season considering they are ineligible for postseason play, the program staying motivated and focused when they know they’re not in contention for championships, how he feels Matt Barkley stacks up against the laundry list of other great quarterbacks who have led USC, the importance of USC reaffirming its identity as Tailback U, how he thinks the college game has changed since the time he joined the coaching ranks at this level, and why he believes the media is deserving of considerable blame for the troubling crossroads the game is at.

Are you where you want to be right now in terms of preparation for the season?:

“I think we are in certain areas, but we still have some work to do at others. There were some good things that happened. Sunday was our final day of scrimmage format and we threw the ball pretty well and tackled well on defense, so there were some bright things.”

What did you feel like your team needed to improve on the most?:

“Our defense, specifically the two-minute situations. We should’ve been 11-2 last year just solving that issue alone. It’s been a focus of ours and one that I think we’ve improved on … by just spending so much time in those situations, number one. And then, number two, overall on defense, it’s the second year in the system. We had a lot of inexperience last year.”

How do you define what is or isn’t a good season when the postseason is out of the question?:

“We don’t get into wins and losses and how many and set the goals that way. We just want to continue to improve and play extremely well and continue to develop our young players that will help us make it through this.”

Is finding that motivation something that you talk to your players about?:

“It’s kind of becoming old for us, unfortunately. We went through this last year, so it’s not new. They’re used to having this taken away from them. I think guys are more focused now, knowing that they’ve already been through it for a year, and really just focused on doing what they can control, which is playing well.”

How does Matt Barkley compare to the other great quarterbacks you’ve coached?:

“His preparation is so phenomenal and his approach to his whole life and football in general. He’s just always striving to be better and does not let anything distract him. I think he’s going to be one of the best ones ever to play here.”

Has he taken a step in terms of leadership?:

“I think he has. As you mentioned, he’s still young. He’s going into his third year of college. Most guys, quarterbacks have redshirted and are now just starting to play going into their third year, not having started two years already. We do see him developing in more of a leadership role as he’s started to mature.”

How does he compare to Matt Leinart?:

“I think there’s some similarities because they’re both very serious about their approach to the game and very smart and understanding everything. So I think there’s a lot of similarities between the two of them.”

Is USC still Tailback U?:

“We actually, if you look since Reggie [Bush] and LenDale [White] left, there’s not been a high draft pick here at tailback. … That’s six, seven years where there hasn’t been here. We need to get that back and hopefully we will.”

Has the game changed like in the NFL where you find a quarterback and then fill in the running back spot?:

“I don’t think so. I think that that’s more in the NFL because people may not want to pay as much money or draft a guy as high because the position is so injury-prone. That’s different in recruiting. You’re still going to try to go get the top guys because they’re difference-makers and change your team.”

Should we expect to see you coming out and going for two points after touchdowns again this year?:

“Oh I don’t know. That’ll dictate where we’re at in our gameplan, who we’re playing.”

How would you feel about sharing your field with an NFL team?:

“I don’t have any thoughts on it. We don’t really worry about things until they happen. … We’d love to have football back in L.A. Obviously it’s been very special here before and we’d love to be around it again.”

Is college football at a crossroads right now?:

“The thing to me that’s discouraging, and it’s just how it works, is the fact that so much attention is paid to the negative things going on. There’s so many stories around the country like the Matt Barkleys of the world. … There’s so many stories like that, but it’s just how it works that the few negative stories get so much attention. It’s unfortunate.”

Listen to Lane Kiffin on XX Sports Radio in San Diego here