Isaacs Head Back to SC
By Allen Trieu
National Recruiting Analyst
Posted May 8, 2012
This weekend, five-star running back Ty Isaac went back to USC, and his father went back to USC. However, this was his mom's first time seeing the campus. What were her thoughts?
Ty Isaac profile
Ty said this trip was really for you, since you had never been out there, so what were your general thoughts, now that you're back, on how it all went?
I thought that USC, the campus, was beautiful. It was nothing like what I expected. You hear all these stories on how it's in this horrible neighborhood and how it's surrounded by really bad things. I didn't find that at all. Yes, the campus has a gate around it, but the area around it and downtown L.A. is very nice. It's like any other urban area. If you go too far one way, it gets a little dicey, but I found the campus and the immediate area around it, beautiful. We got a chance to tour the new athletic facility and it was absolutely phenomenal. It wasn't finished. It's supposed to be done, I guess, before the season starts, but it was just beautiful.
And then meeting the coaches in person, what kind of impression did they make, and what are some of the things that they went over or talked about?
We met with the coaches Friday. We did not come home until Sunday, but we did not see any coaches at all Saturday or Sunday. That was more our time to look around L.A. Friday, they were very gracious. Coach P, the running backs coach, was very nice and very informative. He was grieving. He had just lost his friend Junior Seau, but he was very gracious and met with us, told us where he thought Ty fit into the plan. All the other coaches were very nice. Coach Kiffin was straight forward to talk to. I was comfortable talking to Coach Kiffin and felt like he answered my questions openly and honestly.
Did going out there make you feel better about, if that's where Ty were to choose, that the distance wouldn't be too great? How does that play in now that you've been out there?
We always told Ty that distance wouldn't be a factor. That, wherever he wanted to go was fine with us. We will find a way to make it to every game and visit him. With that being said, as a Mom, I still had issues with him being so far away even though we told him that we would never ask him to limit his choices based on distance. I hate to fly. I despise flying, but it wasn't that bad. I will travel for him if I have to. The flight took us about the same amount of time it would take us to drive to Ann Arbor. The difference would be that if I got up in the morning and felt like going to visit Ty, I couldn't do it, if he was in L.A. and it was spur of the moment like that. Did it make me feel better? I still have reservations about flying, but not the distance.
On a lighter note, I read something about you guys meeting Arnold Schwarzenegger, did that happen? How did that come about?
We got to meet Arnold Schwarzenegger when we were leaving the University's president's office. We were meeting with him and the provost and Arnold Schwarzenegger was his next appointment. He was actually supposed to meet with the president before us, but he was late, so he got bump back so the president could meet with Ty. I though that was pretty funny.
Some kids go out there to L.A. and meet Snoop and other celebrities and they get impressed and it plays a role in their recruitment. Is that the case with Ty?
No. What we're trying to base Ty's decision on is, what kind of offense do they run? The relationship with the coaches, depth chart, that's not a big deal, Ty's not afraid of competition, but if they have 20 running backs, why would they really need him? And how he gets along with the players on the team. That was another big thing. I read somewhere Ty said just because USC was far away, didn't make it a one trip type of place and that's true. How could you ever base where you wanted to go to school off of one visit? So, he went back.
I know it was important for you to get out there. It seemed like one of the missing pieces of the puzzle. Now that you have seen it, does it push things closer to a decision, or where do things stand as far as that goes?
Believe it or not, I have not talked to Ty about the visit. Not on the plane coming home, not since we've been back, we haven't discussed it. He didn't ask me how I felt about the coaches and I didn't ask him how he felt. Everyone asks us all the time, asks him all the time, when are you going to make up your mind? I don't ask him anymore because I think he'll come to me and say ok Mom, I think I'm ready to make up my mind. Before that happens, we are going to sit down as a family and go over everything. We're trying to make an educated decision based on some of the factors I told you earlier. We need to sit down, all four of us, including my daughter and see what works as a family.
Now that you've seen USC, is there anything left you feel you need to see, not just from them, but from any school? Are you thinking about visiting other schools still? Is there anything left unanswered that you feel is out there on the table still?
Questions always pop into my head and I have a very good relationship with Coach Heck at Michigan and if I have a question, I'll call him up. There are always little questions and I find as a mom, I probably have more than Ty or Tyrone do just about non-football related things also. I also feel as thought I could call Coach Baxter, who's Ty's recruiting coach or Coach P, the running backs coach, if I had a question about USC. I don't think that we'll have any more visits unless it's Michigan or USC.
Is it fair to say that it's down to those two schools or is there a possibility of other schools still?
I can't speak for Ty. As far as I know, I would think Michigan and USC are the top two, but that question would have to be for Ty.
