Earlier today I wrote that Charlie Strong seemingly had the longest hiring day-to-game day wait of all new hires for the 2014 season. Steve Sarkisian probably has something to say about that. In fact, the last week has probably felt like three eternities stacked on top of each other for the brand new USC head coach.
One day after the Josh Shaw saga wrapped up with the captain admitting he'd made the entire thing up, and earning himself an indefinite suspension in the process, USC running back Anthony Brown has quit the team. Brown switched to running back from cornerback this spring, where he made 43 tackles in six career starts. Making matters worse, Brown accused Sarkisian of being a racist in an Instagram post, which has since been deleted. This appears to be nothing more than a grossly unfair swipe out the door by a disgruntled player, and has been strongly refuted by Brown's former teammates.
In actual football impact, USC has now lost two players in two days, on a roster that lacked depth to begin with.
USC opens its season versus Fresno State at 7:30 p.m. ET (televised by Fox). For Sarkisian and the rest of the USC football program, it can't come one moment too soon.