Trojan Tactician

For John McKay, head football coach of the University of Southern California, the trip north to play his alma mater, the University of Oregon, might have been a sentimental journey. One look at the playing conditions was enough to dampen any thought of old school ties. A driving rain had turned the artificial turf into one big slippery sponge. The game, which was supposed to have been a romp for the Trojans, turned into a tossup. After 30 minutes of fumbles and false starts, neither team had scored, and U.S.C. sloshed into the locker room at half time for the Trojan equivalent of a pep talk. It was hardly the stuff that movies are made of. McKay quietly told his defensive unit that "you can make it happen." He reminded Quarterback Mike Rae that he had "the right to ask officials for a dry ball." Gently, the coach called on everyone to show more aggressiveness.

McKay's soft sell did not exactly send the Trojans storming back onto the field. But Sophomore Anthony Davis, for one, got the message. Midway in the third quarter, the tiny (5 ft. 9 in.) tailback splashed around left end and went 48 yds. for a touchdown. Minutes later, following the solid blocking of Center Dave Brown and Guard Allan Graf, Davis splattered for 55 yds. and another score. The Trojan defense, anchored by Linebacker Richard Wood and Cornerback Charles Hinton, who intercepted two Oregon passes, stiffened as requested and U.S.C. went on to win 18-0. It was the eighth victory in a row for U.S.C., the nation's No. 1 college team, and it further strengthened McKay's bid for the title of No. 1 coach. Said Oregon Coach Len Casanova: "A good coach has got to be a good recruiter, a good on-field teacher and a good tactician, devising strategy and making adjustments under fire. I have seen a lot of coaches who were good in one or two of these categories, but not all three. John McKay has it all."

Tactician is the word for McKay. The Trojans had barely dried out last week when he began preparing for U.S.C.'s next opponent, Washington State. Armed with a battery of movie projectors, McKay and his eight assistants spent an entire day studying State game films, making elaborate diagrams of every player's move on every play. The data was then fed into a computer, which produced a printout of the team's reactions--and their weaknesses--in any given situation. McKay then spent the better part of his 80-hour work week devising the precise, detailed game plan that has become the U.S.C. trademark. The best evidence that McKay's intricate preparation works is his record at U.S.C.: 96 wins, 33 losses; six Pacific Eight Conference titles; five Rose Bowl teams; 23 All-Americas; two Heisman Trophy winners (Mike Garrett and O.J. Simpson); two undefeated seasons; and two national championships.

Explosive I. At Oregon, McKay was a flashy halfback who helped lead his team into the 1949 Cotton Bowl. After graduation he decided that he would not play as a pro and took a $2,800-a-year job as assistant coach at his alma mater. In 1959 he joined the U.S.C. staff. One year later he was named head coach. After two losing seasons, he silenced the protests of U.S.C.'s rabid alumni by sweeping both the 1962 national championship and Coach-of-the-Year honors. The first coach to popularize the explosive I formation, McKay has a knack for confusing defenses with deceptive variations on a basic play. One Trojan favorite, a sweep known affectionately as "student-body left" because the entire team seems to swing out to run interference, can be run from any one of 32 formations.

For all of his innovative ways, McKay holds to a prosaic philosophy: "Players win; plays don't." As a recruiter, he stays close to home: of the 100 U.S.C. players currently on scholarship, only five are from out of state. McKay's pitch--like his pep talks--is low-key and persuasive: a good education, a lucrative summer job, a chance to play with a proven winner and an influential assist at landing a job after graduation. If a high school star is good enough to look forward to a pro career, McKay lets it drop that 27 former U.S.C. players--more graduates than from any other college--are now playing in the big league. While winnowing the yearly crop of 500 or more prospects down to a choice 25, McKay and his trusty computer are quick to spot and reject a possible malcontent. "The wheeze about building character is a joke," he says. "Most boys we get are 18. Their character has long since been built, usually in the home. About all we can teach a kid is how to play football."

Now 49, McKay is a jaunty, dapper hustler who earns upwards of $75,000 a year from his jobs as coach, athletic director, weekly TV football analyst and after-dinner speaker. Two years ago, he turned down an enticing $100,000 offer to coach the Los Angeles Rams. "I am one who believes that college football is a helluva challenge," he says, "perhaps even tougher than the pros." Friends believe that there was another reason for turning down the pro bid: he did not want to miss the opportunity of coaching his son, John K. McKay, a sophomore who is currently U.S.C.'s top pass receiver. Recruiting young John was "easier than usual," the elder McKay says solemnly. "I know his mother quite well."

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