The 1944 USC football team was coached by Jeff Cravath, who gave the Trojans several good seasons in the mid-1940s.
“Cravath coached USC during America’s involvement in World War II and then for the first five postwar seasons, through 1950. In his nine seasons, he led USC to four Rose Bowls and two wins in the Granddaddy. USC went a combined 16-2-2 in the 1943 and 1944 seasons, then 7-1-1 in the 1947 regular season. USC had only one losing season out of nine under Cravath, the 1950 campaign which led to a change and the installment of Jess Hill for the 1951 season.
“Don Clark and Paul Hackett did not work well as USC head coaches. Ted Tollner was mediocre but managed to make one Rose Bowl. Larry Smith was a decent coach but unable to sustain what he began. Jeff Cravath rates more favorably than those other, less distinguished USC coaches, and he steered the program through the uncertainty of a world war, sending plenty of players to the NFL draft.”
Let’s look at Cravath’s one unbeaten USC team, the 1944 Trojans: