You might have heard at some point on your earthly sojourn that life isn’t fair. Andy Enfield might think it is unfair to put him on the hot seat at USC, but we’re going to do just that.
Yes, it doesn’t seem fair that a coach can take USC to four straight NCAA Tournaments (if you count the 2020 pandemic season in which USC was going to get in), something which had never previously been done in the program’s history, and yet be on the hot seat one year later.
Yes, it doesn’t seem fair that Enfield — a more successful USC basketball coach than the vast majority of the men who have come before him — should suddenly be on the hot seat when he has improved the program in the 10 years he has been on the job.
It’s not fair. We’re not denying that. Yet, in the ultra-competitive world of college sports, tough decisions sometimes have to be made. Andy Enfield knows that.
USC faces a very tough decision if Enfield can’t turn around this USC basketball season.
Let’s start by saying that Enfield has done a really good job at USC in recent years. The consecutive NCAA Tournaments, the 2021 Elite Eight, a second-place finish in the Pac-12, and multiple seasons with 25 or more wins have all come since 2020, and they have elevated USC’s brand. Enfield has made USC a better program compared to when he arrived in 2013, fresh off his Sweet 16 run at Florida Gulf Coast. USC fans should be grateful to Enfield for what he has done here.
However, that gratitude doesn’t mean Enfield gets a blank check or several future years of employment. He put this program in position to make a leap, but that’s part of the reality of program building: When a coach is in position to take his program to the next level, and he instead fails, it’s time to hire a coach who can actually make that leap.
Andy Enfield might be good at pouring a cement foundation, but not at building the whole house.
He pulled in the top-ranked recruit in the country, Isaiah Collier. He recruited Bronny James. He added them to five-star big man Vince Iwuchukwu, who played well on Sunday against Long Beach State. He brought in D.J. Rodman, a solid role player from Washington State, in the transfer portal. All those pieces surrounded returning star guard Boogie Ellis and returning perimeter defender Kobe Johnson.
Another year of Boogie and Kobe, with Collier and Bronny on board, with D.J. Rodman joining the roster and Iwuchukwu getting healthy after last season’s back problems? That’s a lot of talent. Accordingly, much was expected of this USC squad. Yet, the Trojans are just 5-4. They blew a 15-point lead to Long Beach State even though Bronny and Iwuchukwu played well and made contributions at both ends of the floor.
None of USC’s highly-touted guards — Collier, Boogie, and Kobe — are playing up to expectations this season. Collier isn’t dominating his point guard matchup. Boogie and Kobe aren’t hitting the late-game shots they hit last season. USC’s defense remains inconsistent even though Kobe Johnson doesn’t need to be as much of a factor on offense and should therefore be more of an impact player at the defensive end of the floor. USC remains stuck in the familiar bad habits of the Enfield era: too many turnovers, too many missed free throws, too many missed 3-pointers, and stagnant halfcourt sets.
Andy Enfield has — over 10 years — improved USC basketball, but if he can’t get anything out of this loaded roster, a change is certainly worth exploring at the very least. The fact that Enfield has had 10 years at USC means this school has certainly given him a chance to take the Trojans to the next level. This year was supposed to be Enfield’s big opportunity to do just that.
If he badly fails and falls well short of expectations, it is entirely reasonable to say that Enfield will never lift USC beyond a No. 6 or 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans will never become the high-end team they hoped to become this season.
When you look at what Lindsay Gottlieb is doing with the women’s program — and a similar level of talent — that makes the argument for why USC shouldn’t settle for a B-minus program in men’s basketball. We can all see that Gottlieb is an elite coach. We can say that partly because she took California to the Women’s Final Four a decade ago, but we can also say it because the USC women’s hoops team has the No. 1 recruit in the country, just as the men’s team does, and yet the results are spectacular, a total contrast with the mediocrity of the men.
There’s no reason USC can’t go out and get a men’s basketball equivalent of Lindsay Gottlieb.
There’s no reason USC can’t get someone on par with Tommy Lloyd, a longtime assistant coach who has very quickly established himself as a top head coach in men’s college basketball. Lloyd very clearly knows how to develop players and get them to play at their best.
There’s no reason USC can’t find someone in Tommy Lloyd’s league who can take the Trojans to the next level.
Andy Enfield isn’t showing us anything which indicates he can be that guy. It’s really very simple: If Enfield can’t show us this season that he can turn USC around, the athletic department would be short-changing USC fans if it doesn’t at least search for a new head coach.
Andy Enfield should definitely be on the hot seat, in spite of recent accomplishments. It might not be fair, but it’s the way USC has to view this larger situation.
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