Matt Barkley struggled as a passer during his final season at USC and with hindsight being 20/20, he probably should have come out as a junior.
Several things contributed to Barkley struggling, but one mainly comes to mind when he talked to Yahoo Sports. Barkley who has taken a lot of heat and criticism for forcing throws, told Mike Silver that the “Trojans play calling got to predictable.”
Kiff kind of suited the play-calling toward Marqise,” Barkley says. “It was rough at times, because defenses kinda knew what was coming. It was sort of predictive. Robert Woods is a great player. … You want to be respectful of your coaches, because they are your elders, but when it falls on your shoulders, you probably should get involved.”
Those statements from Barkley indicate his unwillingness to allow his career to suffer because his college coach faltered at times.
Barkley did his best to answer questions about USC without ripping Lane Kiffin. He mostly wishes he had done and said more as a leader.
“Yeah, I’ve thought about it long and hard,” Barkley told Silver. “I learned how to handle adversity last season, and maybe I could have done a few things differently. I could’ve had a bigger voice, given more input and taken it to the next level — pretty much as the owner of the company might … not just letting things happen.
“You put faith in your coaches, but when you see trends, things not happening the right way, and when the team rests on your shoulders, it’s almost like you have to step up. You can’t just let these things go by and watch them disintegrate in front of you. You’ve got to put the glue in somewhere. Looking back, I wish I’d been more forceful.”