LOS ANGELES -- For years, colleges coaches have scheduled their big recruiting weekends to coincide with highly anticipated football games in an attempt to show off all the pomp and circumstance that comes with the game-day atmosphere. But over the past two seasons, USC coaches have taken a different approach.
This weekend, the USC coaches could again host a double-digit visitor weekend. And while there aren't nearly as many available scholarships this time around, the buzz that is created with so many top prospects in one place is tough to turn down.
Last January, the Trojans staff hosted nearly 20 official visitors during one weekend. Of the eight uncommitted prospects in attendance, USC received signed letters of intent from six of them. All told, 12 of the recruits on campus that weekend eventually signed with the Trojans.
"That weekend was huge for me," said offensive lineman Cyrus Hobbi, who was in attendance for the Trojans big weekend last year.
Hobbi was uncommitted at the time and trying to work through a poor experience he had on an unofficial visit to USC during the summer.
"I kind of got off on the wrong foot with 'SC," Hobbi said. "I kind of put them off the list, but then I decided I should give them another chance, so I came out for the big weekend."
The USC staff has a reputation for being arguably the best collective recruiting force in the country. After that weekend, Hobbi understood why.
"I had a chance to meet all the coaches and had a pretty long talk with every coach," Hobbi said. "It was really cool and really helped my decision to learn more about the coaches. I could tell what those guys were all about, with football, academics and making us better men."
Hobbi said he also enjoyed spending time with his fellow recruits and kept in touch with many of them over the following weeks. He added that he was happy the weekend featured so many recruits. If he had gone by himself, Hobbi said he would have likely missed out on much of the bonding between recruits and players that occurred.
Many of the initial concerns from recruiting fans wondering how the coaching staff could allocate its time properly with so many players on campus were alleviated with the immediate feedback from the weekend. Nearly one year later, with the same game plan in place, those concerns no longer exist.
"These guys do a really good job recruiting," Hobbi said of the USC coaches. "I had plenty of time with all of them and had a conversation with each coach. That was the cool thing. Even with all those guys there, they didn't put more attention toward one guy or another. I didn't feel left out even being with all those guys. They really did a good job recruiting everybody to the fullest."
Although he is still in his first year at USC, Hobbi's outgoing personality makes him a frontrunner to become one of the most effective recruiting hosts on the roster. He said that while he might end up serving as a host in the coming weeks, he is looking forward to recruiting every player who steps foot on campus.
"It's a pretty big deal for us," Hobbi said of recruiting weekends for the players already enrolled at USC. "We can kind of feel the buildup. As players, we're all interested in who's coming in, especially a lot of the young guys, like me. We're trying to get these guys in here to help our program."
Hobbi and the offensive linemen could provide the USC staff with plenty of help this weekend. Linemen Andrus Peat (Tempe, Ariz./Corona Del Sol), Isaac Seumalo (Corvallis, Ore./Corvallis) and Kyle Dodson (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) are all scheduled to be on campus, along with USC commits Max Tuerk (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif./Santa Margarita) and Jordan Simmons (Encino, Calif./Crespi).
USC players must take an online test in order to establish an understanding of recruiting rules before official visitors hit the campus. Trojans coaches also take time to stress to their players how important a big recruiting weekend can be.
Quarterback Cody Kessler said coaches brought up the coming weekend and how important it could be to the future of the program during a team meeting on Monday.
"They said if we had any plans this weekend to cancel them," Kessler said.
He added that the command was said somewhat tongue-in-cheek and it also wasn't entirely necessary. These players have all been through the recruiting process and know how important an official visit was in their decision.
Kessler was on campus as an early enrollee last January and had only a few weeks of college under his belt before the big weekends rolled in. This year, Kessler said he is prepared for these final few weeks before signing day.
"We want to be here to show them a good time and help build this team," Kessler said.
Erik McKinney is the recruiting editor for WeAreSC.com and has covered the Trojans since 2004. He can be reached at [email protected].