Cardinal and Gold: The Oral History of USC Trojans Football

by Steve Delsohn

From celebrated sports journalist Steve Delsohn comes the true story of University of Southern California football, told by those who know it best--the players, coaches, and everyone else who made USC football one of the most legendary programs in America. Over the years, USC has been surrounded by controversy, even as it won 11 national titles and produced six Heisman winners and numerous future NFL stars. This book will tell the story of the program at its best and worst, with a special focus on the past 40 years, starting with the "Tailback U" dynasty years of the 1970s--when the school won three championships in less than a decade--right up through the modern era in which iconic figures such as Pete Carroll and Reggie Bush had tremendous success and went on to NFL glory, but left tremendous controversy in their wake.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Sports

346 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 16, 2016

About the author

STEVE DELSOHN is the author or co-author of more than half a dozen books, including Da Bears! and Jim Brown's autobiography, Out of Bounds. He also wrote Talking Irish: The Oral History of Notre Dame Football as well as several other oral histories. He is currently a reporter for ESPN's Outside the Lines, for which he recently won a Peabody Award.

Reviews

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

As one of college football’s more glamorous programs, the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans have had a storied history, especially in the last 40 years. That era of USC football is captured through the stories of many men who coached and played for the Trojans in this book by journalist Steve Delsohn.

Through many interviews and thorough research, Delsohn captures the spirt of the USC program in which the Trojans rose to prominence under coach John McKay in the 1970’s and was able to maintain that standard of excellence for the most part over the next 40 years. Of course there were some down seasons and a few coaches such as Lane Kiffin and Larry Smith were fired.

The interviews are interspersed in each chapter that covers one or two seasons of football that are not just game recaps but also recollections of the stories behind the games as well. No matter which season or decade is being discussed, the stories from the players make the book very entertaining and worth the time to read. It is also interesting to see some of the interviewees dispute some of the stories that were reported by the press and widely believed to be the truth.

One example of a good story from a player being interviewed came in the discussion about quarterback Matt Leinert returning to USC for the 2005 season. It was widely thought that Leinert would declare for the NFL draft, but he decided to play his senior year at USC. The common belief was that Leinert just wanted to show his loyalty to USC but teammate Petros Papadakis disputed that, stating that Leinert was coming off two surgeries. I felt the animation in Papadakis’ account just reading that interview – one can only imagine what it was like to actually sit in that room.

This is just one example of the many stories and interviews that make the book a fun read for USC fans. However, since the program has always been one that has a large national following and because of this, Delsohn’s book is one that many college football fans will enjoy, even if they don’t follow the USC program closely.

I wish to thank Crown Publishing for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book for free through a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.

Cardinal and Gold is a series of interviews done and edited together by Steve Delsohn, who makes the book flow nicely with additional bits of information and history. It's really an oral history of the last 40 years of USC football. The program was started in 1888 but Delsohn chose to start in 1976 and up to, and including, the 2015 season.

The interviews are candid, honest and interesting. There are some notable names missing, like Pete Carroll, Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush to name a few. But there are interviews with other players and people associated with the program and covering the program during those years as well. While these pivotal names are missing, there is still plenty of information there. I'm not surprised Delsohn wasn't able to secure interviews with the more controversial USC players and it doesn't really take anything away from the story as a whole.

This book would be great for a longtime USC football fan. It gets into the details of those 40 years covered, quite nicely. I'm not a USC fan, but still found the interviews and information interesting since I am a college football fan. So the book would also be of interest for those that follow college football anytime in the last 40 years. For someone with no interest in college football or a casual interest, obviously this isn't a book for them.

[Christian D. D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fight On, Trojans!!

Full of fascinating facts and anecdotes about my alma mater’s storied football program, including several that I previously didn’t know now in my 29 years as a USC football fan and alumnus…and mind you (without meaning to brag TOO much), I’ve been recognised as a bit of a Trojan football historical trivia guru by several of my fellow college football-loving friends and acquaintances (hell, one of my former Air Force colleagues nicknamed me “Stats” for that very reason).

It’s also chockfull of insightful information interviews with former USC players, coaches, and other persons intimately familiar with the Trojan football program.

But the book also has several glaring errors and omissions that prevent me from rating it a perfect 5 stars:

—For one thing, the author stares that Pat Hill coached Fresno State in the 1992 Freedom Bowl, when in fact it was Jim Sweeney who coached the Bulldogs in that infamous game against us (Pat Hill wouldn’t come along ‘til the following decade).

—We beat Auburn 24-17 in the 2002 season opener, not 24-7.

—The author incorrectly flips Winston Justice’s name repeatedly as “Justice Winston.”

—When recounting the 2009 season, Mr. Delsohn somehow completely overlooks our most memorable win of that year, that being our last minute come-from-behind road win over Ohio State at The Horseshoe.

Overall, still very much worth the read. FIGHT ON, TROJANS!!! ✌️✌️✌️

[Francisco Amezcua · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the book was very interesting to read about as it talks about the years of USC football from 1970 to 2015. It was fun to read about what happened throughout the years and the things that happened within the teams coming from interviews of the players and it was just amazing to learn about the history of Trojan Football. I especially enjoyed the part about learning about the history through the player interviews since it showed their perspectives on what happened on certain things. Overall this was a very good book to read and it is very interesting to learn about USC football history.

[Brian Brantley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book done in an interview style covering USC football. It has interviews with many of the important players, coaches and administrators for each era starting in the late 70’s. If you’re a fan of college football or a fan of USC, it’s a must read. Lots of behind the scenes stories.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed every single page of this book, especially the Todd Marinovich period (1989-1990) and the teams that were of my generation (1997 to 2005). This book was a candid oral account of USC football from the 1970s to the 2010s periods.

I consider myself a well educated person on USC football (I've been studying them since I was in third grade back in 1991), but there was a ton of stuff in this book that even I didn't know about USC football.

One of if not my favorite parts of this book was the seriously candid and in your face quotes from the one and only Petros Papadakis. In this book he really went in on some USC coaches and players as well as the NCAA. Man, Petros is a seriously talented football broadcast-journalist. He wasn't afraid to give his from the heart opinions on his alma mater's football program or the NCAA. Gotta respect that about him.

I've read quite a few college (Go Gators! by Peter Golenbock and The Civil War Rivalry: Oregon vs. Oregon State, by Kerry Eggers) and pro football (Sack Exchange, by Greg Prato and Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes, by Peter Golenbock) oral history books. And I must say Steve Delsohn's effort is by far the best I've read in this genre.

And one more thing. The chapters (7 and 8) on Marinovich and the late Larry Smith's relationship may send you to tears. Wow, those chapters were something.

[Zack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goodreads Giveaway - Wow, the first thing that struck me about this book was how it showed how USC eats its young, that the football program and boosters will chew you up and spit you out. One of the most repeated motifs from the players and coaches interviewed in the book is that USC is "special", that they're "different" from all the other top tier college football programs in the country; and maybe this view lends to the air of entitlement that is also demonstrated throughout the book (not to mention the whole Reggie Bush/Pete Carrol sanctions fiasco). The narrative sections needed a better ghostwriter or a stronger editor to clean up the prose and tie the interview sections together. Also, my biggest frustration with this book is that with the exception of the Lane Kiffin era, there is very little time spent on the "down" years of USC, which I felt would have been much more interesting. You can read all you want about the good times at USC in any number of locations, but not about when the program was going through tribulations. If you're a college football fan or USC completest/Alumni this book is recommended. If you don't care for USC, college football, or are just a Notre Dame Alumni, don't bother.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and Crown Publishing. It was with the understanding that I would publish a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and my review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus pages.

I requested this book as I am a fan of college football and USC in particular (I did not attend USC or grow up in California). This is the first book by the author that I have read.

The book bills itself as an oral history of USC Trojans football, but is a little deceiving in that it starts in the mid 1970's and ends with the conclusion of the 2015 season. That said, it is an interesting read with the author interviewing a number of former players and coaches over that time span. It is a once over lightly recap of those years without a great deal of detail on the games played. It is a very fast read.

I recommend this book to those who are interested in college football and the USC Trojans in particular.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I have grown up in Southern California my whole life I have never been a Trojan fan, I have friends that have gone to the school just I have never been a fan growing up here. That being said this is the book for that person has a lot of information I did notice a few mistakes but maybe those have been corrected, but for a fan, this would be a good book.

[Luis Cuesta · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good account of the USC Football since the 1970´s. It was very interesting to see how players and coaches recounted their own experiencewearing cardinal and gold.

[Nic]

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