ESPN College Football

Coaches are in, coaches are out. That's the way things go.

Stanford is the only Pac-12 team still looking for a coordinator. Co-defensive coordinator Jason Tarver is off to the NFL to run the Oakland Raiders defense. He'll be joined in Oakland by USC receivers coach Ted Gilmore, who did a great job with Robert Woods and Marqise Lee this past season.

USC coach Lane Kiffin needs to replace three assistant coaches: LBs coach Joe Barry was hired by the San Diego Chargers, and Kiffin still hasn't hired a full-time secondary coach since Willie Mack Garza resigned just before the 2011 season began.

Meanwhile, Oregon State may be on the cusp of filling a vacancy in the secondary after Keith Heyward bolted for Washington. The Corvallis Gazette and Footballscoop.com reported that the deal is nearly done with former Indianapolis Colts assistant coach Rod Perry.

And, of course, there are four new coaching staffs at Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA and Washington State, while Washington, Utah and California made significant changes.

Colorado and Oregon, in fact, are the only two programs that haven't made any staff changes.

A few news and notes from We Are SC:

Kyle Williams writes : Williams got a chance to see Atwater (Calif.) Buhach Colony defensive tackle Aziz Shittu this summer at USC's Nike camp. He was impressed.

Garry Paskwietz writes: This week's roundtable goes down memory lane, looking at the best victories for USC over Notre Dame.

Garry Paskwietz writes: After playing for USC against Notre Dame, Kennedy Polamalu, Joe Barry and Sammy Knight return to the rivalry as assistant coaches.

Jo Bob is here to remind us that the biggest and the baddest get to make all the rules.

• Arizona State DT Will Sutton is looking to clean up his mess from last fall ... and just clean up.
• Colorado lands its fifth commitment.
• There are more questions than answers concerning Oregon and Willie Lyles, but it's still business as usual for coach Chip Kelly. An interesting take on Oregon's issues.
• Oregon State safety Lance Mitchell has his own blog! He's not thrilled that The Sporting News ranked the Beavers 48th. Stephen Paea for Oregon State Male Athlete of the Year.
• More on the short but tumultuous career of UCLA offensive lineman Stanley Hasiak. What does it mean for the O-line?
• Are 53 teams better than USC in 2011? The correct answer is "You must be joking." Part 2 of a Q&A with USC LB coach Joe Barry.
• A look at Washington's scholarship numbers, thoroughly recounted by the always thorough Bob Condotta.

What joins men together, he said, is not the sharing of bread but the sharing of enemies.

• Some insights into Arizona.
• What does Arizona State look like at receiver?
• The Oregonian gives you a great link to keep up with the L'Affair de Willie Lyles. Ducks coach Chip Kelly and Lyles exchanged 12 text messages the day before LaMichael James committed to Oregon. Ducks fans, this will help define your vague worries into specific issues to obsess about.
• Some chats with UCLA recruits. And an update on Bruins recruiting.
• A Q&A with USC linebackers coach Joe Barry.
• Utah picks up commitments from a pair of linemen.
• Washington won't play this year's Apple Cup inside Qwest Field. It will play at CenturyLink Field. But there's a catch.
• Washington State has been historically bad under Paul Wulff.

Considering how it all went down, it seems like a major upset that the nation's best offensive guard committed to USC on Friday over Arizona State and UCLA.

Lane Kiffin completely flubbed the first impression with Cyrus Hobbi.

But it also shows you how relentless Kiffin and his staff are in recruiting that they overcame that pratfall.

Hobbi and his family felt that they were snubbed on an unofficial visit to USC. Not only that, Hobbi's coach at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Ariz., John Sanders, is tight with Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson.

"I'm going to give USC credit," Sanders told the Arizona Republic. "First of all, USC had to deal with me, and I was not very friendly with them. No.1, I wanted the kid to stay home and go to ASU. And the way they handled early recruiting, I wasn't real fond of them. But I will tell you that Joe Barry and Lane Kiffin were relentless recruiting this kid and wouldn't take no for an answer."

It was a fairly major blow also for Arizona State and UCLA, which are sagging in recruiting as USC surges.

Arizona State also lost a committed linebacker the same day.

And UCLA again saw a top target commit elsewhere.

Meanwhile, USC appears on the cusp of signing a top-five class, despite NCAA sanctions.

Got a couple of notes inquiring about USC's coaching staff.

It apparently is complete. Here it is as listed on the team's official site.

Lane Kiffin - Head Coach
John Baxter - Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator
Monte Kiffin - Assistant Head Coach
Ed Orgeron - Defensive and Recruiting Coordinator/Defensive Line
John Morton - Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers
Joe Barry - Linebackers Coach
James Cregg - Offensive Line Coach
Willie Mack Garza - Secondary Coach
Clay Helton - Quarterbacks Coach
Todd McNair - Running Backs Coach

Couple of notes.

Notice that Orgeron is listed as defensive coordinator and Monte Kiffin as "assistant head coach." Might that indicate a succession plan when the 7o-year-old Kiffin opts to step aside?

Also, note there's no offensive coordinator. Lane Kiffin will call plays, so he didn't bother to give the honorary title to an assistant.

Only two assistants from Pete Carroll's staff were retained: Morton and McNair.

You might recall that McNair spent a long stretch being interviewed by the NCAA infractions committee on Feb. 19 and 20.

Baxter was a great hire. Not only is he a highly regarded special teams coach, but he's a leader among coaches who care about the "student'" part of the student-athlete, having created a program, "Academic Gameplan," that helps players learn study skills and how to organize their time.

Joe Barry is now, officially, USC's new linebackers coach, the school announced Thursday evening.

Barry, a former Trojan linebacker and assistant coach who spent the past 10 years coaching in the NFL, announced his own hiring on Tuesday, which coach Lane Kiffin wouldn't confirm.

Kiffin is now effusive about Barry in a school statement:

“When we were hired, we said we would put together the best coaching staff in the country,” Kiffin said. “In Joe Barry, we’ve hit a home run. He was the only linebacker coach we went after and, although it took a while, we’re excited to bring him back to the Trojan Family. He is an outstanding coach who has been part of Rose Bowl and Super Bowl championship teams, and he has produced some great linebackers during his terrific NFL career. One day, he’ll be a great head coach as well.”

You can see USC has an updated -- though incomplete -- coaching staff list here.

Barry, 39, was the linebackers coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2009. Before that, he was the defensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions for two seasons.

Barry’s first NFL job was the defensive quality control coach with the San Francisco 49ers in 2000. He then spent six years as the linebackers coach of the Buccaneers, working under defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin (now on USC’s staff). He was a member of the 2002 Super Bowl champions that led the league in total defense and scoring defense. The Buccaneers were ranked among the NFL’s top five in total defense three others times during his tenure, including first in 2005 when they won the NFC South Division. His linebackers were named to the Pro Bowl seven times, including 2002 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Derrick Brooks.

Barry started his coaching career at USC as the video coordinator in 1994. He was then a graduate assistant working with the defensive line in 1995 when the Trojans won the Rose Bowl.

He spent three seasons (1996-98) as the linebackers and defensive ends coach at Northern Arizona. In 1999 he was the linebackers coach at UNLV, under John Robinson, who was Barry's coach at USC.

Barry lettered two years at USC, starting seven games at inside linebacker in 1993.

Rocky Seto, who's been a USC assistant since 1999, will not be retained by new coach Lane Kiffin, according to the Los Angeles Times, which confirmed the decision with Seto.

This appears to clear the way for Joe Barry, 39, a former USC player and graduate assistant who was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2009, to be announced as the Trojans' new linebackers coach. The football office wouldn't confirm the hiring on Tuesday, though Barry has told reporters he is headed to USC.

Earlier this week, linebacker recruit Soma Vainuku (Eureka, Calif./Eureka) told ESPN.com's Greg Biggins that he believed Seto would be on the new staff.

The Trojans' defensive staff appears set: coordinator Monte Kiffin, defensive line coach Ed Orgeron, secondary coach Willie Mack Garza and Barry with the linebackers.

So, has USC hired a linebackers coach or not?

According to this story -- and this one -- Joe Barry thinks USC has.

Him.

Barry, 39, a former USC player and graduate assistant, told reporters that he was let out of his contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers so he could join Lane Kiffin at USC:

"It was a tough decision, especially leaving Tampa,'' Barry said. "Our family loves living here. The fans have been unbelievable. We've had some good times, obviously, with the Super Bowl year, and we've kicked a lot of (butt). Even though last year was difficult, it was still special to be able to walk out onto Raymond James every Sunday.''

"But (USC) made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I think SC couldn't have hired a better head coach to replace Pete Carroll than Lane Kiffin, and with Monte there, and the fact that I played there and my first coaching job was there, it just was the right thing for me and my family.''

A USC spokesman, however, said there would be no announcement today.

Further, Scott Wolf this afternoon wrote this on his USC blog: "Joe Barry was quoted this morning saying he was hired at USC. Lane Kiffin said about 35 minutes ago he was not hired. It's going to be interesting to see how this turns out. Does anyone think Barry would say he was hired if he was not?"

And, as we noted earlier, there are indications that USC assistant coach Rocky Seto will be retained in some capacity. Considering the Trojans already have hired a defensive coordinator (Monte Kiffin), a secondary coach (Willie Mack Garza) and defensive line coach (Ed Orgeron), there are only so many options.

Stay tuned.