Five-Star USC Wideout Bru McCoy Got Screwed By Kliff Kingsbury

In an otherwise disappointing 2019 recruiting class for a USC football team coming off a 5-7 season, wide receiver Bru McCoy was the undisputed gem. A five-star ranked by some as one of the top 10 players in the country, the California native McCoy, together with fellow wideout Kyle Ford, was primed to be part of an exciting, overhauled offense.

Speaking after an official visit at USC, McCoy seemed particularly excited to play for just-hired Trojans offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who made the move to California after losing his head coaching job at Texas Tech:

“First off, he’s a really cool guy, very relatable and comfortable with who he is as a person,” McCoy said. “So we immediately clicked and we spent a lot of time going over the offense and how they would use me. If you’re a receiver, you really can’t find a better fit. He showed me film of Texas Tech and it’s a great offense.

“They spread the field and have four wide outs on the field almost all the time. They’re going to throw the ball 40-50 times a game in that offense, it’s really hard to double team anyone because of how well they spread a defense out so it’s a ton of one on one matchup’s everywhere. He’s really excited to be at SC because of the talent that is there. He’s getting guys that weren’t even highly recruited players out of HS to put up big numbers and getting them drafted and you can just imagine what he could do with the kind of talent he’ll have at USC.”

McCoy didn’t make his commitment to USC public until Jan. 5, but he signed a few weeks earlier, and had already started taking classes as an early enrollee. But just a few days after McCoy’s commitment went public, Kingsbury left his barely touched job at USC to become the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. It was a step up for Kingsbury, but it unsurprisingly seems to have pulled the rug out from under McCoy, who, according to ESPN, has entered the transfer portal and most likely will go to Texas.

So far, so logical. A man backs out of his commitment, and a kid—having been misled—wants to do the same. But aside from the fact that there’s no guarantee USC allows him a release, here’s the brutal, unfair line from ESPN, about a player who has never played a single snap for USC:

If he does transfer, McCoy would have to sit out the 2019 season and would be eligible to play in 2020.

Kingsbury, meanwhile, will reportedly not have to sit out the 2019 season before coaching the Cardinals.