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2019 ATH Bru McCoy

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Junior Miller
Junior Miller

Called it back in January: The staff knew from the the time he landed in Austin for spring semester there was a really high chance he would bolt. Only reason he left USC was because he felt lied

TrojanPrincess
TrojanPrincess

Naw, we heard a lot of noise Bru had second thoughts about flipping two weeks in. Just came back to close this account out, read a little and didn’t like Scott’s name attached to an untruth.

Sbbruin
Sbbruin

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Bozo_Casanova

Bozo_Casanova 26690

Posted
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On 11/7/2019 at 1:14 PM, Doc Reeves said:

Gotta go with the escorts scene. It’s not like it was where there are 9/10 hanging out at bars waiting. 

That thing with the Secret Service in 2012(?) changed the whole dynamic. Now, you have to arrange things a little ahead of time.

bru would do well to just take a 5 day vacay there to get that chick out of his mind. Take $800, fuck for 4 days and try some blow. It’s amazing how fast you forget the girls z back home

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smakashart

smakashart 156

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 12/6/2019 at 12:04 PM, GRHorn said:

Did they ever figure out his illness? He looks like he’s taking steroids, and not the good kind. 

report came out today that his illness was caused by mold in the texas dorm rooms in san jac........247

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USC people are claiming that there was mold in his Texas dorm (San Jac)

 

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Viper

Viper 12159

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Posted

The whole mold scare was mostly media hysteria

https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4494

Maybe he had an allergy or weakened immune system?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes the possible health effects of mold:

Quote

People who are sensitive to mold may experience stuffy nose, irritated eyes, wheezing, or skin irritation. People allergic to mold may have difficulty in breathing and shortness of breath. People with weakened immune systems and with chronic lung diseases, such as obstructive lung disease, may develop mold infections in their lungs.

 

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KYHorn

KYHorn 17310

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Posted
20 minutes ago, Viper said:

The whole mold scare was mostly media hysteria

https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4494

Maybe he had an allergy or weakened immune system?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes the possible health effects of mold:

 

It's known that he has an open wound that none of the other guys on the team have. Makes him more susceptible to these things.

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 55013

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ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, Calif. — As they sat in their living room last Friday, Horace and Shelby McCoy were well aware of what this week holds for their son.

They know when USC kicks off spring practice on Wednesday, all eyes will be on wide receiver and former five-star prospect Bru McCoy, who will be practicing in front of the media for the first time since he returned to the Trojans last June.

They know the questions about his transfer from USC to Texas and then back to USC within a four-month span last year will come whenever he is first permitted to speak to the media, whether that’s this spring or in the fall. For most parents, the thought of watching their child defend such a controversial decision so publicly may be overwhelming.

Then again, if the McCoys made it through the past 15 months, through those two transfers and the widespread criticism that came each time, through the mysterious illness that put Bru in the hospital and sidelined him for months, then they’ll make it through whatever the future may hold.

“You know what’s funny is, I looked at it, like, (2019) was just horrible,” Shelby said. “Then when we talked about it — I learned so much last year.”

A mother and father learned about their son in the past 15 months. They also learned about themselves: what matters, what doesn’t. They shared moments of uncertainty and even dread. Now, with the benefit of some time for reflection, they’ve given themselves an opportunity to laugh about some of it.

Ultimately, this is the college experience Horace and Shelby envisioned for Bru: playing at USC, his dream school, with his longtime friends. The path here certainly is far, far removed from what they pictured, but the McCoys are stronger for having gone through it.

USATSI_11945978-scaled-e1583757576727.jp
 
Announcing his signing with USC in San Antonio was the last part of McCoy’s 2019 that went to script. (Soobum Im / USA Today)

Make no mistake, Horace and Shelby are USC fans. They grew up loving USC. Their friends are USC fans. Bru wore No. 5 from flag football through high school because of Reggie Bush.

They pictured spending the next few years of their life watching Bru play in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with other friends and family in the stands. Even though other programs like Texas and Washington made significant impressions throughout the recruiting process, the widespread thought as Bru moved through high school was that he would be a Trojan.

“He had talked about SC his whole life and dreamed about it,” Shelby said.

McCoy had a good sophomore year at Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, Calif.) and garnered plenty of recruiting attention, but he really blew up during his junior year as a two-way star on the Monarchs’ 2017 team, which was awarded the national title by USA Today. That same fall, USC won the Pac-12 to follow up a thrilling Rose Bowl victory that capped the previous season. Two of McCoy’s longtime friends and high school teammates, quarterback JT Daniels and receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, signed with USC after that 2017 season. Bru had a great relationship with Trojans head coach Clay Helton, and the whole family was really close with then-offensive coordinator Tee Martin.

In 2018, it was more of the same for McCoy. He played less on defense, but he was Mater Dei’s top offensive playmaker, leading the Monarchs to another state and national championship.

Meanwhile, with Sam Darnold and Ronald Jones II off to the NFL, the Trojans’ offense sputtered, and the season spiraled. Martin was stripped of play-calling duties with a month left in the season and fired a few days after a season-ending loss to Notre Dame that sealed USC’s first losing record since 2000.

Other programs, Texas in particular, continued to make compelling cases to McCoy. He was on a visit to Austin in September 2018 when the Longhorns dismantled USC, 37-14, part of a breakthrough season that ended with a Sugar Bowl victory. McCoy entered the final stretch of his recruitment stressing over the decision ahead.

“Things kept happening with SC like, what is going on? Is this a sign?” Shelby said. “I think he was like, ‘I waited my whole life to go here, maybe it’s not meant to be.’ The process was so stressful. They had a little bit of a rough year the year before. I think he was just like, ‘What am I doing? Am I making the right decision because this is where I dreamt about my whole life? Was I open enough on my other recruiting trips to other schools?’ ”

Then USC hired Kliff Kingsbury, fresh off his firing as Texas Tech head coach, to be its new offensive coordinator — a major splash. Kingsbury went to watch McCoy in person for Mater Dei’s state championship win and paid an in-home visit to the McCoy family.

McCoy was “over the top” with Kingsbury, Horace said, and the two developed a great relationship. Plus, there was the reassuring news Helton would be retained despite a massively disappointing season. McCoy graduated early from Mater Dei and signed with USC in December 2018, keeping his decision quiet until early January when he announced for USC at the All-American Bowl in San Antonio. That same weekend, the rumors intensified about the NFL interest Kingsbury was drawing.

“Bru had a good enough relationship with Kingsbury, he was sending him messages, asking him (about other jobs),” Horace said. “Kingsbury was very upfront with him and said, ‘Listen, this is a business. You’re going to be fine no matter what happens.’ This is like two days before he checks into school.”

Horace remembers driving on the 110 freeway when Bru checked his phone from the back of the car and received the news Kingsbury was on his way to be the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, one day after Bru had enrolled in classes. The main source of optimism from USC’s offseason was gone just over a month after it had arrived.

Three more weeks would pass before Helton hired a replacement offensive coordinator. Then in February, USC strength and conditioning coach Ivan Lewis left to take the same job with the Seattle Seahawks. Add in the constant speculation about Helton’s job status, and it wasn’t the most stable time to be starting a college career.

“So he goes to SC,” Horace said. “He’s there for a couple weeks and he’s having a few doubts because of some of the things that are happening with the staff.”

Horace and Shelby were in Cancun for a family wedding when Bru walked into their room and delivered the news.

“He was like, ‘I think I made a mistake,’ ” Shelby said. “And we were like, ‘No, no, no, no. Stick it out.’ It was hard. I think he was thinking (in the back of his head), ‘Maybe I just followed my heart and not my head. And I should have followed my head. …’

“When he told us he wanted to leave, (I thought), ‘You can’t do this.’ ”

Horace said it was an uncomfortable period for the family, full of hard questions — and arguments — but the McCoys knew it was up to Bru. Horace played H-back at Northern Illinois, and Shelby was an all-conference volleyball player there, too. Their playing days gave them no reason to live vicariously through Bru’s career. It was his decision to make, and he had to live with the consequences.

Still, Horace and Shelby were in constant contact with Helton, receivers coach Keary Colbert and some USC players.

“(I remember) talking to (McCoy’s) mom and dad and just trying to make sure at the end of the day the kid was happy and he was doing what he wanted to do and he was 100 percent in his decision,” Colbert said, “We kind of had to accept it at the end of the day. We talk about it all the time as coaches, we’re in it for the relationships and the people. At the end of the day, we wanted Bru to be happy. If that meant he felt like he was going to be happy somewhere else, we had to support him and support his decision.”

On Jan. 24, 2019, McCoy’s decision became official. He entered the transfer portal and left for Austin, where he quickly developed a strong relationship with then-receivers coach Drew Mehringer.

“He was confused,” Horace said. “(A) 17-, 18-year-old kid, man.”

USATSI_12529584-scaled-e1583757423579.jp
 
The Longhorns had big plans for McCoy (5) as a freshman. (John Gutierrez / USA Today)

Texas head coach Tom Herman didn’t address McCoy’s arrival until February’s signing day.

“Every situation is unique,” Herman said at the time. “I applaud Bru and his courageousness to say, ‘Hey, this is not where my heart is, and I’m going to do something to change that.’ ”

Horace says his son had a great experience at Texas. He immersed himself in the culture in Austin. Longhorns fans welcomed him with excitement: He was the highest-rated player in their recruiting class, the cherry on top of an elite group of receiver signees.

McCoy received significant attention from the press, and the program devoted a lot of resources to him, particularly the compliance staffers who worked to get him immediately eligible for the 2019 season. By most accounts, he impressed during spring practice and was in line to receive playing time as a true freshman.

“(Texas) had a bunch of DBs that were part of a historic signing class that were now coming in their second year,” said USC safeties coach Craig Naivar, who spent 2017-19 in the same role at Texas. “Here comes five-star Bru jumping in, so they all wanted to take a shot at him and get after him, and he didn’t back down. That was impressive for a young guy coming in as a true freshman during spring ball. So that was what most impressed me. Those guys were taking shots at him every day, just to test his worth, for lack of a better term, and he got after it and competed.”

Shelby said she and Horace hadn’t really prepared for Bru to leave. Horace estimated that either he or Shelby visited Austin every three weeks or so last spring. Two weeks after he transferred, they helped him finish moving in. They saw him again at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala in early March. Horace went to a couple of practices and then with his father to the spring game. Shelby visited a couple of times with non-football reasons in mind.

“To be honest, that’s why I went because I felt something wasn’t right,” Shelby said. “We were like, ‘We’re coming next weekend. We’re going to check on you.’ He was quiet. He didn’t say much. He came home for spring break and he brought one of the boys from the team with him, and again, we didn’t get to have much of an in-depth conversation with him but I knew something wasn’t right. I had no idea he was going to say he wanted to come back, but we also told him it’s hard your first semester when you’re in a new place and you don’t know anybody on the team and you have to make new friends.”

“And it wasn’t homesickness for him,” Horace added. “If you say that to him about being homesick, that pisses him off in the worst way. ‘I wasn’t homesick.’ ”

“It was more you go somewhere and you realize …” Shelby said before Horace finished her sentence: “… I made the wrong decision. I’ve got to fix this.”

Of course, Horace and Shelby didn’t exactly know what was going through Bru’s head at the time, at least not the full extent of it. McCoy finished classes at Texas in late May and came back home while the football team was on break in between classes and summer workouts. Shelby went to go pick him up from the airport. Although Bru was only supposed to be home for a few days, Shelby noticed him carrying a bag that suggested he’d be there much longer.

“He had a lot of stuff with him,” Horace said. “Like, ‘Wait a minute, brother, you’re only here for four or five days.’ ”

The next day, McCoy approached his mother. “He was like, ‘I have to talk to you,’ ” Shelby said. “I’m like, ‘What?’ He’s like, ‘I’m not going back. I shouldn’t have left. I made a mistake.’ I was like, I don’t know if I could do this.”

At that point, Texas had already helped the family secure an attorney to facilitate McCoy’s immediate eligibility waiver with the NCAA, and the school had already begun building its case to try to get him on the field in the fall. Horace and Shelby were active in helping Texas with the waiver.

 

A Texas source confirms that WR Bru McCoy’s transfer eligibility waiver should be filed w/ NCAA this week. Horns taking their time, looking at other approvals and sharpening language of theirs.

 
 
 
 

 

“It got to the point where they were like, ‘Sign the paperwork,’ and he wouldn’t sign it,” Horace said. “He knew he was coming back. It was right around the time he was coming back. He didn’t want to submit the paperwork. He wasn’t telling us that. We didn’t know. I start getting phone calls, he’s home, ‘Hey, we just need him to sign the paperwork.’ I’m talking to Bru, and he’s like, ‘I’m not signing that paperwork. I’m telling you, Dad, I’m going back to SC.’ ”

Three more days passed before McCoy told Texas’ coaches. Shelby said she couldn’t eat or focus during that period. She knew the backlash that was coming. Bru would be transferring twice within a four-month span between two of the nation’s most avidly followed programs, all before he had played his first game.

“Part of me was like, ‘You have to stay. You have to stay and work it out. You can’t do this again,’ ” Shelby said. “Then part of me was like, ‘No. Come home. I want you home.’ At first, I was devastated. I was like, ‘Oh no, he’s coming back.’ And someone was like, ‘Is it a big deal because what everybody else thinks?’ I was like, ‘You’re right. Why is what everyone thinks going to control (your attitude)?’ Bru was big on that. … He was like, ‘I’m coming back and I don’t care what the backlash is.’ He said it’s worth it.”

The family had kept relatively quiet about the potential for a transfer back to USC. At the time, Trojans fans were keeping themselves busy with the rumors circulating about Chris Steele, a four-star corner in the 2019 recruiting cycle who had announced his decision to sign with Florida at the All-American Bowl the same day McCoy announced his first commitment to USC. Steele decided to transfer from Florida in May, and when it was time to pick a school, he initially committed to Oregon. But a few weeks later, there were whispers he could still end up at USC.

“We were like, ‘Oooh, good cover,’ ” Horace said. “So we kind of laid low.”

The news that McCoy was considering leaving Texas finally leaked on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Horace and Shelby were at dinner with friends in Manhattan Beach when Bru’s phone started buzzing. His parents told him he had to get out in front of this with the Texas coaches, out of respect to them.

The two sides talked over the phone, and that week the Longhorns deployed an impressive contingent to the McCoy household. Herman left a vacation in New York to see Bru. He was joined by Mehringer, director of player personnel Kevin Washington and quarterback Sam Ehlinger.

“Tell them how you feel. Tell them why,” Horace told his son. “You sat here with us for 10 days and explained it all. Give them the same. Give them the respect and the opportunity to make their pitch, but at the same time, give them the truth back.”

Texas emphasized that McCoy had a great opportunity to be on the field next year and that the things he initially loved about the program were still there. The Longhorns asked him to think about his decision for a couple more days. It wasn’t a contentious meeting. Shelby said the staff left with hugs.

But Texas’ effort still wasn’t enough to change McCoy’s mind. He was set on transferring back to USC.

“I’m like, ‘How do you know SC even wants you back?’ ” Horace said. “He said, ‘I don’t.’ ”

Shelby said that McCoy was confident enough in his relationship with Helton that he thought if he apologized, Helton would understand and welcome him back.

He had gotten some evidence to support that hunch back on national signing day. Herman spoke about McCoy that day, but so had Helton.

“I will say this about Bru. Phenomenal person. Phenomenal athlete,” Helton said at his news conference. “I can say this about him, he loved his time here at USC, He loved his teammates. The personal relationship that I will have with that young man will be for a lifetime with him and his family. … We wish him nothing but the best. It ended on really, really good terms, and that relationship will last a lifetime.”

Helton received criticism for those comments from Trojans fans, who were still angry about Texas swooping in and taking their highest-rated recruit. But those comments paid dividends in the long run. They sent a reassuring signal to the McCoys, letting them know it was going to be OK.

“You don’t realize that message got to us through the press,” Horace said. “It also got to Bru.”

Shelby added, “And Bru’s like, ‘I left that coach and he still has love for me. That’s who I want to be playing for.’ ”

McCoy announced he was leaving Texas on May 31 and entered the transfer portal. Horace said it was almost like the recruiting process all over again with the amount of people who reached out, but Bru was focused on USC, and shortly after he entered the portal, he got a call from Helton.

On June 11, USC announced the local star who had dreamed of playing for the Trojans his whole life was coming back to Los Angeles.

 

Of course, over that time McCoy had become the butt of many jokes and the target of a lot of frustration on social media. People were harassing Horace through text messages, DMs, his work email, his LinkedIn. Shelby would obsess over negative comments people left on Bru’s Instagram.

“I think that’s what I learned the most,” Shelby said. “(The outside opinion) doesn’t matter.”

The backlash was strong, and it was difficult to deal with.

“We circled the wagons, and it was us against the world,” Horace said. “That’s our kid, and I don’t give a damn what he did. You don’t know him, you don’t know what he’s put up with.”

“A lot of people (would be like) ‘I’m going to suck it up and be miserable,’ ” Shelby said. “He goes, ‘Why should I suck it up and be miserable for the next three years because of what people say about me?’ How many boys would do that?

“ ‘I want to come back. I don’t care about the hate. Call me whatever. Say I’m homesick. Say whatever. I’m coming back because I made a mistake and I’m going to fix my mistake.’ I was proud of him for that.”

After McCoy transferred back to USC, Horace and Shelby took a back seat when it came to trying to get him eligible for 2019. They knew he didn’t have much of an argument.

“As Bru always said, he earned it,” Horace said. “ ‘I earned the right to sit this year.’ He knew.”

Even if McCoy had been ruled immediately eligible, his freshman season would have been compromised by still-mysterious health issues. In mid-June, Shelby noticed that Bru had been sick for about three days.

“I was like, ‘Can you go to dinner for Father’s Day?’ ” Shelby said. “He was like, ‘I’ll try.’ And at the table (that night), he was like, ‘I have to go.’ ”

Sometime in between Texas and home, Bru had come down with mono. He also got strep throat, keeping him out of USC’s summer workouts until his fever subsided — except when he was finished with his antibiotics, the fever remained. Two more weeks passed, and Bru’s fever had stuck around for a month.

That’s when Horace and Shelby really became worried there was a more serious condition behind all this. On another trip to the doctor, McCoy tested positive for Legionella, which causes an illness similar to pneumonia. He was on another antibiotic for 14 days. At the end of July, his fever persisted.

Some days, Bru would feel good. In the morning he would run a fever, then during the day he’d feel better, and at night it would kick back up again. In search of solutions, his parents moved him out of his apartment because it had a high mold count. They put a HEPA air filter in his room. Bru went to the hospital for three days to rule out cancers.

“Then to read people doubting his sickness,” Horace said. “I’m like, ‘Dude, this is wrong.’ ”

To this day, Horace and Shelby still don’t know exactly what happened to their son. They get the sense his immune system was fighting everything, whether it was good or bad. In mid-September, McCoy resumed conditioning and slowly started making his way back to the field.

“Just imagine,” Horace said. “This kid’s transferred twice, shows back up, now he’s sick. Nobody could figure out what it is. Some programs would be like, ‘You know what? I’m done with this dude.’ SC stood in his corner and never doubted for a day, provided every resource they could find here in the city and across the country. … I’m so forever grateful to this program for that.”

In December, as USC was preparing for the Holiday Bowl, McCoy was a full participant in practice for the first time.

Sure, he still had to work to get his legs and conditioning back, but it offered a glimpse of what he has the potential to be.

“It’s kind of like getting a new toy at Christmas,” said offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, who had yet to see McCoy practice or play in person. “You get to kind of see something new and something different. It’s awesome to see. … When he goes, you can see why he’s so special. He has twitch. He’s a big body. … To have the skills and change direction and move like he does, it’s fun to watch. He’s going to be a special player here.”

If you had asked Horace and Shelby last January in San Antonio, as Bru was announcing his decision to attend USC, where they are right now is where they always thought they’d be.

They didn’t know the road here would be this wild. They didn’t anticipate the transfers. Or the illnesses. Or the redshirt season. But those things are behind them now.

“He doesn’t have that shoulda, coulda, woulda,” Shelby said. “He came back and has that true appreciation for California, and SC, and having his family close by. And everything you don’t know you’re missing ‘til you leave. And when you come back, you’re like, ‘No, no, no, I want to be right here.’ ”

Horace believes the past year has equipped his son with lessons on how to handle adversity and how to appreciate his health. It has also given Bru an appreciation for the ability to step on the field again.

On Wednesday, the public will finally get a glimpse of the player who represents the future of the receiver position for USC, the only five-star prospect to pick the Trojans in either of the past two recruiting cycles.

“There are a lot of guys who can run a fast 40 at a combine, but how fast can you play?” Colbert said. “When you cut the thinking out and you’re really on the field, some people can run a 4.3 when they’re on the track, but can you run a 4.3 when you play football? The thing with him is he plays at a very high level of speed and tempo. He’s very tough and strong in everything that he does.”

When McCoy came back, Colbert got the sense he felt bad about what he had done. But Colbert said the two just picked up where they left off. They didn’t talk about the transfer saga; they just moved forward and tried to get him caught up and ready to go.

He has had the time in Aaron Ausmus’ strength and conditioning program now. He has had plenty of time with Harrell’s playbook. All the comments that were written, the messages that were sent, the jokes that were made at his expense are in the past now.

There’s a reason both USC and Texas’ fan bases reacted so intensely after McCoy left: He’s an elite talent who has a chance to make an impact right away. Five-stars don’t grow on trees.

And now that the past is behind them, the McCoys can focus on the future.

“I feel like it’s his time to be like, it was worth the wait,” Shelby said. “We went through a lot, we came back, he’s been sick.

“That he was worth it, I just want him to show that.”

 

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closetojumping

closetojumping 63624

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13 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Like, ok. 

No, fuck that guy and his weak-willed mewling bullshit. Also, his mom is an enabler and played a role in all of this as a helicopter parent. Hell, it's there in the frigging write-up. I assume this guy is going to bust the minute he faces hardship on the field unless they coddle him with kid gloves. It should be entertaining to watch. I'll be happily cheering against him without a single moment of regret for being petty. 

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