Frontier's Darr switching from USC to Fresno St.
| Monday, Feb 01 2010 10:54 PM
Last Updated Monday, Feb 01 2010 11:04 PM
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Casey Christie / The Californian Frontier High Titan football player, Matt Darr.
Most high school kids spend their lunch breaks sipping bottled soft drinks or flirting or -- just maybe -- studying.
Matt Darr spent his Monday at Frontier making the biggest decision of his life all over again.
Darr, ranked as the nation's No. 1 punting recruit by Scout.com, called USC on his lunch break Monday to decline its scholarship offer. Instead, he said, he'll sign with Fresno State at an 11:45 a.m. signing party at Frontier on Wednesday.
"It all just kind of came together," Darr said. "It seems like it's really almost a slam dunk. (FSU) has a great academic program that fits my interest in agriculture, a really good special teams coach (John Baxter) and of course, coach (Pat) Hill is just an amazing guy."
What Darr declined was a chance to play for one of college football's bluebloods, a USC program that has won 11 national titles and produced 78 consensus All-Americans. Darr verbally committed to USC and coach Pete Carroll last June, but that tie was shaken in January when Carroll left the school to coach the Seattle Seahawks.
At the time, Darr was at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio.
"I think the most disappointing part was during the Army All-American Bowl while I got the news that Pete Carroll was leaving and taking most of his staff with him," Darr said.
Darr initially had trouble contacting the new USC coach Lane Kiffin and his staff, and Darr said he didn't receive any contact from them for more than a week. In the meantime, he re-opened his recruitment and also entertained scholarship offers from Arizona State and Northwestern. Kiffin's staff eventually told him a USC scholarship was still on the table, too.
Until Monday, that is. Darr said the USC coaches were "pretty upset" when he told them the news.
"I think everything happens for a reason," Darr said. "I think I'll end up at Fresno State for all the right reasons, and make the most out of my experience there."
Two outgoing Bulldogs, West High products Ryan Mathews and A.J. Jefferson, were both invited to the NFL Combine on Monday. They'll have their chance to impress pro scouts in Indianapolis at the end of the month. Mathews led the nation in rushing this past fall as a junior, then declared for the NFL Draft, which is April 22-24 in New York.
