Chris Claiborne can鈥檛 seem to get away from USC
LOS ANGELES (BVM) 鈥� During a season unlike any other, Chris Claiborne has found a new beginning coaching at the collegiate level with the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans.
Football has always been a big part of Claiborne鈥檚 life. Picking up a football for the first time at age 4, he has always had a knack for the sport. At his young age, he started with the Riverside Junior Tackle Football League, and moved up from there.
By the end of his high school career, Claiborne had secured several Division I offers as a linebacker. He narrowed it down to his top two schools: Notre Dame and USC. Claiborne had always wanted to be a part of the Fighting Irish, but ultimately decided to play for the Trojans.
It appears he made the right choice.
鈥淯SC was definitely my favorite team to play for,鈥� Claiborne said. 鈥淭he NFL had its moments, but there鈥檚 nothing like college football.鈥�
Claiborne had quite the collegiate career, making the Freshman All-American first-team in 1996 and the All-Pac-10 first-team the year after. His junior year he was a team captain, an All-American, the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and the Trojans鈥� first and only Butkus Award winner. Throughout his time at USC, he recorded over 300 tackles, with almost 30 of them for losses.
After three seasons as a starter on the Trojans, Claiborne decided he was ready to declare for the NFL draft. He recalls getting his coach鈥檚 full support and as someone who is very forward thinking, Claiborne knew it was time to compete at the next level.
Getting selected in the first round as the ninth overall pick of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions was an honor for him. In his eight seasons, he also played for the Minnesota Vikings, St. Louis Rams and the New York Giants.
Following his time in the NFL, he started a 7-on-7 team called the Frat Boyz. The team allowed high school boys in his hometown to get more exposure to the game. The Frat Boyz also helped Claiborne by developing his skills as a coach while giving him the opportunity to approach a lot of unseen talent.
A few years later, he was ready to truly begin coaching. He started at Corona High School and later moved to Oaks Christian High School before landing a job as the Calabasas High School defensive coordinator in 2014. That year, Calabasas was going through a lot of staffing changes, as well as departures from key players. Their starters were young, and they went 6-6. After intense training, and coaching to every detail, the team won the championship title in 2015. Claiborne was later promoted to head coach in 2018. In the 2019 season, they not only won the league title, but also appeared in the CIF Division I playoffs. At the same time, he returned to USC to finish his schooling, receiving his bachelor鈥檚 degree in 2019.
Earlier this year, Claiborne stepped down from his position at Calabasas to join Clay Helton鈥檚 staff at USC as the Offensive Quality Control Analyst. Unfortunately, Claiborne鈥檚 first season back at his alma mater has been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, the Pac-12 voted to start the football season on Nov. 6, after previously deciding on a Jan. 1 start.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been crazy, you know, this season isn鈥檛 normal, but we鈥檙e just adapting and being patient,鈥� Claiborne said of the situation.
Claiborne continues to look fondly back on his memories at USC as a player, but now he begins a new chapter as part of the coaching staff. He is excited to see what this season, and his future, holds and believes the Trojans have some big successes in store.
鈥淵ou just gotta keep looking forward,鈥� Claiborne said. 鈥淢aybe the next thing you hear [about me] is that I鈥檓 at the Rose Bowl.鈥�
