He'll stop at nothing to boost the Trojans

From viral videos to fliers, Musselman strives to create buzz for basketball team.

- BY RYAN KARTJE

ERIC MUSSELMAN knows he must win, but the longtime coach also understands how to connect with fans.

(GINA FERAZZI Los Angeles Times)

One month before the start of his second season as USC's basketball coach, Eric Musselman stands at the edge of the Coliseum tunnel, dressed in full football uniform and helmet. When his moment arrives, the 5-foot-7 coach charges from the tunnel on cue, clad in full Trojans regalia, bursting with energy as if it were game day. “Let’s go! Let’s go!” he yells.

Except, the stadium is empty. USC’s football team is on the road. Musselman takes off his helmet and looks around confused. And then, the camera cuts.

The joke lands — even if his teenage daughter, Mariah, might disagree. The video does well on social media too. And it’s aggregated online with headlines such as “Muss Posts Another Hilarious Video.” It even gets Lincoln Riley's attention.

“Muss is great,” the USC football coach said soon after. “He does some things I wish I could get myself to do.”

Who knows if it will bring even one more fan to Galen Center when USC opens its season against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Monday. But Musselman, who has an entire library of similar Instagram clips, is pleased. After a debut season spent finding his bearings at USC, the fiery coach made it clear he felt he and his staff didn’t do enough to promote the Trojans’ basketball program. Average attendance at Galen Center fell to just over 5,000 per night last season, down from more than 6,000 in the final year of the Andy Enfield era. An inconsistent 17-18 finish didn’t help.

Winning, of course, is the simplest way to solve that problem. Musselman has made clear he understands that. But he has also been in L.A. long enough to understand that winning alone isn’t necessarily enough.