For the coaches at San Clemente High, it is becoming a harder comparison to make: Sam Darnold to Jack Sears. One is a starter in the NFL, a newly-minted $50-million man. The other skateboards back and forth from class to the McKay Center and is preparing to make his first start for the USC Trojans on Saturday against Arizona State at the Coliseum.
But one thing sticks out to Tritons coach Jaime Ortiz and offensive coordinator Troy Kopp when thinking about the two young men who lifted their program to heights previously unseen: They were playmakers first and had to learn to be quarterbacks.