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USC is happy with 'mad scientist' John Baxter's special teams creations

USC special teams coach John Baxter studies an opponent’s punts and kicks like a hacker probing a computer network. A few weeks ago, he discovered a vulnerability in Arizona’s punt protection and designed a specific play to exploit it.

There was limited time to practice the play, and on the first repetition, the key player, Jabari Ruffin, was lined up in the wrong gap. Baxter watched and stewed. Ruffin was blowing it.

Baxter told him as much. Ruffin was destroying the entire play, he screamed, loudly, in front of the entire team.

Bluntness is typical of Baxter’s style.