The story of Mitch Mustain's short college football career is fit for a soap opera.
A star at Springdale High School, Mustain had every major football program at his beck and call. Schools like Tennessee, Notre Dame and Alabama were itching at the prospect of landing what looked to be the quarterback of the future.
Everything changed when his high school coach Gus Malzahn was hired to run the offense at Arkansas. Malzahn ran a wide-open, no-huddle offense that attracted a ton of talent to Fayetteville. In 2006, the Razorbacks recruited eight wide receivers including two from Mustain's high school team. Ben Cleveland, Mustain's tight end in high school, switched his commitment from Florida to Arkansas after both his coach and quarterback announced they'd be Hogs.
Things in Fayetteville looked perfect, for the most part. Arkansas was winning (a lot). Mustain was the starting quarterback. Cleveland and freshman receiver from Springdale, Damian Williams (also a prized recruit), were catching passes. But there was no spread offense. However, it isn't exactly easy to run a pass-heavy spread when you have Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, arguably the best backfield tandem in the country, itching for carries.
The newcomers were getting impatient. A book was published quoting Mustain in 2005 saying he'd be more inclined to Arkansas if Houston Nutt were fired. Shortly after, Mustain was no longer starting football games, despite an 8-0 record when stepping on the field for the first series.
It became worse. Before the bowl game, Williams bolted for USC. Two weeks after the bowl game, Malzahn was out for Tulsa to implement his offense. The following day, Mustain requested the permission to explore transferring, which he was granted. Four months later, Arkansas is a distant memory.
There's much more to the story at Arkansas that we may never know. The closed-door meetings, the emails and phone calls exchanged, boosters weighing in, parents making demands, etc. may all remain part of a dark chapter in Arkansas football that'll go unread.
Either way, Mustain is now part of a recent lineage that's much larger than him. If you're the quarterback of USC, you're competing for a Heisman and every championship attainable. The competition won't be easy: exit Booty after this season, enter Mark Sanchez - as highly touted as Mustain coming out of high school.
Either way, I was able to get a few minutes on the phone with Mustain to talk about his change in scenery.
Newsday: How long have you been in Los Angeles and how do you like it so far?
Mustain: I got here two weeks Saturday. I've been here six or seven times before, so I'm pretty familiar with it and I like the area and look forward to my time here.
Newsday: What'd you and coach Carroll talk about before you picked a school?
Mustain: It's kind of a long deal. He came in January or February and we talked. I told him why I was leaving Arkansas and what I was looking for. He explained what he had in mind for me and we stayed in touch after that.
Newsday: What other schools did you look at in the process?
Mustain: I didn't look at many. I contacted the ones I was interested in. Tulsa, with coach Malzahn being there, and USC. Those were the options I looked at most. I also looked back to two years ago and considered those schools, but I didn't feel they were best [then and now].
Newsday: What went into your decision?
Mustain: There's a lot of things. Some were off the field, some were on. I was just ready to move on. I sat around and thought about it. I just wanted to get away and start over. I enjoy coach Carroll and coach Sarkisian [the offensive coordinator], and I know they will provide the best opportunity to succeed both on and off the field.
Newsday: How is it being away from home?
Mustain: It's fine with me. I've traveled a lot over the last three years and I've seen a lot of places. However, I do love where I'm from, but like I said, it's time to move on. I love it out here in L.A. I don't regret moving here.
Newsday: How will you do without your Coach Malzahn?
Mustain: I think I'll do fine, I hope I will. It's something I'm confident in with coach Sarkisian and coach Carroll and my abilities to learn. [Leaving coach Malzahn] is something I wouldn't have done if I didn't feel confident in myself.
Newsday: How'd your Arkansas teammates take the news?
Mustain: A lot of them understood. I'm real close to a lot of the guys I came in with and a lot of the older guys, too. I don't think they had a problem with it because they understand and they go through the same stuff. When someone makes a decision, the guys are behind them.
Newsday: How would you classify your relationship with Coach Nutt?
Mustain: I'm not going into that.
Newsday: I know the lore of the SEC women and I know the lore of the Southern California women. Care to compare?
Mustain: [laughs] It's a little bit of a different scene. Not many of the people are on campus yet, but I think I will miss the girls back South.