Silas Redd Rumors: USC Might Force Walk-On To Give Up Scholarship

So Michael Lev of the Orange County Register has been doing some USC scholarship math with regards to the Silas Redd situation, and he is seeing something that might make Trojan fans a little uneasy: 76 scholarships for 75 players. However, he's done some reporting and it appears that there could be some self-sacrifice in order to make room for Redd in this situation. Find out more about the story after the jump.

One possible solution to the problem is asking a former walk-on now on scholarship to surrender said scholarship for the 2012-13 academic year.

I recently spoke to one of those candidates. I will not reveal his identity because our discussion took place off the record. But here’s the gist of what he had to say regarding the possibility of losing his scholarship:

The player said he would be "heartbroken" if it came to that because he had worked so hard to earn the scholarship. However, when the player initially received it, Kiffin explained that it was a year-to-year deal and that the player might have to give it back if USC’s roster limitations left no other recourse.

Before everyone goes on a Lane Kiffin-bashing crusade (and yes, it can be very easy to go down that route given Kiffin's recruiting history), the debate about a walk-on giving up a scholarship is a difficult one, because situations are different depending on the player. Some players who are walk-ons receiver provisional scholarships that come on a one-year basis to fill up the rosters with 85 or 75 or whatever the limits are for the team. Others receive full scholarship status after proving that they've become capable football players in the rotation.

So it's quite possible that if a scholarship is given up by any of the Kiffin players, it's part of a given arrangement that was already agreed upon between player and coach. The player might have agreed to a scholarship given there was space for him to have a scholarship, but knew the potential risks given the limits Kiffin would have to work with.

Choose this witch hunt carefully.