Add The California Post on Google If you didn’t know any better, you’d think a fighter jet had just buzzed USC’s football practice field.
That’s how loud the new sound system is, designed to simulate crowd noise at eardrum-shattering decibels.
It actually might sound more deafening than what the Trojans experience on game day.
“Once we heard the speakers go on,” cornerback Jontez Williams said, “man, that thing was loud — it was louder than a real stadium.”
USC center Tobias Raymond said the team’s new sound system at its practice field is so loud that he feels bad for anyone having a class nearby. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The new system uses three loudspeakers attached to light poles at each corner of the practice field, replacing the old portable speakers that didn’t pack the same wallop.
“From what we were using before to now, it’s like going from the minor to the major leagues,” said coach Lincoln Riley, who provided input on a sound system that was part of broader upgrades with the new $200 million Bloom Football Performance Center.
“So it’s a huge advantage for us, it helps recreate both as the Coliseum has ramped back up and we’ve had some awesome home-field advantages, it gets us ready for that, and going on the road to some of these Big Ten venues, it’s been super helpful.”
A word of warning to anyone experiencing the system who thinks they’ve heard it all — Riley said his players have only experienced it at 70% power.
The Trojans might want to save 100% for the week before they head to face Penn State on Oct. 10.
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava said the team’s new crowd noise system at its practice field “sharpens our communication with each other.” AP Photo/Kyusung Gong Center Tobias Raymond said he felt sorry for anyone trying to concentrate in classes nearby. Safety Christian Pierce said he had trouble hearing a teammate next to him.
“I had to scream in his ears,” Pierce said, “so I feel like it really could help us in the season because I believe crowds could be that loud, and I think it really resembles game-time situations.”
A crowd’s din typically disrupts the offense more than the defense, though Raymond said that wasn’t the case with the previously used noise system.
“You [didn’t] have to get to the point where you yell at the person next to you, like you’re leaning right, leaning left making sure everybody knows the calls,” Raymond said. “These things are a lot louder, for sure.”
It’s no exaggeration to say that the system sounds like a jet.
“Yeah, it’s like, wait,” linebacker Desman Stephens II said, looking over his head as if seeking the source of the racket.
Said Riley: “It’s got some real power. Operating in those moments and players being used to it is a real thing and the more you can recreate that stuff, the more prepared they’re going to be, so I think our guys — especially our guys who have played in some big road venues, the value of that versus what we were using before, I mean, it’s pretty apparent to everybody on the field right now, so an awesome thing and I’m glad we did it, it turned out tremendous.”
Perhaps no one will benefit more than quarterback Jayden Maiava, who must communicate his intentions to the rest of the offense no matter how much noise is ringing in his ears.
“I think it’s going to build our confidence and we’re going to play in loud environments, play on the road,” Maiava said, “and we’ve got to be able to lock in in those moments, and I think it sharpens our communication with each other.”
