Ricky Bell became franchise-changing No. 1 NFL draft pick from USC
Ricky Bell is a member of a select USC football club: the No. 1 picks the Trojans earned in the NFL draft over the years
USC football has a rich and extensive NFL draft history. One of the No. 1 picks produced by the Trojans at the NFL draft is Ricky Bell, taken with the No.
1 pick in the 1977 NFL draft. The story of Ricky Bell landing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is fascinating for a number of reasons, the chief one being that Bell was able to reunite with his first college head coach. Bell was coached by John Robinson at USC in 1976, nearly winning the Heisman Trophy but being beaten by Tony Dorsett of Pittsburgh.
Bell led USC to a Pacific-8 Conference championship, a Rose Bowl berth, and a No. 2 season-ending national ranking. Before he was coached by Robinson in 1976, however, Bell was guided by John McKay, who left USC after the 1975 season to coach the expansion Buccaneers, who joined the NFL alongside the Seattle Seahawks in the 1976 season.
John McKay had the first pick in 1977, so he naturally took a Trojan whom he knew well. Ricky Bell was not a Hall of Famer, but he was not a bust, either. Ricky Bell did change the trajectory of the Bucs franchise.