Max Tuerk’s time at USC turned out to be four years of unrelenting change. But Max never did.
Max died suddenly, unexpectedly and almost beyond-words sadly on a family hike Saturday “on a favorite trail” in the Cleveland National Forest, his family said.
Max was as sweet a soul the day he walked into USC in 2012 as one of the nation’s top high school prospects out of Santa Margarita Catholic High School as he was the day he walked out in 2015, although unfortunately with a bit of a limp after tearing his ACL five games into his senior season.
Max started 38 straight games at USC at four different positions – five at left tackle, 14 at left guard, 18 at center and one at right tackle -- in his four seasons at USC. Not sure any Trojan O-lineman ever did that although it’s not one of those stats that you’ll find in the record book.
And as crazy as it sounds, and as much as I can’t name the game, I recall USC lining him up once – no idea who he was playing for when that happened – at tight end. Max laughed at that.
And yeah, there’s a reason you wouldn’t know right away who would have been Max’s head coach then. He played for four of them at USC – Lane Kiffin, Ed Orgeron, Clay Helton and Steve Sarkisian. Again, doubt many have played for more.
Max Tuerk with that smile every Trojan remembers.
But nothing seemed to discombulate Max. He was who he was from Day 1 to his last day at USC. It was like you can take the kind out of Trabuco Canyon but you can’t take Trabuco Canyon out of the kid.
“This is awful,” Kiffin tweeted Sunday on learning of Max’s way-too-early passing at the age of 26. “So sad. Praying for family and friends. I always loved Max and one of my favorites. #FightOnForever, Max!!!!”
And yet, with all those position changes, all those coaching changes, one thing never changed. There’s a word that says it for Max, and about him. That word is “love” as anyone who ever knew him will tell you. He loved the guys he played with and the coaches he played for. And the game he played. It could not have been more obvious.
Kiffin was one of many to use it when talking about Max. Helton added this: “Heartbroken by the loss of Max Tuerk,” he tweeted. “Incredible person, teammate and Trojan. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”
But his family said it best in a Sunday statement.
“Max loved his teammates, coaches and schools,” the Tuerks said. “Max was a loving son and older brother and his passing leaves a giant hole in our hearts. His strength and work ethic is an inspiration to many.”
A giant hole in all our hearts. I’ll never forget that every single time I asked to talk to Max after practice in his four years, he’d have this terrific “aw shucks” grin on his face that said “Are you sure you want to talk to me?”
Not because he didn’t want to talk. He was a natural conversationalist. He just didn’t want to be the center of attention. But it was hard not to be when you’re the first freshman ever to start at left tackle for USC. And a Freshman All-American to boot. And the first USC freshman to start at either tackle in a dozen years.
But when USC needed a center, Max said sure. No problem. And as USC fans know, that’s often not the case. Playing center doesn’t come naturally. Although with Max, everything pretty much did. You need me to play center? I’ve got it. No big deal.
Even if it was. Max made it look easy, well, all the switching back and forth part of it. Although playing O-line is never easy. Especially for all those different coaches.
Just checked out my preseason analysis for 2015, Max’s senior season: “Max Tuerk is the kind of center and leader a young offensive line like USC's needs. Someone to look up to and listen to and follow. From the little things -- or maybe not so little -- like eating 12,000 calories a day to get his 6-foot-5 frame up to 295 pounds to his calling the signals or all the snapping work Max has done with roommate Cody Kessler, the preseason All-American in the middle is exactly what the doctor ordered for a team with no other seniors in their final season.”
Damien Mama, now on the USC staff but then two years behind Max on the O-line, agreed in our USCFootball.com preview. “This is his last go around, so he’s holding all of us accountable. He’s the only senior in the group, so he took that role even last year. You should see him in our meetings. He’ll call anything. He knows everything. The defense rotates, he’ll call it.”
The ACL injury after five games changed that. But didn’t change Max. No one cheered his guys on more than Max as USC changed head coaches from Sark to Clay to finish out the season. And even though we thought he was going higher, Max did get picked No. 66 in the third round of the NFL draft by the Chargers.
He would have the blessing of his junior year O-line coach Tim Drevno. “My thoughts and prayers are with the Tuerk family through these trying times,” Drevno tweeted. “Max was an unbelievable player, leader and teammate. He embodied what it is to be a Trojan! I was honored to coach and be around such an amazing spirit!”
But his NFL career isn’t what the USC family will remember Max for. Like when we asked him his senior season goal: “To win a Pac-12 championship, that’s it,” Max said in his perfect Max voice. That’s who he was. No individual goals. Just a win for the team.
That’s why he had so little problem sliding from left tackle to left guard to right tackle to center, wherever he was needed. He’d do everything to make sure he’d do what USC needed him to.
His teammates knew that better than anyone. “Just got some terrible news,” Dion Bailey tweeted. “Damn, man, RIP Max Tuerk! Gone too soon.”
“I thought 2020 couldn’t get much worse," Kris Albarado added. "#RIP to one of the most passionate teammates.”
Connor Spears summed up his teammates' sense of loss: "Stunned. Gone way too soon. Max was an incredible teammate and one of the greatest leaders I was fortunate enough to play alongside," Connor tweeted. "Rest easy, Max. You’ll be missed."
*** To contact Dan Weber, email weber@USCFootball.com.
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Max Tuerk: There's a hole in all our hearts - 247Sports
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