Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt felt USC struggled to find some kind of identity under Lincoln Riley following the coach’s first year with the program. But there’s some quiet confidence going into 2025 and beyond to bring the Trojans back to the top of the college football world. So while the expectations are tepid for Riley […]
Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt felt USC struggled to find some kind of identity under Lincoln Riley following the coach’s first year with the program. But there’s some quiet confidence going into 2025 and beyond to bring the Trojans back to the top of the college football world.
So while the expectations are tepid for Riley and USC right now, Klatt might be a little more bullish on them compared to others. If they start to fix their issues that have plagued them for years, perhaps USC surprises some this year.
NIL is a big factor too and perhaps a different distribution of funds will fix things as well. Klatt broke it all down Tuesday.
“I think that they struggled in particular right after their first year, because of identity,” Klatt said on The Herd. “They didn’t know how they wanted to handle NIL, they paid a lot of players that were, let’s face it, skill position players. They needed to get better on the line of scrimmage, and then I don’t think that they recruited as well as they should have. I think that they got caught in terms of who was handling NIL, how it was going, too many cooks in the kitchen-type of a deal. But now what you’re starting to see, I think, is a little bit more solid footing.
Lincoln Riley, USC due for bounce back season?
“If you look at next year’s recruiting rankings, a lot of people have USC at number one summit number two in the country for next year’s high school recruiting rankings. And Colin, I actually believe that this is a team now I don’t have them in my top 25 as well, they were just on the outside. I think it’s a team that could win eight or nine games and take a step forward. If you look at their schedule, they’ve got a couple of big ones, and then specifically against a top 25 team on the road, Illinois. If they beat Illinois, then watch out. I think USC can have a really good year. And quietly, Lincoln Riley has been confident this offseason.”
If Riley and the Trojans are to have more success than in previous years, QB Jayden Maiava will be the centerpiece of that formula. He recently shared some advice given to him by Riley.
“He’s told me a lot of great things,” Maiava said. “Every time he talks, I’m all ears. So I think one thing I can just stand on right now is, he’s really big on me taking it one day at a time, and being consistent with that and staying disciplined with it.”
Maiava recorded 1,201 passing yards and 11 touchdowns, compared to six interceptions. USC won in three of Maiava’s four starts and nearly defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who went on to be the national runner-ups.
Category: General Sports
