Spring check-ins: Riley tries to fight on

USC started so well in the Lincoln Riley era and fell off so hard. Does he have them back on their feet for 2025 or will it be another "mid" season?

USC was quietly pretty good last year.

The 7-6 record didn’t suggest an amazing team, but they did finish 14th in offensive FEI and 33rd in defensive FEI, both solid marks.

After the season the NFL took just three Trojans in the Draft and the transfer portal took a few more, including starting quarterback Miller Moss.

Moss proved to be a few laws safe but did not give Riley the value-add as a true dual-threat that his better quarterbacks have tended to bring. Riley’s system just doesn’t work the same without a quarterback who can run. Miller Moss was arguably better than Spencer Rattler but ended up with some similarly unimpressive results because the offense lacked explosive punch.

For 2025 it’s Jayden Maiava, who’s not terribly well known or feared at quarterback, some other players you may not have heard of, another round of transfers, and a new program with Rob Ryan at co-defensive coordinator and new strength coach Trumaine Carroll. That last one may be pretty big, as the previous strength coach Benny Wylie was notoriously adverse to having players lift heavy or imposing a demanding offseason culture.

Carroll has the opposite reputation as I understand it. He came up under Rob Glass (Ok State) as a player, then spent a fair amount of time at K-State. In the martial game of football, having guys in your program that can hold the 18-23 year old young men to account and impose discipline is essential to high level winning. Especially in a glitzy program like USC located in sunny Los Angeles.

There are other things that can help too with which I bet Carroll has some familiarity.

Let’s see if they can start to turn the tide out there.