When USC coach Lincoln Riley met with each of his wide receivers last week, he knew there might be some unrest.
This season had not gone as hoped for most of the Trojans’ talented receivers. USC’s passing attack took a significant step back. Explosive actions disappeared from the offense. And until Makai Lemon ran down the stretch and finished with a team-leading 665 yards, none of USC’s vaunted quartet of sophomores took the steps forward they should have. Some even quietly blamed this fact on Riley’s insistence on rotating receivers frequently rather than leaning on a few.
But as USC’s young wideouts weighed last week whether to stay or enter the transfer portal, Riley insisted Thursday he had no intention of convincing a receiver to stay. He simply looked for ‘alignment’ between players and his plans at the position.
The school and its high-flying offense, he argued, should be compelling enough.
Read more: UCLA and USC football transfer portal tracker: Who’s in and who’s leaving?
“Each player is going to look at their own situation and decide if they think that’s appropriate,” Riley said. “And so you try not to get too attached to it. It’s just the world we’re in now. I mean, there’s not a lot of convincing. I mean, the history of receivers at this school, our history of receivers, our history of throwing the ball at this school, there’s really no better place to play it.
“It’s just more of finding alignment, looking at guys’ progression, making sure we feel like it fits what we need to keep moving forward and getting better.”
Whether that kind of pitch still works in the portal era, when players are presumably looking more for name, image and licensing payoffs than a tradition of glory, remains to be seen. Some in the USC reception room have already proven that they are not aligned with Riley and his plans.
Senior Kyron Hudson was the first to announce he was entering the portal last week, shortly after meeting Riley, while former five-star Duce Robinson joined him on Tuesday, robbing the Trojans of two of their top five receivers.
Read more: USC coach Lincoln Riley suggests there is no need to panic with Trojans shopping the portal
Robinson’s entry into the portal was particularly shocking, given his extraordinary equipment (at 6-foot-4) and the fact that he had established himself as the Trojans’ top threat on the field. His decision, according to a person familiar with his thinking, did not come down to a potential NIL windfall elsewhere, like so many others in the portal. USC also did not want to fall short.
His decision, the person said, stemmed primarily from concerns about his development under Riley and wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons.
Robinson played just 332 snaps this season, fifth among Trojans wideouts, and was targeted just 46 times. He wasn’t the only one who seemed to have a problem in his development either. Zachariah Branch, who was expected to become more of a complete receiver as a sophomore, regressed into a new role, while Ja’Kobi Lane blew up early in the season, recording just two catches per game over the final two-thirds of the game. season.
Lemon, who has caught at least six passes in four of USC’s last eight games, wasn’t surprised to see Robinson and Hudson in the portal.
“No, not really,” he said. “They are great players. Wish them the best of luck.”
Riley defended the group’s progress when pressure came on this week. He said his receivers have “made some big improvements” over the course of the season and expects his wide rotation to “get a little bit smaller,” addressing a point of contention among players.
Whether Robinson and Hudson would have fit into USC’s offense the same way we will never know. Riley suggested “tough decisions” had to be made when it came to retaining players.
“The reality is there are just some guys that you just can’t or won’t pay what they want,” Riley said Monday during a radio appearance on USC’s “Trojans Live.” “If your value doesn’t match the money, then it won’t last much longer, it won’t go any further. There’s a cutthroat element to that that’s just part of being a professional organization, and again, that’s what we’re becoming.”
Riley was asked Thursday whether Robinson and Hudson’s departures were the result of “difficult decisions” he and his staff made. He declined to comment on either.
“This is college football now,” Riley said. “There are going to be tough decisions to be made on both sides, so you can’t get too emotionally attached to it. They’re going to happen. Teams are going to adapt, players are going to adapt and everyone is going to move on. And that’s just the way the world goes.”
Uncertainty in the offensive line
Left tackle Elijah Paige started this season as the young man on USC’s offensive line. As far as the bowl game goes, he might be the Trojans’ most seasoned veteran.
That depends on threatening decisions from center Jonah Monheim and left guard Emmanuel Pregnon. Both accepted invitations to all-star events and plan to declare for the draft, but have not confirmed whether they plan to opt out of the bowl game.
Read more: USC and Lincoln Riley save challenging signing day by landing Jahkeem Stewart
The expectation is that they will. And when they do, Paige and guard Alani Noa will be surrounded by a number of new faces, many of whom haven’t played much, if at all. Killian O’Connor, the likely fill-in at center, played just 33 snaps this season and 54 last season, while freshmen Tobias Raymond (84 snaps) and Justin Tauanuu (16) will likely compete for the right tackle position in place of Mason Murphy. who entered the portal.
Guard is now a mystery to everyone. Of those still on the roster, only Kaylon Miller (six snaps) and walk-on Jack Susjnar (one) received playing time this season.
“I have a lot of confidence in those guys,” Paige said.
Looking for linebacker coaching
Following the departure of linebackers coach Matt Entz, who accepted a head coaching job at Fresno State in early December, Riley said Thursday that USC is “pretty well along in the process” of finding his replacement.
“I’d say we’re busy,” Riley said, “but we’re not in a rush.”
Riley said he is starting to conduct “more in-depth interviews and visits” with potential candidates. During bowl season, USC’s linebackers will be overseen by defensive assistant Bryson Allen-Williams, who Riley said is “going to be a star in this business.”
Czalicki wins top honors
USC’s Eddie Czaplicki won the Ray Guy Award, given to the nation’s best punter, during the College Football Awards Show on Thursday evening. He is the first USC player to win the award. Czaplicki previously earned first-team All-Big Ten honors and was named Big Ten Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year.
USC ranks first in the nation in net punting (45.54 yards). Czaplicki leads the country in number of bettors within 20 for bettors with at least 30 attempts. Twenty-four of his kicks were in the 20s, nine in the 10s and four in the fives. He recorded just one touchback all season.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
