USC training camp preview: Defensive evolution continues under Gary Patterson
The foundation for the Trojans’ defense began with new coaches and transfers, making the next month a critical proving ground
Trojan LB Desman Stephens II celebrates against IOWA in the second half Nov. 15, 2025, at the L.A. Coliseum. USC won 26-21. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Haley Sawyer (OC Register) — USC’s defensive overhaul began in the spring and continued in the summer.
When training camp gets underway, the Trojans will see if the changes will be effective enough to create a defense that complements the offense and helps get them to their first College Football Playoff appearance.
New defensive coordinator Gary Patterson and two new position coaches were tasked with shaking up a defense that allowed an average of 350.8 yards per game last season. By the end of spring practice, Patterson had expected to start breaking down the first eight opponents of the season so that preparation can be more intentional in the fall.
Patterson has made simple changes in language to help players learn play calls and added a white vertical stripe to helmets to track eye movement. The building blocks are there, and fall is the time when USC will see if it’s leading to success.
“It’s a mix of a bunch of things,” linebacker Desman Stephens II told reporters after a spring practice. “Coach Patterson, constant drill work with (linebackers) Coach (Mike Ekeler) coming in as well, just nailing down the basics. That’s been great for us. I feel like all that has helped our eye discipline and technique.”
Developing talent to create depth will also be critical to the Trojans’ defense this season. They already loaded up with some key transfers to pair up with returners at the top of the depth chart.
Redshirt senior defensive tackle Alex VanSumeran transferred from Michigan State and brings experience as well as grittiness. Redshirt junior linebacker Deven Bryant came in from Washington and brings consistency, and Penn State transfer Zuriah Fisher, a redshirt senior defensive end, adds aggression.
Kam Crawford (#1) and Braylan Shelby return as flourishing pass rushers and Jide Abisiri is primed for a standout season in the trenches after playing in 13 games, with nine starts, and recording 26 total tackles, four tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks as a sophomore.
Sophomore defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart (97) is also expected to be healthy for fall camp after playing with a broken foot as a hotly recruited freshman last season.
USC has two former five-star recruits on defense to refine before its Aug. 29 season opener against San Jose State: 6-foot-6, 265-pound edge rusher Luke Wafle and 6-3, 320-pound defensive lineman Jaimeon Winfield.
If it all comes together, USC will be able to stop the run much better than it has in recent years. The Trojans ranked 12th out of 18 Big Ten teams in rushing defense last season, allowing 143.2 yards on the ground per game.
“We have a lot of checks and just different things that we get into when we think that they’re about to run the ball to just give us the best odds to go against the run,” Stephens said. “I’ve been liking the new scheme and how he’s been doing things.”
The secondary wasn’t neglected in USC’s defensive makeover, either. The Trojans brought in eight new cornerbacks through the transfer portal and the 2026 signing class combined and added a new safeties/defensive passing game coordinator in Paul Gonzales.
Gonzales was a graduate assistant to Patterson at TCU for three years and a full-time assistant for 10 years. That synchronization between the two coaches could create harmony between the trenches and the secondary in a conference that loves to run the ball – and hard.
“The No. 1 thing with Coach is we’ve got to have guys that can run, that can cover,” Gonzales told reporters in mid-February. “They’re going to be physical because that’s what’s going to be asked of them.”
The Trojans will get a boost in the cornerback room now that Prophet Brown and Chasen Johnson are healthy. The addition of redshirt senior Iowa State transfer Jontez Williams could create an interesting position battle.
Christian Pierce and Kennedy Urlacher are the upperclassmen in the safety room and strong contenders to be at the top of the depth chart, regardless of which defensive scheme Patterson chooses.
Patterson is known for creating the 4-2-5 defense, but he’s insisted that the scheme doesn’t define him. He hasn’t coached a game since 2021, serving as a consultant for Texas and Baylor since then, and has had plenty of time to dream up new combinations and tricks.
In what absloutely needs to be a pivotal season for the USC defense, hard work and a little imagination could be the main ingredients of fall camp.
“I laugh because people go online and they see my teaching tapes,” Patterson said. “Well, I made those in 1998.
“Everybody says, ‘Well, we know how Coach P plays the 4-2-5.’ No, not really. There’s some things that are a little bit the same … but when you stay somewhere 25 years, you have to be able to evolve. And so, we’ve evolved.”
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Can anyone say this 2026 team doesn’t have enough athletic talent to match the top conference teams on our schedule? But talent alone won’t win games. It’s coaching that puts the talent in the positions to make plays? It’s coaching that drills into a player’s head what to look for as signs before a play begins and instantly react which was a major issue last season. That and effective communication from the sideline & among the players themselves? With a definite trained eye that Gary Patterson certainly has, watching tapes of previous games he had to have been appalled at… Read more »
Getting 11 men on the field for special teams play might be a sign of improved communication. Instantly reacting is good, anticipating, knowing what’s coming is even better.
AI — PSU holds most of its famous White Out Games at night in prime time, but they are not exclusively nighttime events. While the vast majority happen under the lights to maximize the visual atmosphere, a small number in the tradition’s history have started during the day due to television broadcast selections. Scheduling and Tradition Night Games: Traditionally scheduled as prime-time night games (often kicking off at 7:30 p.m. or 8:00 p.m.) because the sea of white stands out best under the stadium lights. Daytime Games: Out of the total history of the tradition, there have been only seven… Read more »
I will be in the area for that game, but I assume tickets will be out of my reach. The good news is I’m sure there will be coverage on whatever television station is in the Air B&B Mrs Rialto has selected for that leg of our trip.
You will be better off watching from the B&B. Lots of reasons. No local blackout that I know of. Enjoy the trip! Nothing like the crisp autumn and vivid tree colors in that part of the country.
Coach Bielema and Coach Cignetti are good friends. They do need to clean up the communication…..the BIG includes the east and west coasts. In fact Oregon, Washington, USC and now UCLA all are or will soon be contributing a big share of that superiority the coaches are bragging about. As far as superiority…..the SEC or Miami or Notre Dame all have a good chance to win the NC this year. Just my personal feel, Indiana could be slightly down this year, Ohio State may be worn down by the time they play in the playoffs. It’s Oregon’s year…..but if they… Read more »
I guess when you produce, you can trash talk if that happens to be your inkling. In any event, I can’t feel sorry for the SEC. They’ve gone from Cheating(with the help of Big Brother….the NCAA) to Crying. The big C’s. I have no sympathy.
Despite USC’s historical greatness in both the college game in so many facets, and as a massive pro pipeline school , the Trojans have never been known as a strong QB school in the NFL.
Now suddenly USC QBs Caleb Williams and Sam Darnold are both NFL darlings sitting on the top of the League as signal callers literally any team would want.
It’s funny how things evolve. If we land another big-time starter QB into the NFL, they might have to start calling USC QB U.
If USC makes the playoffs and we only lose two games trying to run through this gauntlet of a schedule, Lincoln Riley can crow all he wants about how this 5-year plan was the absolute best anyone could have ever done. He can be very high-minded and self-serving in this regard. But to the victors go the spoils. If USC finally starts winning and beating some good teams in the process, I’ll be giving LR all the out-of-the-blue credit I can come up with. Do I think he can ever actually win NCs like Jones, McKay, Robinson and Carroll? No,… Read more »
I would think asking other HC’s if they would have followed Riley’s first 3-year decisions, few would say yes. Especially keeping a DC that obviously couldn’t do the job and, ignoring the fertile recruitment Mecca of California during that same time. Those decisions are tatoo’d on his behind as unforgivable blunders. After that, I would still wait before praising Riley until he proved he can keep the program in a continuos championship contention level once he got it up there. He’s made too many blunders, shown his lack of understanding how important defense is and needed Jen to surround him… Read more »
Sophomore defensive lineman 
28 days! 🏈😎✌
Can’t wait!
Can anyone say this 2026 team doesn’t have enough athletic talent to match the top conference teams on our schedule? But talent alone won’t win games. It’s coaching that puts the talent in the positions to make plays? It’s coaching that drills into a player’s head what to look for as signs before a play begins and instantly react which was a major issue last season. That and effective communication from the sideline & among the players themselves? With a definite trained eye that Gary Patterson certainly has, watching tapes of previous games he had to have been appalled at… Read more »
Getting 11 men on the field for special teams play might be a sign of improved communication. Instantly reacting is good, anticipating, knowing what’s coming is even better.
Landon Tengwall, who is heavily connected to the Penn St program stated that the USC game will be a whiteout.
So it’s probably a night game if that is the case. Do they do the whiteout games during the daytime?
yes, but unlikely
AI — PSU holds most of its famous White Out Games at night in prime time, but they are not exclusively nighttime events. While the vast majority happen under the lights to maximize the visual atmosphere, a small number in the tradition’s history have started during the day due to television broadcast selections. Scheduling and Tradition Night Games: Traditionally scheduled as prime-time night games (often kicking off at 7:30 p.m. or 8:00 p.m.) because the sea of white stands out best under the stadium lights. Daytime Games: Out of the total history of the tradition, there have been only seven… Read more »
I will be in the area for that game, but I assume tickets will be out of my reach. The good news is I’m sure there will be coverage on whatever television station is in the Air B&B Mrs Rialto has selected for that leg of our trip.
You will be better off watching from the B&B. Lots of reasons. No local blackout that I know of. Enjoy the trip! Nothing like the crisp autumn and vivid tree colors in that part of the country.
It’s Cignetti Time. He’s a Sound Bite Machine these days!
Here’s Curt Cignetti, the official spokesman for the Big Ten’s superiority nowadays, especially over the has-been SEC conference:
“The Big Ten is the best league in football.
“I mean, we don’t run a hype machine up here in the Midwest.
“We believe everything’s earned, not given.
“And when we fall short, we say, ‘We fell short.’
“We don’t cry a river, whine, and complain, all right.
“And that’s why we’re the best.”
Coach Bielema and Coach Cignetti are good friends. They do need to clean up the communication…..the BIG includes the east and west coasts. In fact Oregon, Washington, USC and now UCLA all are or will soon be contributing a big share of that superiority the coaches are bragging about. As far as superiority…..the SEC or Miami or Notre Dame all have a good chance to win the NC this year. Just my personal feel, Indiana could be slightly down this year, Ohio State may be worn down by the time they play in the playoffs. It’s Oregon’s year…..but if they… Read more »
I guess when you produce, you can trash talk if that happens to be your inkling. In any event, I can’t feel sorry for the SEC. They’ve gone from Cheating(with the help of Big Brother….the NCAA) to Crying. The big C’s. I have no sympathy.
Despite USC’s historical greatness in both the college game in so many facets, and as a massive pro pipeline school , the Trojans have never been known as a strong QB school in the NFL.
Now suddenly USC QBs Caleb Williams and Sam Darnold are both NFL darlings sitting on the top of the League as signal callers literally any team would want.
It’s funny how things evolve. If we land another big-time starter QB into the NFL, they might have to start calling USC QB U.
If USC makes the playoffs and we only lose two games trying to run through this gauntlet of a schedule, Lincoln Riley can crow all he wants about how this 5-year plan was the absolute best anyone could have ever done. He can be very high-minded and self-serving in this regard. But to the victors go the spoils. If USC finally starts winning and beating some good teams in the process, I’ll be giving LR all the out-of-the-blue credit I can come up with. Do I think he can ever actually win NCs like Jones, McKay, Robinson and Carroll? No,… Read more »
I would think asking other HC’s if they would have followed Riley’s first 3-year decisions, few would say yes. Especially keeping a DC that obviously couldn’t do the job and, ignoring the fertile recruitment Mecca of California during that same time. Those decisions are tatoo’d on his behind as unforgivable blunders. After that, I would still wait before praising Riley until he proved he can keep the program in a continuos championship contention level once he got it up there. He’s made too many blunders, shown his lack of understanding how important defense is and needed Jen to surround him… Read more »