USC feeling the benefits of new off-season regimens
Adam Grosbard (OC Register) — LOS ANGELES — As USC players took turns sitting around fold-out tables at media day last week, each one seemed to have their own off-season accomplishments to brag about.
“I lost six pounds of fat, gained five pounds of muscle,” center Brett Neilon reported.
“I was at like 10 [percent body fat] last year,” rush end Korey Foreman said. “Now I’m going into five.”
The man at the center of these developments and the off-season regimen for USC is strength and conditioning coach Bennie Wylie.
Wylie was always a key part of head coach Lincoln Riley’s vision for USC. After spending four seasons together at Oklahoma, Wylie literally joined Riley on the private plane from Norman to Los Angeles without a contract, ready to leave his mark on the Trojans’ new era.
After spending January and February readying the roster for spring camp, Wylie prepared off-season regimens for the roster. In addition to the traditional weight and conditioning work, Wylie had the Trojans doing sprinting and cutting and hand-to-hand combat that players likened to wrestling.
Quickly, Wylie and his team of staffers have earned the trust of the USC locker room.
“The strength staff’s elite and they’re professional,” Neilon said. “A lot of us got bigger, stronger and faster. The numbers and the outcomes are there. … [Wylie] trains us like professional athletes and he takes care of guys, too.”
In addition to the actual workouts, Wylie’s team has developed diets to help players hit their weight and body fat goals.
“It was just being able to adapt to what’s best for us,” said Foreman, who cut out fried foods at Wylie’s behest, “because at the end of the day they have our best interests.”
And Wylie gives time to provide special attention to injured players and make sure they don’t fall behind even as they sit out the full team’s workouts.
Soon after a diagnosis, Wylie has turned up with an updated regimen specific to a player and his new limitations.
“Usually when a guy gets hurt, they don’t work out. You’re gonna work out with Coach Wylie,” tight end Malcolm Epps explained. “There’s some part of your body that works, and he’s gonna work it out.”
But after the off-season work, there have been fewer injuries for USC to report than in past training camps. Sure there are players on the sidelines; tight end Jude Wolfe was in a walking boot during Monday’s practice, while defensive backs Jaylin Smith and Latrell McCutchin were in street clothes with what Riley described as “bumps and bruises”.
But for the most part, USC has had a clean bill of health, and a new look, in Riley’s opinion.
“We’ve taken several steps since spring,” Riley said after the first day of camp. “I think the biggest thing I notice right now is a lot of our bodies are starting to change in a way they need to change. You see a little more pop, a little more speed, a little more physicality.”
ocregister.com
________
ATTN: Free Digital Copy (pdf) of 2022 Football Media Guide
Or if you want something more concise, I have a 15-page Football Preseason Guide, which covers only this team and will prepare you for the upcoming season.
If you want a copy of either document or both, please leave a reply to this comment and I will email you a copy.
If you are not a member and would like a copy, please request your copy by sending me an email at: info@trojandailyblog.com
Hi John. Please send me a copy of the media guide. Thanks .
Thanks John a bunch, please send me the 15 page version.
I’d like a digital copy. Thank you, John
I’d love a copy. Thanks.
Count me in. Thanks so much, John.
Hi John, could I please get a copy?
Can you please include me? Thank you
John, I’d like a copy also. Thank you.
John, I’d love a copy of the media guide. Thank you for all your hard work and support!
Yes please, Thanks
Bruce Feldman’s College football Freaks List 2022
The Freaks list is compiled with the help of many coaches, players and sports information directors, as well as NFL scouts from all over the nation.
99. USC OL Andrew Vorhees — The Trojans’ best O-lineman is also their strongest player and their resident “Freak,” according to strength coach Bennie Wylie. Vorhees can bench-press 225 40 times. The 6-6, 325-pound Vorhees has been a starter since 2017, and last season he received third-team All-American honors, splitting time between left guard and left tackle.
theathletic.com
Perhaps the meaning of the name “Student Body Right,” has different interpretations. The obvious one being the formation of plays which McKay used to dominate the PAC for many years. But a more subtle one is the way I interpret it. The right of everyone on the team to earn NIL money. I also don’t think USC is doing anything other than what everyone else is doing. If they are able to dominate others while staying above board, more power to them. On a lighter side, Mrs. Rialto bought tickets to three home games this season. That’s three more than… Read more »
Great observation on the double meaning of SBR. Kudos to who came up with the name. Hopefully, the right for everyone in every sport to earn some dough.
The Mrs. Rialto Approval Meter is definitely a good harbinger of things to come for USC football. Glad to hear she is back on board!
Which games has she decided to buy? Did she give you any say?
What’s her take on the USC defense for 2022?
I’m pretty curious about what the RICE turnout will look like. The Trojans are picked by about 35 points per the Vegas Insider.
We will see WSU, CAL and Colorado. She is still planning as if Rialto Jr. and his sister are living at home. In other words a 4 person party. 😃 She let me say yes to her selection, but she thinks things are looking batter.
Bring On Those Deep USC Student Body Right Pockets Ryan Kartje (LA Times) — “The Times has learned that a group of deep-pocketed USC donors and diehard fans are proceeding with their own NIL operation against the school’s wishes. “The group plans to soon launch ‘Student Body Right,’ a third-party collective they say is essential for USC to properly compete with other top schools that feature collectives. They’re hardly alone among Trojans football fans, especially those frustrated by BLVD (launched by USC with an outside media company). “Within USC, however, the effort to start a collective outside of the university’s… Read more »
I’m glad we have a collective, but I wish it weren’t rogue. Not sure how all of this will shake out, but currently it’s no rules at all. Hopefully student body right will keep heads above water.
Great name! Student Body Right wins my support, and I’m hopeful it forces USC-supported BLVD to get its act in gear, which I sense has been a source of definite frustration for some. This gives donors the opportunity to choose between NIL avenues, the outside source (SBR), or the school-controlled source (BLVD). Competition always breeds a better operation IMO and I’m grateful people like Brian Kennedy and Dale Rech, who reached out to BLVD to help, but were turned away, still care enough to establish a charitable organization that can fill gaps that BLVD may not be satisfactorily supplying because… Read more »
Agree Allen, competition always breeds a better operation. Hopefully this means 5 star OL recruits will sign on!
I guess it is good that USC is trying to keep things above board. But you have to keep pace with what every other big program is doing. I also hope some REAL community service and charity work is actually done. It appears that SBR wants to comply with NCAA rules and California law. So all should be good.
Sounds like you’re worried. The now toothless, yet still fully corrupt NCAA (cooperate with us or die), has obviously cast an insanely long shadow over USC football.
Even though outside NIL collectives are in full-steam-ahead operation all over the country (including at ND), because of the “murkiness of charitable purposes” definition and USC’s penalty history, there’s official concern by USC athletics that Student Body Right shouldn’t even exist.
Sometimes, it seems like we’ll never escape the obese ghost of Paul Dee. 😪
Yep. I feel like if there is one school that will get sanctioned due to a collective, or least attempted to be sanctioned, it will be us. The NCAA has proven that it will go after USC harder than any other school.
If USC is concerned about SBR then we all should be concerned. It is a dilemma, most of the big programs have collectives and some “pay to play” set up. You have to compete in that world for players. How far do you go, what you can get away with, what’s legal or what’s ethical? I don’t have an answer, I don’t know how dirty this will get. I just hope SBR is professional.
SBR may end up being the replacement for BLVD. I read where BLVD is only committed to sending 50% of what it takes in to the place the donation was given for. What are they doing with the other 50%. If SBR can keep itself out of the recruiting process all will work out well. I personally feel these guys at SBR picked up a ball someone at USC dropped and are going to make it work with or without the blessing of the hierarchy at USC, who is obviously clueless in some areas.
Allen, I am with you on this one. I disagree with Chris and GT below. I see no problem whatsoever. Texas is doing this as is Texas Tech. Every school in the B10 and SEC as well as ND and Oregon have “pay for play” NILS. No way will the NCAA try to come after SC. If they are crazy enough to choose SC for a test case, they will get the fight that will kill the NCAA. This administration will fight them (and fight back hard) if it is singled out again. Being part of the Big 10 also… Read more »
Overall I think it is great USC has a collective. You have to compete for players like everybody else. The rules and state law are vague so enforcement is probably unlikely. Student Body Right has filed for 501(c)(3) status as a charitable organization, which would make certain donations to the group tax-deductible. BLVD is not a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. So some oversight/audit by the state is possible. The LAT’s article lays all the issues out there pretty well. In the end it is good SC separates itself from SBR, probably good student-athletes have a choice, and SBR and BLVD will… Read more »
Will the bruins try to make their own baby blue collective NIL? I can see them raising enough to be able to give up to $127.00 per player on their roster. For the entire season. Just outstanding, ucla cheapskates.
UCLA’s collective is called the Bruin Fan Alliance. LAT (Ben Bolch) — “Starting this fall, the collective will celebrate an athlete ambassador of the week by donning buttons bearing their name and meeting with fans for a pregame drink or meal before gathering again to root for the athlete on campus. BFA-affiliated athletes who show up will receive an appearance fee. “Big names such as running back Zach Charbonnet, point guard Tyger Campbell and sprinter Shae Anderson are among the nearly 30 UCLA athletes from nine sports who have signed up, with scores more expected to join. The athletes will… Read more »
Easy way to earn $10. Isn’t that about ucla can afford? If they raise to much they will have to send half to Cal.
A possible reason that USC is gun shy about the Student Body Right is the unfair sanctions that was imposed on USC before. Now those very actions are encouraged by the NCAA. This is a very unfair use of power and justice. USC is the only school that has been so unfairly sanctioned for we threatened the power of the SEC schools. Miami and Florida had actions that were much worse and a slap on the wrist. The Tenn actions are much worse yet they are not punished. One possible reason is the SEC protects it members while the Pac12… Read more »
It feels like most of today’s recruits have little to no emotional ties to schools growing up, and even if their parents do, are still going to go to the highest bidder under the current guidelines. I’ll be disappointed but not surprised at all if Malachi Nelson goes to Texas A+M because it’s a better monetary offer. Coaches,education, location,and tradition aren’t going to matter as much if there isn’t NIL regulation real soon, IMO
I haven’t read one single thing about Malachi Nelson since his 7/28 Aggie trip that would lead me to believe he’ll switch. Until I see that shoe drop, if it ever does, which I heavily doubt, I’m not worried. I’d be really surprised if our Los Alamitos phenom decided a quick drive down the freeway to USC to play for renowned Heisman developer LR isn’t the perfect move for him. Nothing out there except for pure speculation, which would literally exist if any committed big-timer visited any school. Incoming Nevada 5-star #1 WR Zachariah Branch (10.33 100m/24′ LJ) will make… Read more »
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ryan_Kartje/status/1557159507939053569
USC is #12 in recruiting
ucla is #80, just ahead of Ball St.
Way to go Chipper.
Citius, Altius, Fortius
Bigger, stronger, better. The hype preseason is always the same. We shall see it on September 3rd the difference. Hopefully is will be huge.
My reaction exactly. Steveg my hope is that once this will be true. The same old song and dance has gotten old, but at least they’re playing new music.
I’m now a believer. We go through this weight room hype stuff every single year, I know. It’s ridiculous. But that’s the value of having a huge name like Lincoln Riley in charge. He’s got the cred, the record, the persona, the connections, and every time I hear him speak, I like what he says. So if he says Bennie Wylie is the man, I’m buying it, hook, line, and sinker.
Example. We lose our punter. LR replaces him in a week, and it’s August! So cool.
Agreed, for years we have heard the new S&C coach was making the team bigger and better. Only to see the team pushed around by inferior teams and then out of gas by the third qtr.
i hope this year it is really true.