USC quarterback Miller Moss grateful to be given fair shot under Lincoln Riley
Ryan Kartje (LA Times) — Miller Moss (7) just wanted a fair shot. That’s all he could ask for last December, when Lincoln Riley first took the reins at USC, and it still was his lone request come February, when the most coveted quarterback in college football joined the fold.
Two months later, there’s no question that Caleb Williams will open next season as USC’s starting quarterback. Any competition under center this spring will carry on with heavy air quotes attached.
But for Moss, once a coveted prospect in his own right, there’s no doubt in his mind that he’s gotten the fair shake he asked for.
“Absolutely,” Moss said. “Coach Riley has been great. He’s been honest and open with us about everything. Honestly, he really invests in his quarterbacks. That’s something that’s been refreshing, and I really appreciate it.”
That line of communication was opened soon after Riley arrived. He was honest with Moss about his quarterback plans. So while Jaxson Dart opted to enter the transfer portal in January, eventually settling at Mississippi, Moss, who twice changed high schools, chose to stay at USC.
Williams visited USC that same early January weekend. But before he was on USC’s campus, Riley called Moss to inform him, “which I didn’t expect,” Moss said.
The honesty made Williams’ arrival all the more palatable for a passer now forced to compete with him. The chance to learn from a coach known for developing quarterbacks didn’t hurt either.
The two young passers have split their reps equally between USC’s first- and second-team offenses this spring. While Williams has spent that time trying to hone the finer points of Riley’s offense, Moss still is digesting a system that has a lot more meat on the bone than he saw as a freshman.
“The hardest part is Coach Riley is so creative, so you never know what kind of wrinkles he’s going to throw in there,” Moss said. “I think that’s also probably the most fun and entertaining part about it. You never know what kind of stuff he’s throwing in the install for that day. You really have to stay on top of your stuff. You have to study. You can’t just leave this practice, go home, eat, and turn on Netflix and hang out until tomorrow. You have to get into your playbook and invest because if you don’t, you’re going to come out here and look silly.”
He’s not the only one who feels that way. Even Williams said Tuesday that he doesn’t feel he has “a full grasp” of Riley’s offense at the start of his second year at the helm.
Caleb Williams (13), second from left, runs through passing drills with other QBs Miller Moss (7), left, Isaac Ward (31) and Brad Akoi (38), right, during spring practice at USC on March 22. (Gina Ferazzi/LAT)
“There’s always something to learn, something where I can be better at,” Williams said. “So I mean that will take Tom Brady years, and I can’t be in college for Tom Brady years. So I’m not at that point, but I am working really hard to try and reach that point.”
As the only two scholarship quarterbacks currently on USC’s roster, both will need to get up to speed this summer. Riley also could look to add depth at the position via the transfer portal — just in case that depth is needed next season.
It certainly was last season, as USC found itself down to its third-string quarterback, Moss, for its finale against California. Moss finished that game just eight for 13 for 74 yards, a touchdown and a lost fumble.
Consistency has been his main focus since. So far this spring, he’s at least received consistent attention from USC’s coach.
“Coach Riley has really harped on this in our meetings, but eliminating the bad is almost as important as how good the good is,” Moss said. “So just eliminating negative plays, knowing when to throw it away, knowing how to manage game situations, really learning how to operate within the system — those things make huge differences in college games, whereas in high school it might not hurt you as much. So that’s really been a point of emphasis.”
Etc.
USC is now the last Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) program that has never scheduled a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) team, after Notre Dame announced Tuesday that it would play Tennessee State in 2023.
latimes.com
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Sounds like Ceyair Wright will not be a Trojan much longer. If they don’t want to follow the new staff then they need to find a new home sooner rather than later.
Ryan Kartje @Ryan_Kartje
Asked about former four-star corner Ceyair Wright’s progress, USC assistant Donte Williams said that “Ceyair’s biggest problem is Ceyair.”
Williams: “He has a lot of things going on. For all I know, he may be in Space Jam 3.”
Lincoln Riley happily has gone from life in a fishbowl to life in an aquarium Some excerpts from Ivan Maisel (On3.com) on LR. Definitely worth the read in its entirety. “Yeah, he’s persona non Sooner, but if you think about it, Lincoln Riley’s sharp career turn is not all that different from how his entire coaching career has progressed. He has made up his own rules all along. “One year as a walk-on quarterback at Texas Tech, followed by three years as a student coach. “Offensive coordinator at East Carolina at age 26. “Coach at Oklahoma at 33. “Bombshell-dropper at 38.… Read more »
The recruiting battle for coveted Josh Conerly has apparently really tightened up between USC and ORE: Once considered a strong USC lean, on Thursday the much heralded five-star OT from Seattle Ranier Beach told WeAreSC’s Scott Schrader that he might not know his college destination until 5:59 pm – right at his 6 pm PT announcement. The hugely sought-after Conerly also visited ORE again after visiting USC. Former USC OG and offensive analyst Viane Talamaivao is now an ORE offensive analyst and is recruiting Conerly hard for the Ducks. Conerly will finally announce his crucial long-awaited decision today on CBS Sports HQ at… Read more »
One year as a Coach Riley backup QB is worth more than four years of the so
called CAT.
In fact a five star will regress.
But under Riley a QB learning his system will be ready to star for another team.
As with Coach PC a second string under his learning will be worth more than
a five star under a bad system.
Colin Cowherd on Sam Darnold: “What’s happened to Sam is that the concerns in college have been validated. He plays recklessly and makes too many mistakes, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen in both of his stops, where he’s had offensive coaches. So when your college concerns become your NFL reality, you lose support. ‘He’s big enough and strong enough. He’s really talented and reminds me of Carson Wentz. Carson is more naturally gifted, but I like both of them. But in big spots, when it gets really urgent and you have to play really fast, Darnold makes egregiously bad… Read more »
So what did The Cat supposedly learn during his disastrous stint at USC, where he took the Trojan football culture (there’s that word again!) to a new, desperate low, where player accountability no longer existed: Grace Raynor (The Athletic) — “You work so hard in the early years of setting your culture,” Helton said. “And if you don’t start the messaging all over again like it’s Day 1 with the same energy, the same focus, and (you) just assume everybody knows it, then you can lose a culture in a hurry, too.” Asked if he felt like he lost his… Read more »
I have decided to leave the past in the past. Dealing with Clay is like, I suppose, dealing with an ex-spouse. Let it go. As I have had only one wife (going now on 52 years), I do not have first hand experience, but the best divorce outcomes I have been involved with (early in my career I did a lot of divorce work) were for the spouses to admit it did not work for them and wish the ex-spouse good luck. Not a great analogy, as no kids are involved, but I have decided to let The Cat go.… Read more »
Feel free to wish The Cat good luck every day if you wish RJJ. I prefer to see the ridiculously overpaid, all-time coaching liar languish in mediocrity for the rest of his crappy, miserable career if possible. However, I suspect he’ll be moderately successful at this lower level, where he should have been praising his so-called “warriors” after games all along. But that’s only assuming he starts practicing red zone offense! As I follow CFB very broadly in general, and not just USC, my interest may be more diverse. Maybe not. But there are several other teams that I enjoy… Read more »
Every day I try to clear my memory of him. I will not speak his name.
You would never want to read this The Athletic column then. Sadly, it was just another full-on Clay Helton puff piece.
I don’t know how he does it? It’s like 95 percent of the media is under his spell. They talk his sacred mantra (whatever that is), while overlooking the obvious numerous negatives and his lame approaches to football coaching.
Beats me.
I get the point about starting over each year, each is year 1. So my logic says he is right, that is what he did, started new each year, forgetting all the mistakes from the previous year(s) and look what he ended up with. I am sure GA. southern will realize it in time.
I’m actually very interested to see The Cat perform at GA SO. The expectations just aren’t great there, comparatively speaking. The showers didn’t even work when he arrived. Seriously. He’ll do much better in that “lukewarm” environment, though it was always hard for me to take him seriously. Clay always liked to give God credit on the field when he won, though I never heard that remark when he lost. Maybe I just missed it. I think Helton refined his ability to play politics at USC under very soft, inept USC administrations. I’d say he’s stubborn to a fault and… Read more »
The thing about culture is you make things with it. For instance yogurt is made from culture as is cheese. Coach Helton’s culture was to be as smooth as yogurt while spewing cheesy platitudes.
Competition was for meanies and hooligans, but Helton was proud as hell at the way his boys battled the hooligans that wiped the field with his yogurt.
Clay was always harmless in one sense, yet devastatingly destructive in another.
We all know of pictures we have seen over and over which fully encapsulate how I will always remember him.
Just for old time’s sake! Go Clay!
The Idiot, mouth agape…
Was this picture from when he realized he was at a football game?
The Cat’s assistants just told him the Trojans were on offense, not defense. 😉
Lincoln Riley on high impact ALA transfer SR ILB Shane Lee (6-0, 245): “This is a guy that’s been instrumental within our program from the day he came here. Obviously, he comes from a fantastic program himself. We had a lot of great talks throughout his recruitment about our vision for this place because we have a couple of guys internal here that are going to be good leaders. But we knew some of these guys coming from a transfer standpoint were going to be leaders themselves. “He’s got a ton of ability on the field, and I have been… Read more »
This is another thing the Cat never grasped, keeping the seconds sharp in case the firsts go down. With a fairly good second quarterback the first needs to be that much better. If I had to guess the psychological reason Helton’s second string never matched the first it would be daddy issues. He was the second string quarterback on daddy’s team. At this point I willing to bet we will see Moss in mop up time this year. That’s something we haven’t seen since sanctions. My bet would say Riley knows the value of in game experience from many points… Read more »
I thought I knew how bad a coach The Cat was while he was here, but these vignettes keep coming out that prove me wrong. It’s truly remarkable just how unqualified and incompetent he was. Makes me wonder how we ever managed to win a single game.
With Miller Moss saying The Cat didn’t even practice a red zone offense, we’re getting a true glimpse into the stupefying ineptitude of Helton’s regime. I’m still perplexed about how Helton landed as HC of GA SO so quickly (being completely lame, but “nice” must be revered there). He’ll now be pretending to coach in front of a new collection of suckers at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Ga, capacity 25,000. APP ST is The Cat’s new major rival. Speaking of Georgia, Tiger Woods just teed off at the Masters in Augusta and immediately landed near a bunker on the right.… Read more »