Hernández: Lincoln Riley brings high energy as USC opens spring football
In Lincoln Riley’s first practice as USC head coach, the energy is high, the tempo is up and he is excited.
Dylan Hernandez (LA Times) — Lincoln Riley was everywhere.
He ran alongside tight end Ethan Rae as if he was a linebacker covering him.
He ran over to receiver Mario Williams, pointed to the sideline and offered him some words of advice.
He broke up a pass intended for Ty Shamblin and slapped the receiver’s helmet.
In his first practice as USC’s head coach, Riley projected an abundance of youthful coaching energy on Tuesday, running and clapping and injecting vitality back into the Los Angeles’ most popular football team.
This wasn’t a Clay Helton practice.
This was closer to a Sean McVay training session.
Wearing a white visor and sunglasses, Riley was dressed in a gray shirt with rolled-up sleeves and black shorts. He looked 38 years young.
He wasn’t in a jersey or a cardinal uniform. But Riley was there, crouched like a linebacker, backpedaling like a defensive back, lunging at a ball that came across his field of vision.
And when the practice was over, Riley was ready for Round 2.
“I’m not tired, man,” Riley said. “I’ve been waiting 100 days for this, man. This is what we do. The way the players are responding, the way the staff is coming together, it energizes me. It excites me. I was so ready for this day, to be here. I can’t even describe it. It was a blast. I wish we could go back and run it back right now.”
Helton is only 11 years older, but he might as well be 40 years Riley’s senior.
“The energy level is really high,” running back Austin Jones said. “It’s a different type of atmosphere.”
Jones, who started for Stanford last year, is one of three transfer running backs on the team.
Travis Dye, another senior transfer, ranks fifth all-time at Oregon in career rushing yards. Darwin Barlow moved from Texas Christian.
The Trojans have 13 transfers on their roster, including quarterback Caleb Williams, who followed Riley from Oklahoma. Other transfers could join the program after spring practice.
Riley’s vibrancy played a critical role in the makeover of a team that finished 4-8 last year under Helton and interim replacement Donte Williams, who remains with the Trojans as a defensive backs coach.
Receiver Brenden Rice said he wasn’t certain he would leave Colorado when he entered the transfer portal on New Year’s Day.
Within a half-hour — “maybe 15 minutes,” Rice said — Riley called him.
“I’m like, ‘Wow, OK,’” Rice said.
Lincoln Riley looks on as quarterback Caleb Williams throws a pass during spring practice at USC on Tuesday. (Gina Ferazzi / LAT)
When the conversation ended, Rice called his mother. Next, he texted his father, Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice.
“I’m going to Cali,” the message to his father read.
“As soon as I heard Lincoln call,” Rice said, “you know you have to go.”
With 19 eligible players departing via the transfer portal, USC has what Riley described as “the most unique roster in the history of this school and one of the most unique rosters in the history of this sport.”
Riley’s personality will be just as important in transforming the program’s culture as it was in constructing the roster.
“The main goal right now is learning how to practice, learning how to do things in a championship manner, learning how to come together as a team,” Riley said.
Senior center Brett Neilon, a returning player, said Riley has emphasized strength and conditioning.
“With Coach Riley,” Neilon said, “be in the best shape possible and transform our bodies.”
Lincoln Riley interacts with WR Kyron Ware-Hudson during spring practice at USC on Tuesday. (Gina Ferazzi / LAT)The reason: Riley intends to bolster a running attack that declined over Helton’s seven-year tenure. He wants to establish an offensive identity based on physicality.
“I believe you have to run the football to win championships, to be a championship football team,” Riley said. “It’s something we’ve been pretty decent at in our past. I think it’s something this school, when you look back at its championship seasons, a strong running game has been a part of that. You’re not going to win championships without stopping the run defensively. Our guys have heard that once or twice in the last 100 days.”
Riley also wants his players to dream.
Asked if the Trojans would be ready to compete for a Pac-12 title in his first season, Riley replied, “For us, it’s about just getting as good as we can right now. We understand that’s a journey. But I will say this: I’m not going to take any goal off the table.
Tempering expectations, Riley continued, is “not why we came here. We expect to compete for and win championships every single year that we’re here. I’ll save you that question for the next 10 to 15 years. That’s going to be the same answer. That’s who we are as a staff, that’s what we believe in, and, frankly, that’s what this program should be about. This is USC. The expectation here should be to win championships every single year.”
Riley acknowledged there is plenty of distance between where the Trojans are now and where they want to be.
Tuesday was the only first step, but Riley’s enthusiasm has given them the equivalent of a running start.
Former USC QB Mark Sanchez was on hand to see Riley’s first practice, as were the group of Trojans who will participate in Wednesday’s pro day. It was a day of firsts for the multitude of new faces at USC, from the 13 transfers to the freshmen who enrolled early.
latimes.com
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Fifteen Trojans participated in USC’s 2022 Pro Day on campus on Wednesday, March 23. All 32 NFL teams sent scouts.
1.P Ben Griffiths
2.TE Kohl Hollinquest
3.RB Keaontay Ingram
4.DL Drake Jackson
5.OL Liam Jimmons
6.S Greg Johnson
7.TE Erik Krommenhoek
8.RB Vavae Malepeai
9.LB Kana’i Mauga
10.OL Jalen McKenzie
11.WR KD Nixon
12.RB Samuel Oram-Jones
13.S Isaiah Pola-Mao
14.CB Chris Steele
15.CB Isaac Taylor-Stuart
Projected first-rounder Drake London did not participate, and will hold his own Pro Day on April 5.
USC’s Pro Day Results
I was surprised by Magua’s speed. For his size, his is really quick. Never was able to figure out how to play in the schemes he was put into. Maybe him, maybe the coaching, maybe the culture, maybe a combination. Being 4.6 and 250 are great measurables. He simply failed to produce.
He didn’t seem to react quickly, at least from what I saw of Mauga’s LB play at USC, regardless of his forty-time. Didn’t seem to play fast. Maybe the NFL will bring better out of him.
Your mention that Mauga ran a 4.6 forty reminded me of how Taylor Mays’ measurables never matched up with his on-the-field performance, most dramatically in the NFL — at least not IMO. Yet he was a consensus USC All-America in 2008. At 6-3, 230, Mays was reportedly clocked at 4.25 once (unofficially). That sounds absurdly fast for Mays to me, but I remember something about that being reported, and it’s also in Wiki. At the NFL Combine, he clocked a 4.43, the fastest time among the safeties. Yet Mays dropped to being a 2nd round pick, and was only the… Read more »
I keep thinking about what went wrong with this program over that decade and I think I finally have an answer. The notion that, “It’s just football,” got into the system . It started with the head coach hired after sanctions and continued until Clay was fired. It’s like music, you can have a violin player and a couple of saxophones maybe a flute but without the right conductor, you won’t have anything worth listening to. It’s not just music, at SC it’s not just football. They might have gotten close with a few hires, but it wasn’t SC football.… Read more »
Yes, it’s just football to people like Max Nikias. And maybe that was to be expected where he came from and where his priorities were. But there is no excuse for people like Pat Haden & Lynn Swann to not know better in what the football program really needed and fight for it, no, to demand it or resign. To say either of these men don’t know more about football than you & me would be insane. But yet they both turned their backs on a football program slowly dying into pure mediocrity. Successful people know what & who to… Read more »
In the end, the esteemed institution of USC football won big-time. The tradition is simply way too big to ever fall out of the “elite”: category, even during down periods because of poor leadership. Trojan fans successfully moved the needle to the point where Folt and Caruso finally knew they had to act. They set up a plan which was put into startlingly quick action by MVP AD Bohn when The Cat got slaughtered at home by STAN. To their credit, these people also all knew any old typical USC shortcut wouldn’t work this time. $110 mil has a nice… Read more »
Allen, You sold me on your vision last year. And, you were 100% correct. How or why Folt got there is irrelevant now. The important point is she got there. The most important play in collegiate football in the last 10 years was in the OK/OK St. game when the OK punt returner fumbled the punt and OK St. recovered and scored the winning TD. Without that play, SC Football would not be where we are. Lincoln Riley is probably the best hire in collegiate football since Nick Saban. And maybe the 2nd best hire ever. But, it all came… Read more »
Thank you Cowboys, forever! Who knows where USC football would be right now without you?
Jamaica, Just because Haden and Swann were great FB players and Haden had a high IQ, does not mean that either were suited to be an AD. Neither was. Both were, to be charitable, incompetent. IMO, Swann was not only incompetent, but grossly negligent in his handling of the job.
Speaking of Lynn Swann — “Lynn Swann and John Stallworth became Steelers because of the diligence of scouts to get decent 40 times in 1974. Neither was considered fast for a wide receiver, but today their 4.6 times might put them in the middle of the draft or maybe not at all…” “The 40 time is just straight speed, and straight speed is one thing, but in football, you seldom just run straight,” scout Bill Nunn said. “To me, there’s a difference between quickness and 40 speed and how you come out of cuts. Some of the greatest receivers you… Read more »
I’d add that Haden hired puppets so he could make the calls like a HC from his AD position. Let’s not forget that John McKay was both HC and AD when Haden played QB for USC. I’ll never forget when Haden came from out of the press box and ran out on the field at STAN to argue with a referee. It made Sark, HC at the time, look like an idiot. We all know Sark had issues, but to be shown up like that was so classless by Haden and not at all in the tradition of USC.
Haden, who was actually a member of the College Football Playoff’s selection committee at the time, rushed onto the STAN field turf to dispute an unsportsmanlike conduct flag thrown against Sarkisian. Haden’s explanation to the press: “I got a text just to come down because Sark wanted to talk to me, he felt the penalty was unfair and the referee explained he had warned him, so that’s why he got the penalty. It’s been a really frustrating quarter with the penalties, believe me.” I’d like to know who sent Haden this mystery text. This was one of the weirdest, most… Read more »
Suckisian is one of the biggest frauds every to hit college football. Texas is trying to buy some competency from that fat lazy idiot but he will blow it. It is what he does. Suckisian the Trump of college football.
It was truly a sickening moment for me when I woke up to the news that Pat Haden was actually hiring Sark instead of Chris Petersen (as had been reported as a likelihood), who suddenly also flipped over to UW in the process.
One of the darkest days in USC football history as far as I’m concerned. That one disastrous move had so many negative ramifications down the road for the Trojans.
And yes, I’m shocked that Sark already now coaches the big brand Longhorns, but the Saban Rehab program is phenomenal and very powerful.
Allen, you are exactly spot on with how many negative ramifications the “Sark Saga” caused. Ironic that Sark and Kiffin are the Head Coaches at major programs these days. IMHO, one of Kiffin’s biggest mistakes at USC was to hire his Dad as DC. Monte tried to run the “Tampa 2” Defense at SC and it was a disaster!
Wow. What a difference a real coach makes. I think we need to temper expectations this season as we have some huge holes still to fill on the OL and DL fronts, and the LB position. The good news, we have a coach that can recruit the talent. We literally have 3 starting RBs and 2-3 deep in WR core and DB fronts. The 2023 recruiting class could be one of the best classes in the history of USC. I would not be shocked if we pick up 6-7 Five ⭐️‘S players. One area LC needs to improve upon is… Read more »
So good to be talking football but even better, the potential promise of USC Trojan football being so much better on the field in the years to come. How long has it been since we felt that way? LR has a major team revamp to overcome. His energy and his philosophy will “will” this program forward. USC hasn’t had a 3-deep program since the PC days. It will take a few years for Trojan football to reach its peak and become a team no one wants to play.
It is so true, that it’s been so long for most of us to have any true optimism about USC football. Under The Cat, USC never had any real hope against good teams, even some marginal teams. We were all in a prolonged state of USC football depression. It’s weird to think that USC football is getting better every day and now actually headed towards some major victories against heavyweight teams. Before LR landed (almost like from another planet!), I never thought USC was progressing over any period of time, only regressing and disorganized. USC will be feared again on… Read more »
5-star OT Josh Conerly, the highest-rated uncommitted 2022 prospect and the Anthony Munoz National Lineman of the Year, visits USC this weekend and sets announcement date
We really need this kid. He could the cornerstone of the OL for the next 3-4 years.
USC needs a lot more talent per LR:
“We’re talking, there’s going to be double-digit additions, no question…,” Riley said.
Colin Cowherd’s view that the 2021 roster was “a mess” I think is accurate. LR said he wanted to replace 35 spots. That is a three-deep. He has 13 transfers and 5 true frosh. He needs about 20 more players to upgrade. Basically, we are looking at probably a new 2 deep in 2022 if he can get the talent. LR (and SC) is lucky to have the new transfer rules. Otherwise, this total rebuild would take at least 3 years. We might be competitive the 1st year and potentially elite in Year 2.
Well written article, I can almost feel the excitement as spring builds upon this first day. Sure USC still has needs, but not nearly as many as with the Cat in charge.
One thing we now don’t need is a new head coach.
Wow, it feels like 2004 all over again. I know we are going to be so much better than we have been for 12 years. LR is a winner and he brings a championship mentality to this team and this school. I am so full of this energy and I am 2600 miles away from campus but this is real. We are coming back college football world. USC is no longer going to be your doormat. Since LR has moved to Palos Verdes Estates, I don’t think any college football program can offer him and his family any better place… Read more »