Q&A: USC AD Jennifer Cohen confident investments in football will help Lincoln Riley win

USC AD Jennifer Cohen said she isn’t satisfied with the football team’s 7-6 record last season, but she’s confident coach Lincoln Riley can help the Trojans compete for championships. (Myung J. Chun / LAT)
Ryan Kartje (LA Times) — In the 18 months since Jennifer Cohen took over as USC’s athletic director, her job has grown more complicated by the week. When she was hired in August 2023, Cohen inherited an unstable department on its way to a new conference with an underachieving football program.
In the meantime, the entire landscape of college sports changed. Then changed again.
More change is still on the horizon, with a final ruling on a $2.78-billion antitrust settlement agreed to by the NCAA and five power conference set for April and USC readying to distribute $20.5 million in revenue to its athletes this fall if the House vs. NCAA settlement is approved.
“We’re entering into a different era,” Cohen said Thursday, “and for us, we’re motivated to win that era at USC.”
Cohen understands that starts, first and foremost, with winning on the football field, where USC has fallen short the last two seasons under coach Lincoln Riley. The Trojans finished last season 7-6, Riley’s worst ever record as a coach.
Those results, Cohen told The Times, “certainly didn’t meet the expectations that we have.”
Cohen has since turned her focus to giving Riley “every resource possible to get to the next level,” starting with a general manager and a revamped personnel department. And in the fall, when revenue sharing becomes a reality, Cohen made clear that “championship-level football” will be a guiding principle in determining how money is divided at USC.
The Times spoke to Cohen about that and much more. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
1) What was your message to Lincoln Riley after this season given that it didn’t meet your expectations?
Cohen: This industry is changing so much, so rapidly, that we’re always in conversations and evaluating everything that we need. What resources do we need? What pieces do we need to put in place to be successful? So it’s not an end-of-the-year conversation. It’s ongoing. I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made since the end of the season and in the offseason. I think he’s done an excellent job of putting together a great coaching staff. We worked really hard to keep a number of talented coaches and to retain them. Consistency is so important, so I’m really pleased with that. I thought we made some really good additional hires that complement the staff, both from an experience and a development standpoint, as well as a recruiting standpoint. [Football general manager Chad Bowden’s] hire obviously is huge for us and the infrastructure that he’s building. So I feel like there’s a lot of things we were talking about well before the end of the season, and we’ll keep talking about and keep evolving and keep growing and changing. But there’s been some really positive action taken to create what looks like some really exciting moment as we enter into the spring and into next season.
2) What role would you say Riley has played in that progress?
Cohen: It’s a partnership. This is his program to run. But I look at all these relationships as partnerships, with every coach we have here. Since I got here, we’ve been having ongoing dialogue about what he thinks he needs, and what I think I need and doing that together as we look at how much has changed, you know? We’ve both been part of championship-level CFP teams before, but the environment has changed.
So he played an active role in the search process for a GM, and we had conversations about a GM before last season. Ironically, I think we ended up in absolutely the best spot by being patient in the process. We brought in a lot of other people. He has a big network and so do I. Not just in college but in the NFL. We got a lot of advice and expertise and information that we collected along the way. I think [we] helped each other stay patient in the process.
We were looking for a unicorn. Because these college GM jobs are so unique, you know? You can’t just say you’re the NFL now — you’re not. We’re still a college football program with a bunch of different complexities that don’t exist in the NFL, but there’s best practices in the NFL that we needed to implement. So finding Chad and his excitement about Chad and his belief in him, Chad’s belief in Lincoln, was a real win-win for USC. I’m excited about it.
3) What would you say your confidence level is in Riley as USC’s coach?
Cohen: Lincoln has the experience, right? He’s built and led championship teams before. And so my focus with him is just investing and giving him — and not just him, but his entire coaching staff, his support staff that he has around him every resource possible to get to the next level.
4) When we talked after the 2023 season — as USC finished 8-5 — you called it “disappointing” and just said last year’s finish “doesn’t meet expectations.” What do you need to see from the program to show it’s on an upward trajectory?
Cohen: What I can say is that USC is a special place and that we’re aligned and we’re resourced in a way to compete in what is a very evolving and changing landscape. And that we as a department, him as a coach, me as an AD, us as a university — we have to keep adapting to that. I feel like we just have to go execute. We just have to go execute. And I feel really confident in the resources that we’ve put into this program. We know we can do it here because it’s been done here before. I’m just ready for spring ball to start to see some of these new faces we have.
5) You’ve clearly invested a lot of resources into football since you got here. You rebuilt a new defensive staff. Now you revamped the personnel department. There’s not a lot left to rebuild. Is it fair to say there are no more excuses left in terms of seeing real progress next season?
Cohen: I just think we have high expectations. He has them and I have them. Yeah, we’re just working together to get there.
6) I know you considered both NFL and college candidates for the GM job. What made you lean more toward the recruiting/college end of that spectrum with Chad Bowden? What qualities were most important to you?
Cohen: Actually, I think he’s the whole picture in that. To your point, when you’re looking at people who only had NFL backgrounds, it wasn’t that they didn’t understand recruiting or have those relationships, it was that they also didn’t have the experience of knowing how to navigate in a university setting or in NIL or in dealing with donors and all these other aspects that are part of ecosystem of a college athletic department and a college football program. We were open to that. We figured no matter who we hired, we were going to have to supplement skills and expertise around them regardless. That’s why we’re building out an entire infrastructure around Chad.
That being said, Chad’s strengths aren’t just in recruiting and relationships. He also has a strong background in eval. He has a strong background in utilizing data analytics in making informed decisions. He has a strong background in managing a roster and managing a budget to a roster. He has other people he’s bringing in and still going to bring in. We still need to build out some more of our analytics side that will complement him. But he really blew us away by the balance and the breadth and depth of his experience. And also just kind of knowing behind the scenes what he was able to do at Notre Dame with what resources he had really impressed us as well.
7) We’re less than two months out from the final decision on the House settlement, which would bring about revenue sharing in college sports. What are your feelings on where that stands? And what are your biggest concerns?
Cohen: I think this is a unique opportunity. We’re entering into a different era and for us, we’re motivated to win that era at USC. We think that we can. There’s been so much work done over the last several months. I feel like our staff has done a great job preparing a road map for us for the future, and it’s also been a really diligent, thorough, collaborative process — not just with my team and the athletic department and staff and coaches, but also with leadership on campus because that’s really important too.
I’m not prepared to share specifics right now, but I am prepared to share how we’re thinking about our decisions and what we’re shaping our decisions around. We’ve had these guiding principles that help shape our plan and one is championship-level football. We’ve talked about that. We’re never going to shy away from that at USC. And it’s also the engine that funds the rest of the athletic programs. It’s the program that brings the most visibility and recognition to our university, so that’s a priority in the plans we’re developing.
As such though, it’s not one or the other. Broad-based success is also extremely important to us. We’re so proud of our programs. Our Olympics sports, we have so many ranked teams right now. We’ve consistently finished in the top 10 in the Director’s Cup, more Olympians than anybody else and an Olympics coming here in 2028. So we’re really committed to continuing our broad-based success and Olympic success with the plan we’re developing.
Then you take those things and you say, ‘OK, how can we be financially responsible,’ right? That’s important. How we use our resources is important. We need to find new revenues to come into our department to help offset these added expenses. While we’re really excited to invest more in students, we also recognize internally that we have to do business differently. Internally, we have to make different decisions. Obviously how we’re investing and in some ways redirecting investment into football is a great example of that. But we’re gonna have to do that across our department. And hopefully as we do that, we’ll get fans and donors to also recognize that we need them, too. We’re all gonna have to adapt to this. So if and when — and I anticipate it will — the settlement gets approved in April, we’ll look forward to sharing much more specifics then.
8) Is it fair to say that the investment USC intends to make in football, in terms of percentage of revenue shared, would be in line with other major programs?
Cohen: Yeah, I mean, to have a championship-level program, you have to invest like other championship-level programs. So I think that’s fair.
9) Assuming the settlement is approved, the approach to NIL, I imagine, will look a lot different. What role do you envision House of Victory playing?
Cohen: The future of NIL, to me, is still a little bit of a mystery honestly. I think there are a lot of unanswered questions and work to be done in terms of NIL enforcement and the clearinghouse. This is a very important issue, and these are conversations we’re having in the Big Ten, at the conference level, so it’s too early to tell as to what role HoV may be playing long-term in our future. What we do know is that maximizing NIL opportunities for all student-athletes is a huge priority for us, and we have plans in place, differing plans in place, to ensure that. What we also know is we’re in the strongest position for NIL of any school in the country as far as I’m concerned. We are in the best market for sports, and that really differentiates us from a lot of our competitors and that’s going to serve our athletes going forward.
10) Yahoo! recently reported that the power conferences are planning to form a group, independent of the NCAA, to enforce NIL rules, approve NIL deals and police the revenue-sharing cap. Do you believe it’s realistic to think that could work?
Cohen: I believe that we have to believe that. You know, I think if we want to get to a system that has some sort of constraints — like we’re in college, and we’re having a hard time having checks and balances. In the pros, they don’t have those same challenges, right? So I believe we have to believe we can reimagine how to operate in this new era in a way that’s as equitable as possible.
11) Concerns have been raised by some athletes about the fallout from new roster limits. Is it inevitable that some athletes who are walk-ons or on partial scholarships will lose their spots at USC because of this new reality?
Cohen: I think these are complicated times as an industry, so when you’re creating different policies and changes, there’s always the chance there’s going to be some sort of litigation around it. I think it’s too early to tell if that’s where it’s going to come from, but I think it’s just part of the environment that we’ve already been operating in for a long period of time.
12) What challenges have arisen and what have you learned from this first season in the Big Ten?
Cohen: It’s a little early to evaluate it holistically. We do have a number of mechanisms to do that, both obviously with conversations with our coaches, but also with the way that we communicate and get feedback from our student athletes. I would say overall the first six months have been really positive. We won our first-ever Big Ten championship in women’s soccer, and that was one of the three sports in the fall traveling for a full Big Ten schedule. The exposure has been great for our students and our teams. I think it’s really important we’re in this conference for having a seat at the table about all the things we’ve been discussing — like, where is this thing going and how is this going to shape up? Well we have a voice in that because we’re in the Big Ten. Next week, I’ll go and attend a meeting with not just Big Ten ADs but SEC ADs. And USC belongs in those conversations, and I think that’s another positive from the transition we’ve had. I think it’s been fun to go play in different venues and have different fans here. Though, I’m a little bit irritated how many visitors we’re having in Galen for the men’s [basketball] games. But I actually kind of like that. The stakes are higher in this conference, and it sets a different tone. It challenges us as a department, and I think it challenges our fans too to learn how to compete with some of that.
As far as challenges go, certainly from a travel standpoint, it seems like the two basketball programs have been the most impacted, just with the way it schedules. At the end of the year, as we get through some of our spring sports that are starting in that travel as well — baseball, lacrosse, the tennis teams — we’ll be able to look at it holistically and learn a lot of lessons on what we can do to best support our teams and our athletes moving forward.
13) One issue that’s keeping you or other athletic directors up at night?
Cohen: Did you just say one? That’s funny!
First of all, I love being an athletic director, and I love being athletic director at USC. It means so much to so many people, so it’s such a privilege. And with that privilege comes a lot of expectations to do right by the school and every person that care about it. So there’s not really one thing, there’s so many things in the environment we’re in. And we’re in the people business, so people are complicated and they can be messy. So it’s kind of that.
As far as where we’re going, I feel like our staff is really invigorated by it. Yes it’s hard. Yes, it’s challenging. Any time you ever get better, you only grow through the hard stuff. I feel like after being here 18 months now, I feel like we’ve made a lot of progress in getting ourselves aligned and unified and invested the right way, and our team has done a great job of creating clarity within the organization about who we want to be. So I think we’re just motivated to go win this thing. Win the new era. Seize the opportunities. And there’s going to be plenty of sleepless nights doing it, but there’s going to be plenty of celebrations along the way, too. And that’s why I love what I do.
latimes.com
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The updated 2026 On300 Rankings were released Monday.
Erik McKinney (WeAreSC) — LB Xavier Griffin (6-3, 205, Gainesville, Ga.) maintained his spot as the top-ranked USC commitment per the On3 Industry Rankings.
He jumped in the updated On3 Rankings from No. 80 overall and the No. 6 linebacker to No. 49 overall and the No. 4 linebacker. That meant a two-spot jump in the Industry Rankings as he’s now the No. 23 overall player and No. 2 linebacker.
Xavier Griffin
on3.com
The cold shooting can’t be helped in a game and playing good hard defense can help keep the scores close. But the number of turnovers are a problem and seem to continue game after game. Where is the coaching here? That in itself will be a major hurdle in the playoffs if left unresolved to where if cold shooting comes about, it will be a difference maker playing the better teams. The free throws made/missed will be a major factor at the end of games where intentional fouls will be used for sure.
SC seems to be going in the right direction. They seem to have all their ducks lined up. They have a great coaching staff, a great administration and they are beginning to bring in great players. Also, next years schedule doesn’t seem to be particularly difficult. I see no excuse to not win 10 games next year.Going 8-5 would seem to mean LR’s time at USC is limited.
No. 4 USC women celebrate Senior Day with win over No. 25 Illinois JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen each score 22 as the Trojans retain sole possession of first in Big Ten, heading into rematch with UCLA after a 76-66 win over the Illini Janis Carr (OCR) — LOS ANGELES — The USC women’s basketball team celebrated Senior Day on Sunday, honoring five players who contributed to the No. 4-ranked program over the course of their college careers. Forward Kiki Iriafen, guard Talia von Oelhoffen, forward Rayah Marshall, Center Clarice Akunwafo and guard Dominique Darius each walked on the… Read more »
Kiki Iriafen,Talia von Oelhoffen, and Rayah Marshall are not going to be replaced on the current roster. Gottfield will have to go back to the portal to get some shooters with size to contend next season. But for now, Saturday at Westwood! Beat the Ruins a second time, on their home court would be huge!
The last thing I’m worried about is Gottlieb’s ability to attract talent. She’s an absolute player magnet, and has been at every single college HCing position she has held (also at UCSB and CAL).
No doubt about that. After the run they will have in March she will have her pick in the portal.
Gottlieb is awesome — and on so many fronts. She relates so well to these hotshot players (no easy task), and seemingly has no trouble getting them to mesh and play/sacrifice for the team as opposed to seeking individual glory — which always comes anyway on a great team.
USC lands elite defensive lineman Simote Katoanga Rancho Santa Margarita (CA) Catholic four-star 2026 DL Simote Katoanga (6-5, 240) has revealed his commitment to the USC Trojans. Blair Angulo (247Sports) — This pushes USC to the No. 1 spot in the class rankings, giving new general manager Chad Bowden another prominent victory since he arrived in Los Angeles last month. “Honestly, they’re close to home, and it’s the place I want to be,” Katoanga told 247Sports. “They were telling me I could be a big part of what they are building. I always wanted to start something new instead of joining something.… Read more »
With the right coaching this kid could be the real deal.
The Irish really wanted this kid. If not for the addition of Bowden, etc, gotta believe that where he would have ended up, just like KVA, and all then others.
USC’s outright theft of super-GM Chad Bowden from ND is the most laudable accomplishment I’ve seen USC football make since stealing D’Anton Lynn from UCLA.
Thank you Jen Cohen!
Canada should be grateful to us. If they were ever invaded,withgout us, their military couldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag.
We were grateful for them on D-day. They lost a lot of people along with us.
That was a different Canada. Somehow or other I can’t imagine Canadians booing loudly our national anthem back in 1945.
What’s going on with USC recruiting? All of a sudden it seems all kinds of guys want to visit, more than once. Now that they have a new Williams committed, Ryder Lyons gets predicted to USC. Did HOV come into a windfall or something? If this keeps up USC is going to have a very very good 26 class.
We finally have a great (and creative) football GM, who also happens to be an excellent recruiter, and a superior supporting operational staff that can compete with the big boys now that Jen Cohen has begun to take such an active, intelligent role.
I’m hoping Chad Bowden and the rest of his team can bring in lots of transfer portal talent that can help us in 2025. Nice to finally be getting the 2026 recruits back to SC after so many years of losing them to Oregon and other schools. Just enjoy this time!
Coming from a notorious negative poster, I can’t help thinking the football program is finally throwing its weight around in its new infrastructure, its improved coaching staff and appears to be aggressive in “taking” what it wants in recruits(and that means upping the money bags) so this elite coaching & recruiting staff has a calling card it needs to get what it wants. It’s about damn time! While I am not sure this turnaround is early enough to make a big enough difference for the 2025 season, it atleast should build up a confidence factor where Nick Saban’s “sleeping giant”… Read more »
The only thing holding back USC football is the Head Coach’s terribly flaw Offensive Philosophy. Once he either changes or leaves the “sleeping giant” will roar.
I agree. It just nags me the system Riley runs. Watching the 2024 CFB playoff games. It’s hard not to notice the sophistication, multiple sets, the shifts to create the power game thus setting up the passing game, heck they even ran the I-formation a bunch. Instead I plunk down in my seat in that historic stadium called the Coliseum and watch the college version of “go long” “get open” we played in the street as kids. A run sprinkled in. Sure there was some wiggle room in the Pac12 or former B12 to finesse some wins, but never compete… Read more »
Jamaica, Hope you are doing well. I now rarely post (IMO, the board has turned on LR and discussing SC football is, for me, simply a waste of time in such an environment – AND I refuse to join the LR debate). I just wanted to say HI, and comment that LR is finally getting the professional staff and financial support that Lanning has had at OR for three years. OR was way ahead of curve on the major changes in collegiate football. I have felt for some time that SC needed a professional GM not responsible to the HC… Read more »
RJJ thanks for the response and your posts are missed due to their insights and opinions. You’re a better man than me able to walk away from posting this blog sparingly. We both agree though the leadership has opened their eyes and made moves sorely needed. If all this support package assembled is kept together, I’d like to see what the end result accomplishes.
I REALLY like AD Cohen. She is no one’s fool and her “let’s do this RIGHT rather than FAST” approach is exactly what is needed for a rebuild and one to last. Patience, planning, and time.
USC wins the first game of three against RICE (in Houston) 7-4 in 11 innings.
Stanky’s team is off to a 6-0 start.
First win v. Rice in series history. Coach Stank is getting it done.
The 6-0 start is USC’s best since 2015. I was originally skeptical of this hire. I was looking for USC to land Andrew Checketts, the winningest coach in UCSB history, and now in his 14th season leading the Gauchos (4-1 this season). But Stanky (from Grand Canyon — 11 years) has turned out to be just what the doctor ordered for USC after years and years of poor baseball head coaches for USC. Heading into his third season at the helm, Andy Stankiewicz has guided the Trojans to their first back-to-back 30-win seasons since 2001-02 under Hall-of-Famer Mike Gillespie and… Read more »
Sam Darnold predicted as Pete Carroll’s ‘bridge’ for Raiders rebuild Shane Shoemaker (The Sporting News) — Fortunately for top free agent Darnold, the NFL is never short of quarterback-needy teams, and one of them is the Las Vegas Raiders. CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin predicts that the Raiders will be the team to sign Darnold, projecting a three-year, $114 million deal, citing how the former Trojans QB has “restored his image” while with the Vikings since his days with the Jets and Panthers. NFL insider Benjamin Allbright also has Darnold landing with the Raiders, referring to him as a “bridge quarterback.” Seeing… Read more »
I am hoping Darnold is signed by the Raiders. In my retirement, I live only an hour’s drive from Las Vegas and would love to attend a game with Darnold at QB. I have many fond memories of Sam at USC and the top one is that incredible 52-49 last-second Rose Bowl win over Penn State.
USC lands 4-star recruit Jonas Williams after QB flipped commitment from ORE Antonio Morales (The Athletic) — LOS ANGELES – Four-star, top-100 2026 QB prospect Jonas Williams announced his commitment to USC on Friday afternoon. Williams, who plays for Lincoln-Way East HS (Frankfort, Ill.) had been committed to ORE since last August. It’s especially rewarding for the Trojans, who not only added a QB to their 2026 class — but took one from a chief recruiting rival that has dominated them lately. Williams is the No. 93 overall player in the 2026 cycle and the No. 6 overall QB, per the 247Sports… Read more »
So USC steals a guy from ND who steals a guy from Oregon! It’s a crazy world, college football, glad at least USC comes out on top on this one.
Nice…….the machine is starting to turn. Let’s hope a few OL gems fall our way. Either way……it’s looking up….for recruiting.
Rumors are flying that USC will flip Jonas Williams 4* 2026 QB from Oregon.
The NCAA is a waste. They have tampering rules which they don’t enforce. They don’t enforce any of their rules unless they don’t like you. Then they come after you like Bidens FBI, IRS and Justice department. If they fell under Elons waste cutting he would eliminate them altogether. To me, they just seem to be a bunch of educational elites collecting a big pay check for doing nothing.
They certainly are fading away with each day. Not sure what they have control of anymore. Once the Big10 and SEC completely take over college sports, the NCAA will become irrelevant all together.
I don’t know what the solution is but part of the solution should be to get rid of the NCAA. Like I said, they are collecting big pay checks for doing nothing.
The NCAA has shown a level of ineptness and corruption that even the democratic party can’t achieve. they are almost irrelevant. Hope they get euthanized soon.
It’s time for some Donald Trump like figure to say YOU’RE FIRED!!!!!
Movie Speech (2004) — Coach Brooks Soviet Pre-Game Speech delivered by Kurt Russell
“Tonight we are the greatest hockey team in the world.” — 2:19 long
2025 4 Nations Face-Off: Canada vs USA 5:00 pm ESPN
I am really looking forward to this. The last game was played in Canada and when the US National Anthem was played the fans resoundingly booed. The two Tkachuk brothers took exception to that and as soon as the puck dropped there were 2 fights within the first 9 seconds. We went on to win the game 3-1. Tonight’s game is the Boston area and the team requested the President show up to support the anthem and the team. This game is for Championship of the 4 Nation Face-Off (which is being done to replace the All-Star game). Go USA!!… Read more »
I’m confused with what LR does. He used to work with QB’s…..sort of a QB coach as well as being HC. Somehow that changed whereby he’s watching the rest of the team. What does he do? Does he just walk around….watch the defensive line for a while and then watch the receivers for awhile. That seems to me to be a waste of time. He should just trust his position coaches and spend his time doing what he does best…..working with QB’s and not leaving that to Luke Huard.
Looking to option the video and audio rights of Rob Ryan at the spring LA Country Club Sunday brunch?
JuJu Watkins, Kiki Iriafen combine for 52 points leading USC past No. 22 Michigan State Ahmad Akkaou (247sports) — iNo. 4 USC overcame a full-court press that forced 11 fourth-quarter turnovers to close out its 83-75 win over No. 22 Michigan State Wednesday at the Galen Center. The Women of Troy (24-2, 14-1 Big Ten) went into the fourth quarter with a comfortable 19-point lead, but in the blink of an eye, they had their backs against the wall, holding a shrunken six-point lead with 4:01 left in the game. Freshman guard Kennedy Smith got a floater to drop and sophomore guard JuJu Watkins (28 points) got a fastbreak layup… Read more »
Gottlieb’s team ranks 108th in turn overs. That seems to be the one thing that gets them in trouble.
SC’s baseball team is 5-0. This baseball coach that they got from Grand Canyon is a really good baseball coach. I think that sooner or later they will start to challenging for a NC in baseball.
Unless Carol Folt doesn’t care anymore being a lame duck president. She became supportive to the needs of USC football. I don’t believe Jen could have provided the personal/resourses she did if Folt was not agreeable. And for what Jen has been allowed to do it would be pretty hard for the incoming new president to stop the momentum. So, thank you Carol Folt!
AW. My buddy picked up that there is consideration to nix the spring game. I can’t find this rumor anywhere.
I don’t know whether it is true or not but I can see a reason for it. Tampering is supposed to be against the rules. But it goes on all the time and nobody does anything to enforce it.If you don’t enforce a rule then that rule no longer is a rule. Some of these 4 and 5 star players are going to be a bust when they get to the college level.They reached their athletical peak early when they were in high school. They’ll never adjust to the faster game in college. But other new recruits are going to… Read more »
Chris Trevino (USCFootball.com) — USC’s shift away from a spring game is in line with other programs such as OHIO ST and NEB. NEB HC Matt Rhule made headlines several weeks ago, citing the NCAA Transfer Portal as the primary reasoning for the decision. “The word ‘tampering’ doesn’t exist anymore,” Rhule said earlier this month. “It’s just an absolute free open common market. I don’t necessarily want to open up to the outside world and have people watch our guys and say, ‘He looks like a pretty good player. Let’s go get him.'” “I dealt with a lot of people… Read more »
Seems like a good move but unfortunate casualty of the new era. Always looked forward to Yogi Roth gushing over “all the new talent”.
I stopped paying serious attention to the so-called Spring Game many years ago.
The main goals are not to show much (certainly nothing remotely important) and to pray for no serious injuries during 3/4 speed, don’t-sweat-too-much competition.
They were definitely a hyped-up Yogi favorite, however.
Sark announced that Texas was not doing a spring game.
Schools like TEXAS, NEB and OHIO ST sell out their huge stadiums every game, come rain or shine, or team quality for that matter. Canceling their spring games basically means nothing to them, except for some drop-in-the-bucket loss of spring ticket sales revenue. While I’m not disturbed in the least with USC doing away with the so-called Helton-named “Spring Showcase”, which actually showed and meant nothing — I do hope USC comes up with a worthwhile Trojan fan/player engagement day long before August that isn’t just another way to milk money out of them. USC needs to take further steps… Read more »
Couldn’t agree more. Seems there’s been a disconnect between fans and players / staff for some time. Perhaps the constant portal transferring these last few years isn’t the best foundation like we had in years past. Throw in LR who intensifies the disconnect environment by staying in the shadows from students, alumni, fans, donors. I hate to name drop PC, which I know gets tiresome, but the guy was everywhere, smile and all. Hell he used to have youth summer football camps at Jones field and stayed out there all day with the little guys. Rant over.
I get you. Good rant. It’s difficult not to think of the long, successful shadow left by PC sometimes, especially when juxtaposed vs LR. Carroll was/is just a lot to live up to, especially in view of his fearless, engaging ways. He was such a quick study at USC. In fact, I frequently go out of my way not to mention PC because it reeks of piling on. But it would have been very interesting to see how PC in his prime would have handled USC football in this era. I suspect he would have been as spectacular as he… Read more »
A couple observations. I suspect Norman, Okla. is not too far from Muleshoe, Tx culturally. They are both a galaxy away from Southern California, some good, some not so good. I wonder if Jen Cohen could have got the current staff to come work with The Cat. Then again she might have gotten a really good OC and USC would be better off than it is now.
That’s an interesting question. Clay had minimal experience at the top spot but that’s not always necessary to be successful, but it helps. You’re right, Cohen is so valuable, has really worked behind the scenes to improve the program as much as possible. As far as comfortableness and alignment, absolutely LR fit better with OK. USC and the LA atmosphere is so different in many ways good and bad. Wonder if LR wishes he was back in Norman.
Ok this makes sense. It was our tradition to go every year, make a day of it. Of course, I’d rather see us hang on to some of these kids and get out of this program slump. I guess these things are the price we pay for the new CFB free for all.
LR is a young coach who is still transitioning. He’s evolving. And he has shown that he can do some things with exception skill. He hires really top notch people and he is skilled at running an offense. He recruits well too. Look at all the players that he brought in from Georgias back yard and other places down south. True, he couldn’t hang on to a lot of them but just bringing them in the first place….grabbing them from some of the big SEC schools that were after them shows he can get things done. He’s stubborn. His mind… Read more »
USC’s Lindsay Gottlieb selected to Naismith Coach of the Year watch list Ahmad Akkaoui (247sports.com) — Lindsay Gottlieb was selected as one of 15 head coaches to the Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year watch list Wednesday. She was a finalist for the award last season. She is in her fourth season leading the Women of Troy. She had a 12-16 overall record in her first season in 2021-22, a 21-10 overall record and a first-round appearance in the NCAA tournament in her second season — the team’s first appearance in almost a decade — and a 29-6 overall record, a… Read more »
(4) Trojans v (22) Spartans tonight. Hope it goes better for Troy than that 1200 BC battle with Sparta!
Galen, 6:30 pm, Peacock/710 AM
OC Register’s Jim Alexander: The State of Southern California Sports, 2025 – ranking the most relevant teams The annual ranking of the region’s pro/college teams considers multiple factors – and while No. 1 shouldn’t be a surprise, the list keeps growing. The ranking involves a combination of competitive success, historic importance in the market, interest level, and not insignificantly, fan passion. 1. Dodgers (last year 1) 2. Lakers (last year 2) 3. Rams (last year 3) 4. (tie) USC and UCLA women’s basketball (last year tied at No. 6): All these years, as women’s basketball has grown as a sport and… Read more »
I like the quip in #16. Funny.
2026 Orange Lutheran (CA) four-star OL Sam Utu (6-4, 300+), the nation’s No. 5 rated interior line prospect, has already set official visits with SMU, USC and TEXAS. Blair Angulo (247sports.com) — “I’m headed to SMU on May 1, then USC on June 13 and Texas on June 20,” Utu told 247Sports at the Under the Radar 5v5 tournament over the weekend. “Those three schools have been in steady contact with me and I’m excited to take the official visits to get a feel for the coaches, the team members, all the facilities and what their plans are. “I have family members that have been athletes… Read more »
We need O-Linemen and LB’s and a lot of them. The more you have , the more chance that 1 or 3 will step up and become one of those Pro Bowlers who were only 3 stars in high school.
USC women (23-2/13-1) move up from #6 to #4 after beating UCLA 71-60 Official AP rankings 1. Notre Dame 2. Texas 3. UCLA 4. USC 5. UConn 6. South Carolina 7. LSU 8. Ohio State 9. North Carolina 10. TCU 11. Duke 12. Kansas State 13. NC State 14. Kentucky 15. Tennessee 16. Oklahoma 17. West Virginia 18. Alabama 19. Baylor 20. Georgia Tech 21. Maryland 22. Michigan State 23. Creighton 24. Oklahoma State 25. Illinois Yahoo Sports AP ballot 1. Texas 2. Notre Dame 3. UCLA 4. UConn 5. USC 6. South Carolina 7. LSU 8. TCU 9. Ohio… Read more »
Over the next 11 days USC has Michigan St, Illinois and UCLA. Quite a run of games heading into tournament season.
One down. Two to go.
Sources: SEC, Big Ten building momentum to further expand College Football Playoff to 14 or 16 teams Ross Dellenger (Yahoo Sports) — Within the SEC and Big Ten, momentum is building to further expand the playoff to 14 or 16 teams, assign multiple automatic qualifiers per league — as many as four each for themselves — and finalize a scheduling arrangement together that may fetch millions in additional revenue from TV partners, sources told Yahoo Sports. The playoff format change would clear the way for SEC administrators to, finally, make the long-discussed move to play nine regular-season conference games and… Read more »
With the roster for varsity teams being limited to 105 players it might be time to revisit the old freshman team at USC. The walk on players could develop as if they were JC players and it probably wouldn’t count against the 105 limit or years of eligibility. One thing is for sure being cut from the roster would be a death blow for players. For instance Bear Alexander was on the roster and counted against the limit last season. He was unable to play due to lack of proper attitude, so he should have been cut. End of story… Read more »
She is probably the best speaking AD I have ever heard at USC. I like her style, clarity, determination, and her dedication. USC could not have done better in hiring an AD.
She is great. I even think Carol Folt was a good president when it comes to USC football and when you compare her with recent USC presidents like Wanda Austin, Max Nakias and even Steven Sample. I could be wrong and may stand to be corrected(I’m not expert on this) but none of them seemed to be in favor of making USC football great again. Folt seemed to me to be in favor of strengthening the program and not downgrading it.