Where’s Lincoln? Analyzing the USC head coach’s recruiting itinerary…
Riley has been especially active in Big Ten country and the South over the past couple weeks, signaling a key shift in program-building philosophy
Luca Evans (OC Register) — LOS ANGELES — From Jan. 22-26, a period of about 87 hours and 3,662 miles traversed, Lincoln Riley was in eight states in less than four days.
Take this, for example. On Jan. 24, Riley spent the morning visiting 2025 running back Marquise Davis and 2025 cornerback Trey McNutt at Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights in Cleveland, respectively. He then flew into Huntington, West Virginia, and drove up to Ironton, Ohio, as detailed by Ironton High coach Trevon Pendleton, then somehow made it to Chicago that night – about 450 miles away – to visit Fenwick High. The only explanation for the execution of such activity, it seems, is witchcraft. Or a private jet. That, too.
From visits posted on social media (it’s quite possible there are more), The Southern California News Group charted every Riley stop across the past two weeks on the recruiting trail in the bulletin board below, using the mapping service pinmaps.net.
The details of Riley’s travel demonstrate a clear effort to build a recruiting presence in certain areas across the country, and further establish his philosophy in building USC’s foundation coming off a disappointing year – most starkly, hitting the trenches in Georgia and traversing Big Ten country.
“Now, they’re going to be right in the spotlight of Midwestern football,” said Pendleton, who has seen USC at Ironton in the past but still described Riley’s visit as a “unique” situation. “So I think, with that being said, they’re going to target some Midwest kids more.”
BIG TEN FOCUS
Barris Grant has been coaching at Hillside High in New Jersey for nine years. Riley’s visit to Hillside to chat with junior edge rusher Darren Ikinnagbon on Jan. 22, Grant said, was the first time USC had come out in his tenure – and Ikinnagbon the first potential Jersey kid to play for USC, that Grant could remember, since linebacker Brian Cushing.
“Takes us back to the glory days, right?” Grant said Wednesday.
USC has actually had a couple of Jersey kids since Cushing, in former linebacker Anthony Sarao and safety Antwine Perez. The point still stands, though. And Riley’s visit spoke volumes about the program’s belief in Ikinnagbon, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound edge rusher who’s deep on the national radar but is one of the best-rated prospects in New Jersey.
“He thought Darren was (one of the) top three recruits in the nation, told him he’d look great in a Trojans uniform,” Grant remembered Riley telling Ikinnagbon.
Along with Ikinnagbon, Riley is making a clear point to plant roots in the northeast United States, notable as USC enters the northeast-centered Big Ten in 2024. Excessively nitty-gritty data shows that USC has made a clear effort to recruit Big Ten-area recruits harder since news of their conference realignment broke in summer 2022. After generally doling out around 8% of their total offers to recruits in states with a Big Ten football program, USC has targeted about 15% of their offers in the 2024 and 2025 classes in Big Ten country, a jump that’s higher than any other program (Oregon, UCLA, Washington) also entering the conference.
“If they’re going to be competitive in the Big Ten,” Stephens said of USC, “they’re going to have to do that, and be able to recruit the Midwest.”
GEORGIA BOYS
Our guys don’t look like that. We will soon.
The words foreshadowed USC’s recruiting approach for years to come. It was Riley’s promise after Georgia’s national championship win in 2022, pointing to the heft and size of their defensive line. And since, Riley has specifically targeted Georgia to bolster USC’s foundation in the trenches, continued with a couple days of travel in January.
On Jan. 17, Riley visited three Georgia programs in which USC has offered a defensive lineman – Cavalry Day’s Walter Mathis, 320-pound Greene County tackle Kevin Wynn, and Savannah Christian Prep blue-chipper Elijah Griffin. It’s a clear continuation of a USC emphasis, hitting the South for pass-rushers and heft on the line. According to 247 Sports, USC hadn’t recruited a Georgia defensive lineman/outside linebacker since 2009. But in the 2024 class alone, they snagged two in Kameryn Fountain and Lorenzo Cowan. The push for Southern passing game-wrecking balls continues.
SO LONG, CALIFORNIA
One major weakness in USC’s recruiting approach under Riley has been a seeming inability to attract some of the top talent in California, frequently losing out to programs like Oregon. That appears intentional, at some level, as Riley has rarely missed opportunities to point out flaws in the roster he inherited when taking over as head coach in 2022.
“You go take a deep dive into, alright, what hasn’t quite clicked in the previous years and we really studied that,” Riley said on national signing day, “and I came here and I saw a roster full of California kids. Full of ’em.”
And the further dive into the Northeast, Midwest and South, along with the conference change, has brought a decreased emphasis in California. USC hosted plenty of local recruits for on-campus visits last weekend, but Riley has rarely been seen out at California programs over the past couple of weeks. Since 2022, USC has offered more recruits from Texas than from in-state.
“People have to realize we’re not in the Pac-12 anymore,” Riley said on signing day. “Those days are over. Look where we’re playing. Look at the competition that we’re playing.”
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