Mason Cobb is a Good Bet to Help Improve the USC Defense in 2023
Last December, the USC Trojans arrived in Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Championship Game with an opportunity to play their way into the College Football Playoff. But the USC defense went bust. Roughly eight months later, USC’s Mason Cobb arrived in Las Vegas for Pac-12 Media Day, representing the new hand this USC defense has an opportunity to play in 2023.
Cobb wasn’t on the USC roster last year. He didn’t have to see the Allegiant Stadium turf strewn with missed tackles, discarded playoff hopes and piles of red and white confetti. But he’s taking responsibility for it. And he’s one piece among many newcomers and returners working to make sure this season ends differently. Cobb said the 2023 Trojans speak often of the 2022 Trojans, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
“The talk about last year is we see what was left on the table,” Cobb said. “We talk about our ranking on defense and all that stuff. It’s a constant reminder.”
Strength coach Bennie Wylie used last year’s shortcomings as one way to bring the new transfers up to speed and bind them into the culture.
“Coach Wylie tells the transfers, ‘Just because you weren’t here doesn’t mean it wasn’t your fault. You should have been here.’” Cobb said. “Just so we all have something to work towards. I think that’s something we can use for motivation for sure.”
Cobb isn’t a player who needs extra motivation to give his all both on and off the field. He was an Academic All-Big-12 selection and a Second-Team All-Big-12 performer last season. When he hit the transfers portal after a 96-tackle season in 2022, Texas A&M and USC were the two programs to reach out and pursue him with consistency. Wherever he wound up, Cobb had a feeling that it might not be a seamless transition.
“I didn’t expect it to be all rainbows and everyone like,’ Oh, what’s up bro? Welcome,’” Cobb said of being a transfer addition and potentially upsetting the locker room or position group dynamic. “But it was like that, which was very surprising to me. I always felt the love from the players and the coaches. I never felt like I was stepping on anybody’s toes or vice versa.”
Cobb’s Arrival at USC
Cobb got to USC one day before classes began for the spring semester. He said fellow linebackers Shane Lee and Eric Gentry took him under their wings and did everything they could to help him get acclimated.
“Those guys were really welcoming,” Cobb said.
Cobb said he always took the academic side of college football seriously at Oklahoma State. But he realized the expectations of Lincoln Riley and USC were on a different level.
“I’ve never been tested like this before,” Cobb said of Riley’s demands on the academic side. “I think it’s good to make me uncomfortable and kind of push me a little bit to put more effort into school…Coach Riley likes us to do everything right.”
On the field and in the weight room, Cobb said he just put his head down and worked. He knew he’d need to prove himself to this group.
“I just showed them who I was,” Cobb said. “In the weight room, on the field, running, doing drills, giving my everything, leading by example.”
By the time spring ball started, it was clear what USC had added to the position. Cobb slotted in as the first-team middle linebacker and stayed there the entire time.
“The guy started trusting me, so I started speaking up a little more and it kind of took off from there,” Cobb said. “End of spring, they wanted me to be a little more vocal, so I started doing that. The guys really trust me, so I think that’s important.”
It’s the second year in a row a transfer linebacker has come in and made that kind of impact. Lee did it last season after coming to USC from Alabama. The more players USC can add to the defensive side of the ball with those qualities, the better the results should be.
Asserting Himself as a Trojan
It said plenty that Cobb was chosen as the USC defensive representative at Pac-12 Media Day last week. Riley clearly trusts him as a leader on that side of the ball. And quarterback Caleb Williams was impressed with his play on the field this spring.
It’s clear that Williams likes to do a little chirping on the field. He said Cobb is the same way.
“He not only talks a lot of trash, but he backs it up,” Williams said. “He’s made a bunch of good plays. Sometimes you just look at him and you go, that was a good play. That’s the type of player you want on your side of the ball.”
Cobb was outstanding last season when it came to run stops and tackles for loss. He tallied as many tackles behind the line of scrimmage by himself as the entire position group for USC in 2022. That ability to play aggressively and downhill will serve himself and the USC defense well this fall.
“We’ve got some fire,” Cobb said of this USC defense. “I think we have the right guys and the mentality is changing where, this needs to be strictly dominance…That’s going to be a big thing for us this year is being aggressive and physical and just dominating on defense.”
Cobb strictly played MIKE linebacker during the spring but expects to potentially work at middle and weakside linebacker during camp. The versatility of all the inside linebackers to play both spots could help with rotations and keeping them fresh. That’s a spot that needs to show up in a big way in 2023. But progress is expected from all 11 positions. This is a USC defense that could pretty easily see nine or 10 starters come from the 2022 and 2023 transfer portal classes. There were questions last year about how quickly that big group of transfer additions could coalesce. Cobb said he understands how they did it last year and expects the same this year.
“I think everyone knows what’s going on,” Cobb said. “I think everyone knows we all want the big trophy at the end of the year. And I think that’s where the camaraderie comes from. We all have the same goal. Coach preaches about it. Our one goal is to win it all. If you’re not here for that, maybe you should pick somewhere else. Everyone falls in line and everyone watnts the same thing. I think that’s where it’s easy to click.”
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