THE LATEST: What’s Ahead with USC Defensive Line Recruiting

Whether it was at on the WeAreSC.com GarryP Trojan Huddle Message Board or written in articles we’ve published since early January, a HOT TOPIC has been Defensive Line Coach Eric Henderson’s impact on USC recruiting.

On January 11, we posted this in a thread about the “potential” next USC defensive line coach hire.

“The impact this hire will have on defensive line recruiting will be unlike anything USC has seen since Ed Orgeron.”

Although Coach Henderson, aka Coach Henny, was in the midst of a playoff run with the L.A. Rams and wasn’t officially added to the staff until January 15, he immediately hit the ground running with recruiting.

Two of the first elite prospects Coach Henny visited were Five-Star Manchester (GA) DL Justus Terry (1/24) and Four-Star Warner Robins (GA) Edge Isaiah Gibson (1/30).

Henderson also hit up Five-Star Savannah (GA) DL Elijah Griffin, Four-Star Charlotte (NC) DL Trajen Odom and many others who have since taken unofficial visits and also set June USC official visits.

Justus Terry – USC Commit

Terry had been a Georgia Bulldog commit since January 2023 and Gibson was at the top of Kirby Smart’s wish list for Edge prospects. There was little reason for either to look at USC seriously, mostly because the Trojans weren’t really trying prior to a few months ago.

“USC offered me way back when I was in ninth grade, but they never really talked to me,” Terry told WeAreSC last week after Manchester’s Spring Practice. “Coach Henny came in and changed that around. I’m on the list for the top D-Linemen that he wants, so he came and got me.”

While we get there is a lifetime in recruiting time between now and the early December signing period, Terry’s commitment hardly appeared shaky after we visited him on May 2.

“I really just went out there open minded, just really looking forward to what will help me in the future,” said Terry about his first USC visit. “I just put everything I was hearing to the to the side. You know, everyone talking about money and coaches, and that’s what changed my mind. No. It’s really about me, my business opportunities and my future. 

“I see myself being out there with the population they have, and it will help me start my business at an early age and benefit my future.”

Isaiah Gibson – USC Commit

On March 23 Terry and Gibson met for the first time at LAX. I would’ve assumed they had met on schools visits to places like Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, Florida St. and other top schools in the region, but they surprisingly hadn’t.

But both Terry and Gibson’s main attraction to USC began for similar reasons, Coach Henny.

“I like his coaching style and he’s from the south, he’s from New Orleans,” Gibson said. “I feel like I personally want to be coached by a southern person. It doesn’t matter if he’s gonna be in the SEC, it’s just the fact that he’s coaching. I feel like the southern culture of football is way different than anywhere in the country. So I just feel like that’s just a good opportunity to go to USC for sure.

Interesting nugget on Gibson

Gibson provided extremely interesting commentary after we asked what his mom thought of USC and his commitment to the Trojans. 

“My mom, she loves LA.,” said Gibson. She’s in the army, so she’s out there a lot. Probably three to four times a year. So, she loves it there. After I leave for school, she’ll move out to the West Coast.

“She’s thinking about moving to San Diego. So it just she just loves the overall feel of L.A. for sure. She loves the beach and you can’t beat L.A. weather. It’s always good and nothing like Georgia.”

Part of our conversation with Gibson last week was how unlikely gaining his and Terry’s commitment was on March 24.

“There was another big commitment that day,” said Gibson referring to Gus Cordova.

Coach Henny and recruiting

While there was proof Henderson was among the elite coaches in the NFL and there was no reason to doubt he wouldn’t be just as successful in the college ranks, prior to February we were mostly speculating on his potential recruiting prowess.

But since Henderson’s hiring, USC has hosted Terry, Gibson, Trajen Odom, Smith Orgobo, Hayden Lowe, Brandon Brown, Myron Charles, Chad Woodfork, Jared Smith, Corey Adams, Justin Hill and a few others on unofficial visits.

Next month USC will host most of the guys listed above on official visits.

Justin Hill, Myron Charles, Malik Autry, Xavier Ukponu, Chad Woodfork and Kevin Oatis are scheduled to take their USC officials June 7-9.

From June 21-23, the Trojans will host Elijah Griffin, Justus Terry, Jared Smith, Trajen Odom, Brandon Brown and Gus Cordova. We believe a few more will be added and a few subtracted in the coming weeks.

Who’s Next for USC?

For most it would’ve been enough for USC to earn the Terry and Gibson commitments, but USC is also in a very strong spot for Elijah Griffin. The feeling right now around USC is that the Trojans have a really good shot at getting Griffin.

As mentioned above, Griffin’s scheduled to come back to USC for an official visit on June 21-23. That will be one of the massive June official visit weekends. 

Jared Smith

Smith, from Thompson HS in Hoover (AL), is another elite prospect we’re hearing USC has a very good shot with. If the Trojans were to get any combination of five or six of the defensive linemen listed anywhere in this article, that would be an exceptional haul of D-linemen. Perhaps the best USC has had in my 22+ years covering the Trojans.

Jahkeem Stewart, potential reclassification

USC is also setting its sights on elite 2026 targets like Jahkeem Stewart, TomTom Topui and others. The Trojans would love to get early commitments from both. Three months ago I would’ve had an extremely difficult time keeping a straight face typing dome of the stuff I have the past 24 hours.

We should also mention there’s a very good chance Stewart reclassifies to the class of 2025, so that’s another extremely significant player to keep a close eye on. He’ll be at the USC vs LSU game in September and should he reclassify, he’d take his official visits during the season. The visits would come later in the Fall.

Trajen Odom

Odom took his USC official visit last month and he’s another top defensive line target the Trojans are in a very good spot with. The impact of the USC visit has been felt by all visitors this Spring, whether it be a top local talent like Trestin Castro of a kid from Chattanooga (TN) like Harry Dalton. 

USC didn’t earn its second class of 2025 commitment since Julian “JuJu” Lewis, until the Trojans flipped 5-Star DL Justus Terry on March 24. Terry had been committed to Georgia since January 2023, so we were a bit stunned when a source said they flipped him.

Now they’re going all out to gain a commitment from Odom and the April 6 visit was a significant part of that effort. 

“The visit just helped me build a better relationship with the staff,” said Odom. “And it also allowed me to really learn and get a better understanding of Coach (Lincoln) Riley, Coach D’Anton Lynn and Coach Henny’s plan for how they will elevate the program.

“Coach Henny is very impactful with my interest in the school. He’s is a coach that I know has the ability to develop guys, he has confidence in his teachings and he is genuine. He sees me being as d-linemen playing all across the line in whatever scheme the line would be in.”

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