Lincoln Riley Saturday Viewing Points: Practice No. 12

Each Saturday during spring camp Lincoln Riley speaks with the media following practice via ZOOM and with the transfer window opening this week, USC’s head coach made his feelings known. Plus, what’s ahead for the team’s spring game one week away.

The Spring Transfer Window

With one week left before USC plays its spring football game, word got out that a few Trojans will be entering the transfer portal. Besides true freshman Jason Zandamela who arrived in January, and Tre’ Quon Fegans who transferred ahead of the 2023 season, defensive tackle Isaiah Raikes will join them. Coach Riley’s frustration was evident when asked specifically about Raikes’ rationale, “Um, I’m not going to get into it…it’s just one of those things we’re all dealing with right now.”

So I asked Coach, how do you really feel about the spring transfer window? His verbal answers were kind of non-committal when he said, “I don’t know that we’ve had it long enough for me to say…What you don’t love is you go through spring ball and invest some of these reps in people and then they don’t play for you in the fall. I don’t love that piece of it. Although that’s not going to be a huge part of your roster.–There’s always going to be a couple of outliers.”

“For every school and every set of coaches, you have to decide what your priority is.”

Ultimately, it’s about finding the right guys.

USC’s Defensive Secondary Is Standing Out

Coach Riley said, “It’s one of the bigger secondaries we’ve had since we’ve been here.” Across the board, USC’s cornerbacks are 6′-2″ or taller. But that’s not why anyone deserves starting consideration. Doesn’t matter if a you’re veteran like Prophet Brown and Jacobe Covington or a true freshman like Marcelles Williams, the best will play.

Earlier in the week, Trojans quarterback Miller Moss was asked which one of the defensive backs was standing out. Without hesitation, “Marcelles Williams has been awesome” Moss said.

Williams is one of the younger players for the Trojans, but he has a chance to start at USC. “For sure he does, yeah, I think everybody does. We don’t limit that just to upperclassmen or anything like that — it’s just the best players,” Riley said. “It’s been a combination of he’s been unusually consistent for a true freshman, very steady. His bad plays are not very bad. And then on top of that, he’s made some like outstanding plays.” Williams has also been making “explosive” plays when Riley mentioned a couple of notable interceptions.

High School Recruiting And NIL.

Coach Riley said when it comes to using NIL in concert with high school recruiting, “You put personal feelings aside, and you adapt to the rules that they put in front of you and use every advantage that you can.” So in a sense, his opinion on NIL and paying the high school recruit has changed. “It’s promoted a lot of great discussions because we want to continue to get kids out here.”

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