Donte Williams on USC's Maximus Gibbs: He's 'a solar eclipse'

It’s been an eventful last couple of weeks for Maximus “Big Max” Gibbs. The 6-foot-7 true freshman made his collegiate debut on Saturday in USC’s 37-14 win over Colorado just five days after the announcement that he was switching from the offensive line to the defensive line.

On Monday, interim USC head coach Donte Williams gave some insight into the move and the single snap Gibbs played on Saturday. 

“We lack depth right now on the defensive line with so many injuries even coming into the season,” Williams said. “Guys are banged up, and they’ve played a lot of snaps, so we wanted to make sure we put some mass in there on the d-line, and nobody has more mass than Max.”

Gibbs is listed on the roster as 390 pounds, but he has lost weight since arriving on campus. 

“The strength staff, and credit to Max also, I want to say he’s lost about 50 pounds,” Williams added. “He lost 50 pounds and is still a solar eclipse.”

Maximus Gibbs is a local product

Gibbs is from nearby powerhouse St. John Bosco High School, and the move to defense for the local product might not be permanent. He told the media on Saturday that it was temporary, but he emphasized that he would fill in wherever he is needed for the Trojans. He definitely did a great job on his single play on Saturday on defense.

“You see on the play they tried to run power,” Williams said remembering the debut. “He took on the tight end, he took on the tackle, and he took on the puller, and nobody could move him. Colorado happened to bounce the ball on that particular play, but if they ran where the ball was supposed to go, it was going to be trouble. Max was going to eat up all three blockers and the ball carrier.”

Despite being a three-star recruit, Gibbs held offers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma and Oregon, among others. He was the star of the Netflix show “Coach Snoop,” a two-season show released in 2018 profiling a youth football league created by rapper Snoop Dog in an effort to keep young men off the streets and focused on their athletic goals. 

Gibbs started on the show when he was 13 years old as a member of the offensive line for the Diamond Valley Steelers. Other participants on the documentary include former USC and current Pittsburgh Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and former Washington and current New York Giants receiver John Ross.