USC, Lincoln Riley expected to retain interim head coach Donte Williams

USC interim head coach Donte Williams will no longer be at the helm of the program, as the Trojans recently brought in Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma, but the Trojans are expected to retain Williams as a part of Riley’s staff, according to a report from WeAreSC’s Erik McKinney.

Williams’ fate at USC has largely been overshadowed in the past several weeks due to the Trojans making one of the biggest head coach hirings in recent memory. USC managed to scoop up Riley just a day after the Oklahoma Sooners lost to Oklahoma State during rivalry week; Riley amassed a 55-10 overall record and a 37-7 mark in conference play at Oklahoma, leading the Sooners to four College Football Playoff appearances. However, Williams’ future became a bit more clear on Sunday, as McKinney reported that “Williams is on campus and recruiting as part of USC’s big official visit weekend heading into Wednesday’s early signing day.”

Williams was named USC’s interim head coach early in the 2021 season, after Clay Helton was fired in his seventh season at the helm. At just 39 years old, he was hired as USC’s secondary coach in 2020, then quickly promoted to associate head coach before 2021, and came to USC after holding stints coaching secondary positions at Oregon, Nebraska, Arizona and San Jose State. Williams is seen as an up-and-coming coach in the college football realm, and before the season he even cracked Matt Zenitz’s list of 50 rising star position coaches in the country.

According to Zenitz, Williams ranked as the top recruiter in the Pac-12 in 2020 and ’21, his only two seasons at USC, and at the time was ranked No. 1 for the 2022 recruiting cycle. Under Williams, USC allowed just 216.3 passing yards per game last season, its lowest total since 2013. Meanwhile, he helped develop high-caliber talent in the secondary, as Chris Steee earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2020, and Olaijah Griffin finished with the third-highest Pro Football Focus grade among Pac-12 corners.

Additionally, Williams was the lead recruiter for USC on Five-Star Plus+ cornerback Domani Jackson. He initially landed a commitment from Jackson, but Jackson decommitted after Helton’s dismissal. However, thanks in large part to Williams, Jackson is still considering USC, and On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine gives Jackson a 78.1% chance of committing to USC.

It remains unclear exactly what position Williams will hold under Riley at USC. However, the Trojans recently brought in another secondary coach in Alex Grinch, who was a defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Oklahoma. Roy Manning, who was also brought to USC by Riley, last served as the cornerbacks coach at Oklahoma. It seems as though Riley will move one position coach elsewhere, and McKinney suggested the possibility of moving Manning to the outside linebackers.