Lincoln Riley states it is 'highly, highly unlikely' he would recruit two quarterbacks in one class

There are plenty of head coaches known for their work with quarterbacks. None, however, have eclipsed the individual success that those coached by USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley have over the years.

That success has made it so that plenty of quarterbacks want to play for Riley. However, as he recently shared, it’s highly unlikely that he would ever want to recruit multiple quarterbacks in one class.

“I don’t ever want to say ‘never’ but it’s highly, highly unlikely this day and age,” Lincoln Riley said. “Especially with the fact that if you got in a situation where you just didn’t have enough guys, would you look at it? Maybe. The more likely scenario in this day and age and more common is you might take a high school guy and possibly look at somebody in the portal to add to it.”

One challenge that’s been presented in the modern game is the Transfer Portal and how coaches choose to manage it. A player like Malachi Nelson has the ability to transfer out of the program and can make it so that there’s a spot that needs to be filled on the roster. It also makes it easier to fill those roster gaps.

“I just have never believed in trying to stack guys up at the same age,” Riley said. “Not saying ‘never.’ There’s always a possibility but it’s not something that I believe in.”

Lincoln Riley quarterbacks are more than proven over the years. Going back to his time as the head coach at Oklahoma, he’s coached three different Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks. All three of those quarterbacks went on to be the first overall pick in the NFL Draft.

To this point, the USC Trojans have already added Julian Lewis to their 2025 class. Lewis is a five-star recruit in the Class of 2025, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He is, currently, the third-ranked quarterback in that class.

For the 2024 season, Lincoln Riley is expected to turn to Miller Moss at quarterback. He doesn’t come as highly recruited as some other Riley quarterbacks have. However, he’s still someone who Riley and USC have faith in this year.

Lincoln Riley leaves door open on USC quarterback competition

Despite being confident in Miller Moss, Lincoln Riley recently left the door open to USC having a quarterback competition this season.

“Miller had the best spring like I told you guys at the end of the spring. There’s no question if we were playing at that point that he would have been the starter. In my history man, a lot changes you know, I mean, you got some other guys in the room. You know,  Jayden [Maiava] and Jake [Jensen], they’ve got reps, they have gotten better fast,” Riley said.

“We’re excited to see those guys, excited to see what Jayden can do after now having an offseason where he understands the offense and can grow. So my expectation is he’s going to be quite a bit better than what he was. And then certainly the expectation is that Miller and Jake and the guys that have been here are going to continue to grow too. So yeah, I mean, it’s not a decision that we had to make in the spring. So we didn’t. I think I gave you guys a fair and honest update as to where it was but then at the same time, you know, we’re going to rep these guys, they’re all going to rep. We’re gonna rep these guys here until we feel separation right now and not trying to factor in too much of what happened before.”