Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
USC

Rob Ryan jokes about recruiting trip as college assistant: ‘I’ll be good at it, for sure’

IMG_6598by:Nick Kosko•02/12/25•

nickkosko59

USATSI_19330218 (1)
Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Rob Ryan has got a lot of jokes but he certainly knows how to coach, and recruit apparently. The new USC linebackers coach had a wild press conference for his introduction, or, re-introduction to college football.

Ryan hasn’t coached in college since 1993 when he was the defensive line coach at Tennessee State. Things are quite different with college football compared to over 30 years ago.

But Ryan is still confident in his recruiting abilities even these days.

“Going out by myself, I would have probably broken every rule. No, I wouldn’t have, maybe a few of them,” Ryan said of recruiting on the road. “I think I’m kind of used to seeing a player, know what he looks like, and when you see a face that you’re used to looking at, you’re like ‘oh, I want that kid,’ you know? So I saw a couple of those on the road, and I’m like, ‘this would be pretty cool.’ 

“And then I got back here and … looking at these young kids, you know, he’s 170 pounds. Can you project? (I’m like oh), this is where it’s going to be a little different. So, you know, I’m still kind of getting used to that. But, you know, it’s a people business. So back when I was coaching at Tennessee State, 110 years ago, I used to sign a lot of kids, so I’ll be okay. I’ll be good at it, for sure.”

Ryan made no bones about his goals at USC, even if he’s not the man in charge. He wants to contribute to a national championship team.

“So obviously, I wanted to come to a place, if I’m going to leave pro football, I’m going to come to a college, you know, I want to win a national championship, and so I wanted to make sure I chose USC, you know, it’s the right place to be,” Ryan said. “And so, you know, I chose Lincoln. I’ve been a big admirer of his … kind of hard not to like a guy. He’s got all these Heisman Trophy winners, you know? 

“And then D’Anton Lynn, we go back … me and D’Anton coached together at two places, Buffalo and Baltimore. We were number one in run defense when I was there with D’Anton, you know?