Report: Former USC tight end Michael Trigg makes transfer decision

Former USC tight end Michael Trigg will transfer to Ole Miss, per Rivals reporter Neal McCready. Trigg entered the transfer portal on Jan. 10.

The moves comes after it was reported that former USC quarterback Jaxson Dart would also join the Rebels next season. Neither Trigg nor Dart have confirmed the news themselves.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound freshman played in just four games this past season, totaling seven catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. He came to the Trojans as a four-star recruit and the No. 4 tight end according to On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. Other than USC, he held offers from several big-time programs including Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State.

The tight end is ranked as the No. 38 overall prospect in the portal, per On3’s transfer portal rankings. He is also the second-ranked tight end available.

In addition to tight end, Trigg played defensive end and quarterback at Carrolton Day High School in Tampa, Florida. He was named to the 2020 PrepStar Dream Team as a senior after totaling 30 catches for 586 yards and five touchdowns.

Trigg showed off his unbelievable athleticism shortly after arriving at USC. A viral clip of a catch he made in fall camp prompted then-coach Clay Helton to call him “a creature” in a preseason SportsCenter interview.

Beastmode.

@mtrigg_23#FightOn ✌️ pic.twitter.com/jO7w9w0zdq

— USC Football (@USC_FB) August 18, 2021

“I don’t know if he’s a human, I’ve been calling him a creature for the last week,” Helton said. “He’s really a talented freshman that comes to us from Tampa, Florida. Came all the way out here to USC and really has had a nice sense of urgency of wanting to get on the field…as you can see.

Helton added that they showed the clip in a team meeting to teach a lesson to the younger defensive players about fundamentals of tackling.

“We actually showed this clip in a team meeting the other day and the amount of opportunities he made to create extra yards against some other freshmen he was going against — It was a tremendous learning lesson for our young people about ‘you better use your fundamentals of tackling’ because there are creatures like this all over the place in college football.”

USC finished with a 4-8 record and fired coach Helton just two games into the season. The Trojans hired Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley as his replacement at the conclusion of the year.

Michael Trigg is one of several USC players to enter the transfer portal since Riley was announced as coach. Those joining him include quarterback Jaxson Dart, receiver Bru McCoy, linebacker Raymond Scott and many others.