Former USC defensive lineman announces transfer commitment

Former USC defensive lineman Jacob Lichtenstein is heading home. He announced his transfer destination on Friday — and it’s familiar territory.

Lichtenstein is joining Mario Cristobal at Miami, he announced via Twitter Friday. He’ll have two years of eligibility remaining.

DA CRIB🌴 @coach_cristobal pic.twitter.com/dFnhW4BrE4

— Jake Lichtenstein💣 (@BigLichh) December 17, 2021

Lichtenstein is very familiar with the Miami area. He’s from Fort Lauderdale, where he was a three-star recruit from Cypress Bay High School from the Class of 2017.

This season, Lichtenstein had 28 tackles and four sacks for USC. He started eight games for the Trojans and entered the transfer portal on Dec. 6.

USC had a rollercoaster season this year. The Trojans went 4-8 overall and 3-6 in Pac-12 action, and saw head coach Clay Helton get fired two games into the season. Donte Williams took over in the interim, and USC hired Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma after the regular season ended.

Cristobal is getting ready to start his first season as the Hurricanes’ head coach after four years at Oregon. The Miami native took over for Manny Diaz earlier this month and previously worked for his alma mater as a graduate assistant, tight ends coach and offensive line coach.

Mario Cristobal discusses his plan for Miami’s offense, defense moving forward

Mario Cristobal made the surprise decision to leave his post as Oregon head coach to install his vision in his hometown of Miami, Florida.

During his introductory press conference, Cristobal discussed his vision for an aggressive and multiple team, on both sides of the ball. For starters, he’s excited to build around starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke.

“In terms of the offense and defense, multiple on both sides of the ball and very aggressive,” Cristobal said. “You build it around your best players. It’s obvious watching from afar, watching film on the way in, there’s not a better quarterback in the country.

“I see a lot of big bodies and you need a lot of big bodies to make sure the quarterback is upright,” Cristobal continued. “Those big bodies got to be in great shape to be able to protect and knock people back off the ball to make sure we’re living in good third-down situations, to make sure the sticks are moving and were scoring lots of points. We got to surround him with explosive football players. I see a lot of guys with good length, I see some speed.”

Before expanding on his vision, the new Hurricanes coach has to get familiar with his pieces and their strengths.

“I want to make sure the specs and criteria we’re trying to hit are truly evaluated and make decisions from there as to where everyone fits,” Cristobal said. “Make an organizational chart, who fits into what position. Just keep bringing in talent. Keep increasing the level of competition. That’s the best way that we can enhance the roster.”