Lincoln Riley on USC's NIL in recruiting: 'You don't want to be going to a gun fight with a knife'

When Lincoln Riley took over at USC in 2022, he leaned heavily on the transfer portal to build the roster. The Trojans landed 19 players out of the portal that year, compared to 11 on the high school trail.

As he gets ready for Year 3, Riley is emphasizing high school recruiting – and NIL is a big reason for that. He said it’s allowing him and the staff to make a stronger pursuit at top high school targets.

Riley reiterated what he told On3’s Pete Nakos at Big Ten Media Days about USC’s “improved” NIL operation. He specifically cited the USC-focused NIL collective, House of Victory, as part of those efforts, which are helping the Trojans become the program Riley envisioned.

“I’ve talked a lot about our NIL and how it’s evolved,” Riley told reporters Thursday. “Certainly, we’re able to be more aggressive with high school guys than we’ve ever been with it. And a lot of that’s because our NIL has gotten a whole lot better. House of Victory and all those have done a phenomenal job.

“You don’t want to be going to a gun fight with a knife. In the beginning, we were going to a gun fight with, like, a toy sword. We’ve made a lot of progress. Those folks have done a great job.”

How Lincoln Riley, USC are shifting recruiting strategy

When Lincoln Riley took over in 2022, he brought in 11 players from the high school recruiting trail. A year later, that number jumped to 22 signees. USC’s incoming freshman class consists of 23 players from the 2024 cycle – a group that ranked No. 18 in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Ranking.

Looking ahead to the future, USC has 17 commitments from the 2025 cycle, headlined by five-star quarterback Julian Lewis. The Carrollton (Ga.) product is the No. 23 overall player in the class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. The Trojans currently sit at No. 16 in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Ranking.

But Riley said his plan with recruiting isn’t just shifting away from the portal and toward high school. It’s also about being more tactful in determining which players to target – not to mention building relationships along the way.

“I think some of it, too, our strategy … how many high school guys we’re taking, who we’re taking, what we’re targeting has changed drastically,” Riley said. “We have really shifted – as I’ve told you we were going to – we’ve really shifted not completely away from the portal. I don’t think we’ll ever be completely away from it. You can just look at the numbers. We’re headed to becoming the developmental program that we want to be long-term for the next 10 or 15 years.

“With that, there’s been more high school recruiting. There’s gonna continue to be more. The high school recruiting takes longer. It’s not as fast and furious as portal recruiting. A lot of times, you’ve got to have relationships that are developed for multiple years. Having some of the consistency that we’ve had on certain parts of our staff for a long time now makes a difference on that, as well.”

Riley promised the push toward development from the high school recruiting trail would continue. As it does, further improvements to USC’s NIL operation will have an even bigger impact.

“It’s become a bigger part of what we’re doing each and every year here. And that’s gonna continue to happen,” Riley said. “Obviously, as long as our NIL continues to climb, we’ll continue to be as aggressive there as we need to be.”