IMHO Sunday: Winning big is the best recruiting strategy

In my humble opinion, cardinal and gold thoughts on what I see, what I hear, and what I think from Los Angeles: Winning: There has been a lot of conversation this past week about the Trojans losing their third high-profile offensive tackle recruit, Lucas Simmons, from Clearwater, Florida. The previous week the Trojans lost out to the Miami Hurricanes for Floridian Francis Mauigoa, and some four months earlier, class of 2022 tackle Josh Conerly Jr. declared for Oregon. The Trojans are still searching for defensive linemen, as well, as they begin preparation for entering the Big Ten in 2024. Despite these disappointments, the Trojans, however, are still ranked No. 12 in the country, according to the On3 ratings. A key question: Can the Trojans stock up with enough physical linemen to compete with the Big Ten in 2024? Winning – Part 2: It’s certainly not a state secret that Lincoln Riley wants to win and wants to do it as early as this season. He has reshaped the roster, and one way or another has gotten rid of the “bad apples” and has brought in what most consider as good as it gets from the transfer portal. You already know transfer names like QB Caleb Williams, RB Travis Dye, WR Mario Williams , MLB Shane Lee, RE Romello Height, and CB Mekhi Blackmon. The overall consensus is that the Trojans, 4-8 in 2021, have improved their roster so substantially that they are now mentioned in the same preseason breath as other leading Pac-12 contenders Utah and Oregon.