Lincoln Riley makes announcement regarding USC team captains in 2024
The USC Trojans and head coach Lincoln Riley announced their team captains for the 2024 college football season following Tuesday practice. Sort of. That group comes with a bit of a twist this season. Riley said that instead of season-long captains, the Trojans are going to name them on a game-by-game basis. For the season opener this weekend, the USC captains will be quarterback Miller Moss, center Jonah Monheim, wide receiver Kyron Hudson, linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold and safety Akili Arnold.
“Our captains are going to be earned each week,” Riley said, adding that he will continue his weekly meeting with the team leadership council, which is a permanent group of players.
There was no sense from Riley how many of those captains could continue throughout the season or how many could change week to week.
“That’ll change, not necessarily on somebody not doing a good job,” Riley said. “It’s just going to be the five that we think are the most deserving and the ones that we want leading us out each and every week. Kind of like this game of college football, every week you’ve got to earn it.”
Monehim said he sees is as a positive development, based in part by what he saw last December in the bowl game against Louisville. After Monheim, Caleb Williams, Justin Dedich, Shane Lee and Mason Cobb served as captains for the 2023 season, Riley selected four different captains for the Holiday Bowl — Moss, wide receiver Tahj Washington, safety Bryson Shaw and linebacker Chris Thompson Jr.
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“He named captains for the Holiday Bowl and that turned out well for our preparation that week and how that turned into the game,” Monheim said. “He’s got a good pulse for the team and different guys are always in different situations as the year goes on.
Monheim said the changing captaincy will encourage new leaders to step forward throughout the year and push current and former leaders to continue to lead.
Monheim and Moss have different levels of experience as captains from last season. Kyron Hudson is a veteran presence in a talented wide receiver room who has often received praise from the USC coaches for his work ethic. Arnold and Mascarenas-Arnold both transferred in from Oregon State this offseason. Both went to work quickly at USC, establishing themselves as starters and leaders for their position groups and the overall defense.
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