Lincoln Riley on the Staying Power of Solomon Tuliaupupu

When head coach Lincoln Riley arrived at USC, he would quickly begin the process of a massive program overhaul. A sizeable portion of that work was done with regard to the roster. It didn’t seem like a day passed without a player going into the portal from USC, or coming out of the portal and entering the Trojans’ program. One player whose name was never listed in the portal was Solomon Tuliaupupu. But it appears that wasn’t from a lack of trying on Riley’s end.

“Honestly, I tested him pretty early when I first got here,” Riley said. “I basically gave him every out possible to leave the program.”

Riley couldn’t afford to keep many, or any, players on the roster who wouldn’t be productive members of the program right away. USC fans were comfortable giving their new head coach a honeymoon period. But that’s not what Riley saw. He consistently said they would compete right away and this was not a long-term rebuild.

Riley had an existing relationship with the standout linebacker from his high school recruitement. Tuliaupupu won the Butkus Award at Mater Dei High School as the nation’s top linebacker in the 2018 recruiting class. He held offers from just about everywhere, including Oklahoma and then-head coach Lincoln Riley.

Tuliaupupu signed with USC, but foot surgery ahead of his freshman season kept him out for all of 2018. Additional surgery during 2019 fall camp cost him all of that season. His 2020 season was taken away by a knee injury suffered during summer workouts. And he didn’t play in 2021 while recovering from that surgery.

But those injuries just meant Tuliaupupu had more to prove when Riley arrived. The USC defender was pushed.

“I was interested to see where he would be at physically,” Riley said. “And then maybe more importantly, where he would be at mentally, when we came in. I mean, you go through that much, you just never know exactly how a guy’s going to handle it.”

Tuliaupupu Pushes Back

Riley said he was direct with Tuliaupupu when discussing his future with the Trojans.

“The only way he’s going to have a shot with all that we’re changing and then all he’s been through is, he’s got to be dying to be here, right?” Riley said. “And his motivation level has to be 100 out of 100 or this won’t work. And so I gave him every out.”

Riley said Tuliaupupu wouldn’t give in.

“He was calling me,” Riley said. “He was just insistent that this was the right move.”

Tuliaupupu got a vote of confidence from Mater Dei head coach Bruce Rollinson and brute forced his way onto the spring roster.

“At the end I was like alright, we’ll see how his body holds up, but man, you can’t question his determination,” Riley said. “How bad not only wants to play football, but he wants to play football at USC.”

Riley said he called Tuliaupupu and told him they’d give him a shot during spring ball. But he added that if Tuliaupupu didn’t prove himself during those 15 practices, it would likely be a different conversation heading into summer.

Tuliaupupu made the move from linebacker to defensive line, where he worked some on scout team last season. It clicked.

Tuliaupupu has played in all four games this season, registering a season-high 21 snaps at Stanford. He has four tackles and half a sack. And players constantly rave about his effort and work ethic. Standout defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu said just before fall camp started that he felt Tuliaupupu made the biggest jump this offseason of all the defensive linemen.

“He’s been awesome,” Riley said. “His motivation level has been off the charts. He’s been a great teammate. I think the position change has really been a great thing for him. And I’m just [as] proud of him as anybody on our roster right now. It’s pretty cool to see him making an impact for us.”