Lincoln Riley seeing positive signs for USC on both sides of the ball

USC head coach Lincoln Riley hasn’t exactly gone out of his way to heap praise upon the Trojans this offseason. There’s clearly a sense that Riley and those around him know the end goal of an elite USC Trojans football program is achievable. But in the short term, most of the comments from Riley and staff have dealt with the need to overhaul the roster and the fact that they have a long way to go to get where they want to be.

But the fourth practice of spring ball brought with it some outright positivity from Riley, who is seeing early steps forward on. both sides of the ball.

“I think there’s some impressive things going on in terms of retention and putting in the systems and schemes,” Riley said. He added that the competition has gone back and forth between the offense and defense through the first week or so of spring ball.

Riley said it’s obvious a number of players are getting in extra work and study. That’s a virtual requirement if a program is going to climb up into the ranks of the elite.

“[It’s] what you have to do,” Riley said. “Twenty hours a week is not enough to be an elite college football player. Guys have got to do the little extra things. It’s certainly not perfect, but I see more out here that are certainly doing that. And you can see the results of that as we build quickly. So, excited about the way we’re practicing.”

The USC Offense is Moving Along

Riley said the USC offense is somewhere around the midpoint of installing the base system. That’s slightly ahead of where he guessed they be at this time, he said.

“Guys have done a nice job picking it up so far,” Riley said.

The next steps, according to the head coach, will be fitting it to what USC has in terms of players and position groups. It’s an interesting concept, considering the Trojans are still planning to bring in double-digit additions (at least some on the offensive side of the ball) this offseason. So there’s some shooting at a moving target involved. But the USC coaches know what they have in quarterback Caleb Williams, a trio of running backs, a bunch of talented receivers and tight ends and a veteran offensive line.

“Through spring, we’ll get a feel as coaches for some of the things that we feel like are going to be strengths of our offense,” Riley said. “How to feature certain players, certain position groups, and start to mold that at the back end of spring.”

Riley Likes What USC Has Up Front

USC brings back a significant number of starts and snaps in its offensive linemen. Courtland Ford, Andrew Vorhees and Brett Neilon are all returning starters. Justin Dedich and Jonah Monheim have recorded starts as well. Veteran transfer Bobby Haskins remains sidelined, but will push for time when he returns.

“I like our group,” Riley said. “I do. Experience is a tough thing to beat up there. We’ve got a couple of guys…that are really good players, that I think have picked up our stuff very fast, that are good leaders. And I think more than anything, those guys are motivated to play some of the best ball of their careers…Based on what we like to do schematically and what these guys do well, I think it’s a pretty good fit.”

Riley highlighted Nielon, Vorhees and Dedich, adding that he had conversations with them heading into spring about what needed to be done up front to get this offense where it needs to go.

“I think those guys individually have taken some big steps physically, mentally, and have done a nice job leading that group,” Riley said.

Riley praised the coaching the linemen received from previous coaches, laughing off the common thought that an outgoing staff is full of terrible coaches and the incoming group features all of the best coaches in the country.

“There’s certainly some things schematically that we do different that these guys haven’t done before, but they’re picking up on it quick,” Riley said. “I think more learning to play with the mentality that we want to play with, learning to see a defense in the vantage point that we do, has been the bigger part of it. And it’s progressing.”