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The "Trojans Walk" returns beginning with Rice

Greg Katzby:Greg Katz08/30/22
On3 image
(Photo courtesy of The Daily Trojan)

The highly popular “Trojans Walk”, the former traditional pregame event that welcomes the USC team as they depart their team buses off of Figueroa Blvd. and then proceed to walk to the Coliseum through a large spirit line of USC fans to the peristyle end of the Coli, is returning for the 2022 season.

WeAreSC confirmed the return of the Trojans Walk with Trojans’ director of football communications Katie Ryan, who was excited about the return of one of Troy’s great pregame home football traditions.

The Trojans Walk, which will be led by new head coach Lincoln Riley, will happen 2 hours and 45 minutes prior to home kickoffs. This Saturday’s Trojans Walk for the Rice home opener will begin at 12:15 p.m. Fans are encouraged to arrive early for “The Walk” to get a good viewing spot to welcome the No. 14 Trojans as they ready to do battle with the Owls from Houston, Texas.

Before the onset of Covid the past couple of seasons and the decline in football enthusiasm at the end of the Clay Helton era that forced cancellation the Trojans Walk, the event was arguably the most popular pregame Coliseum event for USC home football games. The brainchild of former USC coaching legend Pete Carroll, the innovative coach was looking for ways to bond his team with Trojans fans and to generate a high excitement level for his team before a home game.

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The Trojans Walk was the brainchild of former head coach Pete Carroll.
(Photo above by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The Trojans Walk started shortly after Carroll’s arrival and grew and grew so that the two-sided spirit line was routinely six deep on each side of the ropes. Carroll made sure his team walked through a designated alumni area next to the old Sports Arena and right into the bulk of adoring fans. During its height, “Conquest” or “Fight On” was played through a loudspeaker as the team made its way through the spirit line and through the gates of the peristyle end of the Coli. The team then proceeded to walk into their famous home and down the steps to the field.

The Trojans Walk became so popular that during the high point of Carroll’s coaching tenure at USC, the team would also walk by a large stage in front of the peristyle end where the Trojans’ pregame radio show was airing live, and the on-air personalities made it a segment of the production to describe the team walking by into the Coliseum as music blared and fans chanted loudly, “We Are SC…We Are SC!”

It figures that with all the preseason hype and the potential of Lincoln Riley’s program at a high level, the return of the Trojans Walk should again be a major happening before home game kickoffs. Including Rice, the Trojans have seven home games that feature Fresno State, ASU, Washington State, Cal (homecoming), Colorado, and Notre Dame.   

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