How Lincoln Riley’s aggressive moves are reviving USC’s receiving corps

The choice was made. His title, as of Jan. 1, was within the NCAA switch portal. However now that it was lastly official, Brenden Rice all of a sudden was feeling unsure. Possibly a switch was a mistake. Possibly the sophomore receiver ought to’ve stayed at Colorado, the place he caught 27 passes over two seasons. Possibly he may nonetheless return.

Doubt wouldn’t have lengthy to creep in. Inside a half-hour or so of his entry within the portal, Rice’s cellphone rang. It was Lincoln Riley, letting him know USC was .

Rice was floored.

“I’m like, ‘Wow. OK,’ ” Rice recalled Tuesday after USC’s first spring follow. “I [got] a few different calls, however as quickly as I heard Lincoln name, it’s important to go.”

The pace of the brand new coach’s outreach to Rice wasn’t essentially distinctive. Navigating an more and more aggressive switch portal requires a swift response, particularly while you intend to show over most of your roster. However the urgency with which Riley went after Rice and different receivers within the portal definitely spoke to how dire USC’s wants have been at that place upon his arrival.

These points turned painfully clear late final October, quickly after Drake London suffered a season-ending ankle harm. The underside instantly fell out of USC’s passing assault. The Trojans’ completion proportion tumbled 6 proportion factors from the earlier eight video games, their yards per try fell by 1.2 yards over the subsequent 4. With out its star wideout, USC was all of a sudden determined for playmakers down the sphere and on the perimeter.

So Riley and his workers forged a large internet. The primary receiver reeled in from the switch portal was Washington’s Terrell Bynum, an all-Pac-12 honorable mention-turned-grad switch who labored principally out of the slot final season.

Subsequent got here a well-recognized face. A former five-star prospect, Mario Williams, signed with Riley as a part of Oklahoma’s 2022 class as a result of he believed within the coach and his offense. As a freshman, Williams made an instantaneous mark with the Sooners, catching 35 passes for 380 yards and 4 touchdowns. However when Riley and his receivers coach, Dennis Simmons, left Oklahoma for USC, Williams adopted.

“Coach Riley is aware of how you can get the ball to children who want the ball of their fingers,” Williams mentioned, when requested about his choice.

Rice was nicely conscious of that popularity when he first heard Riley’s voice on the opposite finish of the road, pitching him on USC. Quickly after they hung up, he mentioned, Rice texted his father, Corridor of Fame receiver Jerry Rice.

“I’m going to Cali,” he wrote.

The arrival of Rice and the 2 different transfers helped to remake USC’s receiver room in a matter of weeks. All three are anticipated to issue into the combination at receiver, the place the race for a spot within the rotation is huge open firstly of spring.

“It’s as huge as this area is,” USC exterior receivers coach Dennis Simmons mentioned. “We’re nonetheless studying them. They’re nonetheless studying us. All people is working laborious although. Everyone seems to be dedicated to it. You already know, that’s an incredible place to begin.”

Colorado huge receiver Brenden Rice runs with the ball in opposition to Oregon in October.

(Andy Nelson / Related Press)

Williams would possibly have a lead in that regard, given his 12 months of expertise within the offense at Oklahoma. He already has established a reference to quarterback Caleb Williams, whom he calls one in all his closest associates.

The subsequent month might be essential for making extra of these connections in USC’s receiving corps. Gary Bryant, who led USC in receiving yards after London’s harm, mentioned he and different returning wideouts have labored on their very own with Williams. Others corresponding to Tahj Washington, Kyle Ford and Michael Jackson III, amongst others, will spend the spring jockeying for place on an unsure depth chart.

How that pecking order performs out most likely gained’t be determined till the autumn, however there must be loads of alternative to go round in Riley’s wide-open offense. The coach mentioned he expects to have a “naked minimal” of eight receivers concerned in each sport.

“I like what I noticed on the receiver place,” Riley mentioned Tuesday. “We’re gonna have some actually good battles. I believe we’re gonna have guys who we’re gonna be capable of use numerous other ways. We acquired some totally different ability units on the market.”

But when the chance arises so as to add much more receivers this summer season, anticipate Riley and his workers to proceed with their proactive method to the switch portal.

“We don’t have a ton of fellows,” Simmons mentioned. “We signed one receiver on this class. You have a look at any main college within the nation, that’s not the case. We positively want so as to add expertise — not essentially to remove from the expertise now we have right here, however to push the expertise now we have right here.”