Back in 2020, when NIL rules were approved but had yet to go into effect, I wrote about how USC was uniquely positioned to become the school of the new era. Turns out, that take was a bit ahead of its time.
USC apologized for the video that inspired that article, and as recently as 2022, the LA Times wrote about how Trojans boosters started a collective against the athletics department's wishes.
Fast forward to 2024. Clay Helton is gone, as is Mike Bohn. So is the Pac-12. And whether it be through new leadership, a new conference, or just the right amount of success and failure under Lincoln Riley, USC says they've found the right ingredients to finally get NIL kicking in Los Angeles.
"NIL has taken some monster leaps in the last several months, which has been positive," Riley told USCFootball.com. "I think for everybody, our fanbase and supporters, it's just been gaining an understanding of what it is and how it's not important, it's imperative. You have to have it. Last year, it was okay. It was great kind of outside of the whole collective world. Being in LA, our guys probably get more outside deals than anybody in the country, which is awesome. But we need the support to be right there with that too with our donors and our collectives. That has taken some massive, massive jumps here in the last several months."
The comments come after the best recruiting weekend of the Riley era.
The Trojans flipped 5-star defensive lineman Justus Terry from Georgia, who also happens to be from Georgia, and landed 4-star D-lineman Isaiah Gibson, another Georgian, plus 4-star Floridian safety Hylton Stubbs and 4-star Texan defensive lineman Gus Cordova. 2026 defensive back Dominick Kelly, another Floridian, also pledged to USC.
Pitching for NIL donations is kind of like my father-in-law's view on Bitcoin. When things are good, it means it's time to buy more. And when things are bad... it means it's time to buy more.
People ask how they can make an impact in our program. This is it!
— Dave Emerick (@DaveEmerickUSC1) March 27, 2024
If you enjoyed last weekend, there’s plenty more to come. 100% of what you give goes to support our athletes.
“If you give people a good enough why, they will always figure out the how.” https://t.co/tmIxGQP0Xk
"It's got to keep up, like any part of this," Riley said. "If you want things to get better, you've got to do something about it. Behaviors have to change. You have to tear down things and build new facilities. You have to bring more money in. You have to bring in great coaches. You have to raise more NIL. You've got to keep pushing the issue, and we're trying to do that here."
One good recruiting weekend resulting in a handful of commits won't take USC from 8-5 to national championship contenders.
USC's offense will always recruit itself to an extent as long as Riley is in charge. So if the Trojans can close the gap on defense with better coaching (four new coaches on that side of the ball) and a weaponized NIL, the Sons of Troy's future might finally be as bright as I thought it was back in 2020.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.