FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: Does Lincoln Riley Have Finger On Pulse Of Recruiting?

USC coach Lincoln Riley was asked Tuesday about why the Trojans’ recruiting class has improved so much.

Here’s part of his answer:

“I mean, a lot of things. Staff’s different, got some different guys on the field, obviously the personnel department’s changed a lot, the group there’s doing a great job, that massive structure behind you right there is actually kind of real now so people come out here and see.”

So he credits the new football building?

I mean, it doesn’t hurt, but I highly doubt that structure means half as much to recruits as it does to Riley. They are committing to USC for three reasons (in no order): 1. Close to home. 2. NIL. 3. They think it will help them get to the NFL.

The building is a secondary thing. So is Riley. The defensive players don’t care about Riley. The offensive linemen don’t care about him either. He doesn’t help them. The skill players care. But that’s not a large part of the team.

I find Riley to be out of touch with the building comment, which reinforces the idea that Chad Bowden and the assistant coaches are now the impact players in recruiting.

  • Do I have to mention USC defeated Tulane, 89-60, in the first round of the College Basketball Crown Tournament. The crowd? 2,407 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Ah wonderful, ah wonderful, ah wonderful.

USC plays Villanova on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. PT on FS1. Villanova has interim coach Mike Nardi leading it in this make tournament.

  • Jazzy Davidson, who signed with USC, looked impressive yesterday in the McDonald’s All-American game.

You know what I like: It’s not shown below but she can not score and she’s also a terrific passer. That’s a bit of lost art at times with USC.

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40 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Does Lincoln Riley Have Finger On Pulse Of Recruiting?”

  1. I see the point, but actually the building and for that matter, structures like stadiums at universities and other facilities ‘Do’ matter a lot to these kids. They’re not just athletes, they are young and impressionable like any other kid that age. They want to see that there is pride in the institutions they are attending. Sure, they want to the other stuff, but they are still kids.

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    1. LOL, they want the coin, they could care less about the building. The only one who cares about the stupid building is Riley

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  2. KAM: I am seriously considering a run for governor of California — and has given myself a deadline to decide.

    At a pre-Oscars party last weekend, I was asked by another partygoer when I would make a decision about jumping into the California governor’s race. I gave a definitive answer, according to two people with knowledge of the conversation: the end of the summer.

    DON: Alta Kalifornia is doomed.

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      1. You have been trolling this site for over 2 decades, Board Pest Board Cancer Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka Charlie Bucket the UCLA Fan aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & Michael Guarino & Trojan RJJ & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse and TrojanFan 1-3 & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young and KATHY and Foreskin Thoughts and SCOTTLOVESTHEROOOOOTTÞ and Manureman……WHY ALL THE CONSTANT WHINING AND CRYING……Please go ahead and find something that brings joy into your life. It must suck to waste over by 2 decades of your life posting hundreds of thousands of rants, obscenities and animal d e f e c a t i o n videos here for no apparent purpose…just saying

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  3. KAM: Michael Mische with the USC Marshall School of Business recently published “A Study of California Gasoline Prices,” diving into the reason why California is typically the most expensive state in the U.S. to fill up your vehicle.

    DON: The conclusion: One Party Democrat California’s high gas prices are the “result of directed policies and a litany of regulations, taxes, fees, and costs,” according to Mische.

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      1. Nobody is a bigger troll than you, Board Pest Board Cancer Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka Charlie Bucket the UCLA Fan aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & Michael Guarino & Trojan RJJ & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse and TrojanFan 1-3 & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young and KATHY and Foreskin Thoughts and SCOTTLOVESTHEROOOOOTTÞ and Manureman……WHY ALL THE CONSTANT WHINING AND CRYING……Please go to the Huff Post chat room where losers like you can fellowship. It must suck to waste over by 2 decades of your life posting hundreds of thousands of rants, obscenities and animal d e f e c a t i o n videos here for no apparent purpose…just saying

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      1. No company has built an oil refinery in California for decades. The state requires the companies to produce a special seasonal blend of gasoline with is more costly to produce. Even Chevron left the state last year after having their headquarters in San Francisco for over a hundred years. Thanks Gavin. How’s that electrical car mandate working out. Should we sell our Tesla’s before one of the Soro’s funded protestors fire bombs it.

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    1. Follow up from yesterday about the WR Chris Henry Jr.

      He’s from Ohio.

      His dad Chris Henry played for the Bengals

      He went to Mater Dei because daddy sent him there

      He was never going anywhere else but OSU.

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      2. One of the great offensive players of all time but evidently could not find a purpose in life after his basketball career ended. Very sad. He looked 65 over 10 years ago.

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  5. Pete Carrol always used preparation for the NFL and exposure to scouts in his recruiting pitch. Saban did the same thing. He had a huge sign inside the athletic building with the name of the Alabama player currently playing in the NFL with a reference to his draft position, signing bonus and salary.

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  6. KAM: The DNC along with Schmucky Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Don’t Like It Jeffries Sue Trump Over His Effort to Prevent Illegals from Voting – Three Days After Elon Musk Reveals Millions Illegals are Registering to Vote and Were Voting. Dem Rep. Jamie Raskin Demands Trump Return Deported Venezuelan Gangsters and Criminals to U.S.

    DON: Senile Joe Biden flooded America to gain tens of millions of Democrat voters.

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    1. Yep. Crooked Joe intentionally let in millions of illegals including criminal gangs, drug dealers, cartels, terrorists, and Chinese soldiers. He then authorized billions of Federal taxpayer funds to feed, clothe, and house them. All of this was in violation of our immigration laws that he would not enforce. And yet nobody was calling Biden a dictator or authoritarian for ignoring our constitutional order which requires the President to enforce the laws enacted by Congress. To the contrary, when Texas tried to put up additional fencing to stem the flow of illegals, the Biden justice department took him to Court and obtain an order enjoining such action on the grounds that only the Feds had authority over immigration enforcement. Now Trump’s actions in enforcing our laws are being enjoin on the grounds that he has no such authority. Double standard anyone?

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      1. The HUGE amount of globalist money pouring into the hands of American politicians ….. and lower court federal judges…. is blunting the MAGA movement…. it’s anybody’s guess who’s gonna come out on top in this fight….. remember the MAGA movement has a finite range of options….. the globalists have an infinite range …since they include all varieties of violence [up to and including assassination] to achieve their ends….and Pam Bondi as Attorney General is a Big Joke, incapable of fighting back….

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      2. MG: Not sure what Pam Bondi can do other than appeal. The judges are activists who won’t follow the law particularly Article 2 of the Constitution. Supreme Court needs to intervene but Roberts would rather “be liked” than do the right thing.

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      3. Sorry for the tardy reply –at the local bar & grill …

        Pam Bondi can start working with the FBI to put together cases against those buying off our political representatives…..those sponsoring “nonviolent”/but violent demonstrations and those profiteering from the fraud and abuse within the system…..

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  7. Scooter, a year ago, Riley was mostly getting receivers and dbs. With Bowden showing up SC is getting mostly high school kids that consist of dlimen and olinemen which were needed very badly. Bowden is doing a great job in getting this program back to where it needs to be. If Riley can call a game by not throwing the fade on every play (Reminds me of Kiffin with his bubble screen), run the ball, and throw to the te, and have clock management, then maybe SC might get into the playoffs.

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  8. “Staff’s different” says Wiley, and that made all the difference. Wiley was not cut out for recruiting and some say he was not cut out for coachng

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    1. Unfortunately, John, that doesn’t leave much for Riley to do. [In an interview toward the end of his last season, Caleb said something about ‘coach knows how to connect with the guys who are making the plays’ [read that as ‘coach connects with me and 2 or 3 receivers’]…….

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      1. Riley is a joke, the only reason he hasn’t been shown the door already is his huge contract, thanks Bohn !

        His coaching ability is very suspect, it’s now been shown how bad his recruiting ability is, as in none. He’s afraid of public speaking, won’t embrace USC’s traditions, alumni or it’s former players, guy is a complete zero.

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      2. He runs up lots of offense …. we [almost] always outgain everybody….I say we change the metric from points scored to yards gained….

        #ProblemSolved….

        #WeWin!

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  9. KAM: Politics is a bore at times, especially since I’m not the president. So I’m sticking with Groucho Marx sayings for the time being

    DON: He wasn’t fond of hospitals– “A hospital bed is a parked taxi with the meter running”

    KAM: I liked it when he said, “Only one man in a 1000 is a leader of men– the other 999 follow women”

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    1. Ask Hillary and Kamala how Groucho’s thesis played out….

      [Woody Allen said he didn’t like hanging out with Grouch[o] cuz he never stopped pushing his political opinions ….”it was like spending an afternoon with your most obnoxious uncle’]……

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      2. Who could stay mad at a Marx brother? Well, apparently Woody Allen. A letter has been released in which the hilarious Groucho Marx penned an apology to Allen for not responding to a letter Allen had written years before.

        It was no secret that Allen was a big fan of the Marx Brothers. During the ‘60s, Allen would frequently reference them in his movies, even name dropping Groucho in the opening monologue of Annie Hall. So when Groucho didn’t reply to a letter written by Allen in 1961 it left him a little hurt. News of Allen’s hurt feelings did not reach Groucho until 1967, which inspired Groucho to write a letter of his own.

        As far as apology letters go, this is among the best of them. It has the clear markings of a Marx brother throughout with tangents and explanations that there is no money in the letter writing business.

        The letter must have worked because it ended the silence between the two comedians. They remained good friends until Groucho’s death in 1977.

        Check out the hilarious apology letter here.

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      3. Dear WW:

        Goodie Ace told some unemployed friend of mine that you were disappointed or annoyed or happy or drunk that I hadn’t answered the letter you wrote me some years ago. You know, of course, there is no money in answering letters – unless they’re letters of credit from Switzerland or the mafia. I write you reluctantly, for I know you are doing six things simultaneously – five including sex. I don’t know where you get the time to correspond.

        Your play, I trust, will still be running when I arrive in New York the first or second week in April. This must be terribly annoying to the critics who, if I remember correctly, said it wouldn’t go because it was too funny. Since it’s still running, they must be even more annoyed. This happened to my son’s play, on which he collaborated with Bob Fisher. The moral is: don’t write a comedy that makes an audience laugh.

        This critic problem has been discussed ever since I was Bar Mitzvahed almost 100 years ago. I never told this to anyone, but I received two gifts when I emerged from childhood into what I imagine today is manhood. An uncle, who was then in the money, presented me with a pair of long black stockings, and an aunt, who was trying to make me, gave me a silver watch. Three days after I received these gifts, the watch disappeared.

        The reason it was gone was that my brother Chico didn’t shoot pool nearly as well as he thought he did. He hocked it at a pawnshop at 89th Street and Third Avenue. One day while wandering around aimlessly, I discovered it hanging in the window of the hock shop. Had not my initials been engraved on the back, I wouldn’t have recognised it, for the sun had tarnished it so completely it was now coal black. The stockings, which I had worn for a week without ever having them washed, were now a mottled green. This was my total reward for surviving 13 years.

        And that, briefly, is why I haven’t written you for some time. I’m still wearing the stockings—they’re not my stockings anymore, they’re just parts of my leg.

        You wrote that you were coming out here in February, and I, in a frenzy of excitement, purchased so much delicatessen that, had I kept it in cold cash instead of cold cuts, it would have taken care of my contribution to the United Jewish Welfare Fund for 1967 and ’68.

        I think I’ll be at the St Regis hotel in New York. And for God’s sake don’t have any more success – it’s driving me crazy. My best to you and your diminutive friend, little Dickie.

        Groucho

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  10. I think Riley is a better recruiter than Scott gives him credit for. He had talented teams at Oklahoma and who wants to go to school in Oklahoma. When I listen to interviews of new players, many mention Riley as a factor in their recruitment including the recent offensive line transfer – The General. And Bowden says he’s the best evaluator of players that he has ever associated with. Admittedly, he can not say anything negative about Riley if he is doing his job but he did not have to be that effusive in his praise.

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    1. That’s what I read too, that recruits enjoy Wiley

      And he may not be the “best evaluator of players”, but he seems competent enough, and SC and its cheap NIL payouts limited the ‘pool’ from which Wiles could pick from

      Ad players can make the coach. I know nothing about basketball coaching, but if I had had Bill Walton I would have won some games. Kind of like, ‘Here’s the ball, Bill, do your thing’

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      1. ” And he may not be the “best evaluator of players”, but he seems competent enough “

        WTF ??

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  12. “The defensive players don’t care about Riley.”

    That is not the case, with every defensive player… As DT Boucard stated that it was Riley that had the most impact on him committing to USC.

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  13. Lincoln Riley runs a one dimensional, outdated, simpleton offense that opponents laugh at. Look at the sophisticated power offenses we witnessed in the CFB playoffs. He’s stuck in the past without the ability to transform.

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    1. Agree almost. Joel Klatt was calling out his run plays based on how the running back was positioned. And teams have adjusted to the quick, short, throws to the receiver and are taking them away. I like how he uses the old Redskin triple trap plays. Don’t see other teams doing it. Maybe he can incorporate some of what Kingsbury did for Jaden Daniels into the offense. And perhaps a better offensive line and more mobile quarterback will allow for more deep passes. Hope so.

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      1. I agree but how about leaning on Riley to grow out of this offense that brings any semblance of game / clock management to its knees. Look at the diverse power offenses we watched during the cfbplayoffs. What were we ranked like 7 or 8 in passing attempts right there with Texas Tech, Hawaii, Rice and some other air raid’ish national championship contenders ? With all that’s positive going on in the football program (thanks Jen ) the elephant in the room is LRs reluctance to transform into an offense with a natty track record, not compiling heismans or runner ups.

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