USC’s 2026 media day delivered its first real camp signal on Monday, and the biggest one came before the questions even started. Head coach Lincoln Riley opened the event by announcing that the Notre Dame series will be resumed in 2030.
That news set the tone for a long afternoon at USC, where the Trojans hosted local media for more than three hours of interviews across six 30-minute sessions. Around 40 players and a full slate of assistant coaches made the rounds as fall camp began to take shape.
A lot of the conversation centered on what this roster feels like right now: closer, steadier and more mature. That theme came up repeatedly as players talked through the early stages of camp and the standard they believe this group is trying to meet.
Another major point of discussion was recovery, especially how USC says it can now handle that process at a faster pace inside the Bloom Performance Center. As camp ramps up and the Trojans move into full-pad practices, that piece of the operation is clearly part of the program’s pitch for where this team is headed.
Competition was another throughline. Several position battles are still unresolved, and the early days of fall camp are only going to sharpen them. The interviews also touched on mental development, with coaches and players talking about the effort to keep improving there while maintaining the expectations everyone around the program is carrying into the season.
The media day setup gave USC plenty of voices to sort through. At quarterback, Sam Huard was available.
The running back group included Waymond Jordan and King Miller. Receivers on hand were Terrell Anderson, Tanook Hines, Walter Matthews, Corey Simms and Zacharyus Williams.
Tight ends Tucker Ashcraft, Carson Tabaracci and Taniela Tupou also spoke, along with a deep group of offensive linemen: Aaron Dunn, Kaylon Miller, Kilian O'Connor, Alani Noa, Elijah Paige, Tobias Raymond, Justin Tauanuu, Hayden Treter and Elijah Vaikona.
On defense, the line featured Floyd Boucard, Kameryn Crawford, Zuriah Fisher, Jamaal Jarrett, Jadyn Ramos, Braylan Shelby and Jahkeem Stewart. The linebackers in attendance were Devan Bryant, Roman Marchetti, Ta'Mere Robinson, Desman Stephens II, Elijah Newby and Jadyn Walker.
USC’s assistant coaches were part of the day as well. That group included quarterbacks coach Luke Huard, offensive line coach Zach Hanson, outside wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons, inside receivers coach Chad Savage, running backs coach Anthony Jones Jr., defensive coordinator Gary Patterson, defensive line coach Skyler Jones, defensive ends coach Shaun Nua, linebacker and special teams coach Mike Ekeler, cornerbacks coach Trovon Reed and safeties coach Paul Gonzales.
More interviews from Media Day are expected to be released over the next couple of days.
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