LOS ANGELES - USC coach Lincoln Riley could hardly hide how much he’s enjoying the opening stretch of preseason camp inside the new Bloom Football Performance Center.
On Saturday, after the Trojans’ first practice of fall camp that reporters were allowed to watch, Riley spent nearly four minutes opening his remarks and made it clear the new facility has already changed the mood around the program.
“These first few days in here have honestly been a little bit of a dream,” he told reporters. “It’s honestly been hard to get players to go home. I haven’t left this place in five days.”
That energy has been building for a while. USC’s optimism after signing the No. 1 recruiting class of 2026 in December is carrying straight into camp, and the Trojans are moving through their first two practices Friday and Saturday with a sense of momentum. Spring work began unusually early on March 3, and all but three freshmen had already enrolled early and been on campus for those sessions.
That early start has helped USC avoid the usual August ramp-up period. Riley said the team is already forming its identity.
“We’ve been able to identify some leaders early,” Riley said. “I think you’re starting to maybe identify the personality of this team a little bit earlier with all we’ve done and kind of feeling like they’re here, and you’re not waiting on this missing piece to show up, and then it shows up, and then you figure it out.”
With 35 freshmen on the roster, Riley said it’s all but certain some of them will play meaningful snaps this season. Getting them on campus early has given them a head start with chemistry, learning the system and handling the more aggressive training and installation work that comes with camp.
He also said the physical transformation has already started for some of the young players.
“Some of their bodies have really started to change and look a little bit less like high school bodies and more like college bodies,” Riley said.
“The first time you go to college, everything’s new, right? Doesn’t matter if you’re playing sports or not. And so the less that we can have ‘new’ as we go on, the more these guys settle in off the field on the field, the better they play.”
Riley didn’t single out any freshmen by name, but he did point to three players he thinks could make noise this year: Wisconsin transfer tight end Tucker Ashcroft, receiver Zacharyus Williams and cornerback Alex Graham.
The Bloom Center is still getting its final touches, with crews continuing work ahead of a late-summer completion date. Lettering and plaques are going up inside and outside while construction workers in hard hats remain around the site.
On the field, though, Riley said things already feel connected.
“You’re talking about some powerful moments, man, with these guys all here together,” Riley said. “That part felt different, because you just know there’s not anything else coming.
We got what we got. And here we go.”
There was one notable injury update. Sophomore receiver Tanook Hines, the only wideout from the two-deep depth chart back this season, is limited because of an undisclosed injury, though Riley said he expects him to be ready for USC’s season opener against San Jose State on Aug. 29.
“Don’t expect anything overly serious with that at all,” Riley said.
Riley added that Hines is the most limited player right now, but is still working out. Freshman receiver Roderick Tezeno had a procedure after a foot injury in spring and is expected back early in spring.
Otherwise, the roster is in good shape, including former Iowa State cornerback Jontez Williams and returning corners Prophet Brown and Chasen Johnson. Brown missed all of last season after a non-contact injury in fall camp, Johnson played in only two games because of a knee injury and Williams appeared in five games before suffering a knee injury.
That group will matter a lot as USC tries to build a cornerback room under new defensive coordinator Gary Patterson that can handle the Big Ten.
“Sometimes guys who have been out for a while have an injury like those two had, and you see a little bit of mental hesitation,” Riley said. “And these guys are chomping at it. We’re having to hold them back a little bit, which you like to see.”
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