Lincoln Riley doesn’t sound like a coach who expects USC’s defense to merely hold serve this season. He sounds like a coach who thinks it can go toe-to-toe with the offense.
That’s a notable shift for the Trojans, and it starts with the personnel Riley sees stacking up across the board. Gary Patterson’s arrival and his 4-2-5 scheme have given USC an experienced defensive voice, while a mix of proven veterans and promising young players has helped create real momentum heading into the season.
Riley was especially direct Tuesday when asked about who has stood out in fall camp, and the first name he offered was cornerback Jontez Williams. The fifth-year senior transferred in from Iowa State after playing 1,108 snaps over three seasons there, and even though he missed spring while rehabbing a torn anterior cruciate ligament that ended his season last year, he’s been making noise all through camp.
"I think as he gets further and further away from the injury, his playmaking ability and experience - you just feel that," Riley said. "You can tell this guy's played a lot of ball. You can just tell he's made a lot of plays already at this level, and his ability to adapt to our scheme pretty quickly has definitely been apparent."
Williams also drew strong praise from cornerbacks coach Trovon Reed at USC’s media day. Reed said the cornerback has "everything it takes."
"He's a pro," Reed said. "He's fast.
He's strong. He's physical.
He's got ball production. Like he's a pro, and he does everything he needs to do.
The sky's the limit."
Riley also pointed to two freshmen in the secondary, Rock Hill and Madden Riordan. Both enrolled early and impressed during spring ball, according to players and coaches, and that carryover appears to be showing up again in fall camp.
Riordan’s attention to detail has already stood out to the staff. After spring, safeties coach Paul Gonzales described him this way:
"He's very smart," Gonzales said about Riordan after the spring. "I think that's the one thing that jumped out at me early on when we were kind of in the initial meetings pre-spring.
Every time I call on this guy, he has the answer, so he's listening [and] he's a good note taker. He just knows how to retain information.
It kind of shows it on the field too because he's always in the right spot, always making the right check."
Another defensive back Riley singled out was sixth-year senior Prophet Brown, whose versatility has remained a theme throughout his USC career. Brown is expected to log plenty of snaps at safety this fall.
Linebacker was the group Riley had circled before camp even began, and he said he wanted to see where things stood. After several weeks, he likes the direction.
"Been real impressed with Deven Bryant. I think he's had an excellent fall camp at backer," Riley said. "I think Talanoa Ili has done some really nice things there as a young guy as well."
Bryant, now a fourth-year junior, played 520 snaps at Washington last season and finished with 62 tackles, including two for loss, plus two pass breakups in 12 games. He looks positioned to get on the field in a meaningful way this season. Ili, a freshman, doesn’t bring college experience yet, but he’s clearly earning trust inside the building.
Up front, Riley sees plenty to work with on both the edge and inside. He said the Trojans have enough bodies and enough talent to create problems for opponents.
"I think we have some edge guys there, both some of the young and new that show some real - I think they're going to cause problems for a lot of people," Riley said. "And then, likewise with the rotation and the bodies that we have at defensive tackle. We've got, I would say, a little bit of an unusual number of guys I think that can win one-on-ones and can get home but also have some of the mass to be able to anchor down against some of these bigger personnel groupings and some of the different schemes that you see week-to-week in this league."
The defensive line rotation may still be taking shape before the Aug. 29 opener, but several names have already separated themselves. Third-year junior Jide Abasiri has pushed into a starting role thanks to his consistency and leadership. Fourth-year senior Braylan Shelby and third-year junior Kameryn Crawford are set for heavy work at defensive end, while fifth-year senior Alex VanSumeren’s experience from Michigan State puts him in line for a starting spot as well.
Behind them, second-year sophomores Floyd Boucard and Jahkeem Stewart should both be major parts of the rotation even if they don’t crack the starting group right away. Freshman Luke Wafle has also impressed with his edge play, and Shelby made it clear earlier in camp just how driven he is.
"Man, that kid wants to learn, and he wants to be the best," Shelby said about Wafle earlier in fall camp. "He wants to know everything.
It doesn't matter who it's coming from. He wants to learn from me, he wants to learn from Z-Fish (Zuriah Fisher), Kam, and he wants to know everything so that way, when he comes into his freshman year and he goes out there, it's not like he's a freshman."
With the opener approaching, USC’s staff is now grinding through mock game week and working toward a final two-deep.
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