Well, you need to have something worthwhile to make players leave their goals and money in this era. We are talking about DeShaun Foster’s UCLA Bruins, folks! Going by the recent NIL hoopla, quarterback Nico Iamaleava pushed the Tennessee Volunteers hard for a $4 million NIL check. But when Josh Heupel pulled the brakes, he jumped on the UCLA wagon. Coming under Foster’s wings, he had agreed to a $1.5 million deal. But, at least he can have a ‘Home Sweet Home’ feeling. On that note, Foster dropped a secret. And who needs to open their ears to receive it as a piece of advice? USC Trojans’ head coach, Lincoln Riley. Already, the Trojans’ head coach is an inch away from falling prey to USC’s $90 million move. 

It has been only one season since Foster took the UCLA reins. And guess what has been the biggest change in the Bruins’ squad since his arrival? The efforts that Foster poured into the recruiting trail. After all, Chip Kelly left UCLA in a messy situation for his failure to recruit players. After that, Foster’s efforts did pay off as they earned the No. 36 overall ranking among the top NCAA recruiting classes for 2025. He started reloading early. And in July last year, UCLA already had 15 commits for the 2025 class, out of which nine are from California itself. So what’s the secret behind Foster’s success? 

On May 29, on the Unafraid Show with George Wrighster podcast, the Bruins head coach shared the secret. It’s SoCal recruiting, as simple as that. The head coach shared, “We were still able to keep a lot of local talent in the area and keep them here… So if you look at like a lot of the guys that have gone off, they’ve won Heisman’s they’ve won championships, they’ve they’ve played football at a high level.” Going by the data, California has produced 15 Heisman winners. The most recent recipient is Jayden Daniels. Sadly, neither UCLA nor Riley’s Trojans were able to keep him home as he wore the LSU Tigers jersey.

Foster thus concluded, “So that’s why we know that California has some of the top talent, and if we can keep some of that here being in the Big 10, we’re going to make the playoffs.” Now, why does Riley need to hear him out? That’s because the Trojans have always fallen flat on their faces in terms of embracing the fertile recruiting ground California possesses. When Riley stepped in as the head coach in November 2021, he was very particular about not limiting himself to the comfort zone of California.

As he shared, “We’ll certainly not just limit ourselves to that because we want to go get the best wherever they’re at.” Riley also acknowledged the rich talent received at home. However, his action did not match his words. For instance, he had put players like the 4-star EDGE Hayden Lowe, who hailed from Oaks Christian in Westlake, California, on the waiting list. It’s high time Riley follows Foster’s footsteps or goes down a rabbit hole.

Will USC swing the $90 million axe for Lincoln Riley? 

The 2025 season marks Lincoln Riley’s last chance to prove himself, and one wrong move would make the Trojans hand him a $90 million check as his buyout. For those questioning whether the USC AD, Jennifer Cohen, can manage that hefty cash, not to forget the USC past, would motivate her to make the decision if the situation demands. The Trojans themselves got rid of Clay Helton in 2021, paying a $12 million buyout

However, it’s debatable whether the buyout move will be successful or not. As Bruce Feldman noted, “But we’re talking about a buyout that’s going to be around $80 million, in that range. Are people going to step up to pay that kind of money?… The athletic department, I feel like, is in a big transition mode. And it just doesn’t feel like they’ve ever been able to get momentum after the first year when Caleb was there, and they had a good run. And then all of a sudden, it started to backslide.” As the debate heats up, Riley’s seat is also heating up. They now hold an NIL figure of $123,ooo. Apparently, the 2026 class looks good.

As per On3’s 2026 Industry Ranking football Team Recruiting Rankings, Lincoln Riley’s program now holds the No.2 rank with ten 3-stars, sixteen 4-stars. But that does not guarantee the head coach a good night’s sleep. He still has to wait for some more time to get the final clarity. That’s when Feldman added some more fear to Riley’s potion. “They have a really good recruiting class as of right now. How many of those kids end up signing with USC? To me, that’s a big piece. And if you’re not a top 15, top 20 team, and Georgia or Ohio State come back in on those recruits, then do they end up coming here? Because the way I look at it, right now, there is not a lot of momentum at USC…this is not like a very, very talented USC team.” It’s high time that Riley becomes more homebound.