Lincoln Riley and his team went through a massive portal shake-up, watching 15 players enter the portal. But Riley made sure he stabilized the chaos, adding the Iowa State star cornerback to his defensive squad.

Jontez Williams made his transfer move to the USC Trojans with one more year of eligibility left. His visit to USC changed things around for him as he committed to them after a weekend visit despite scheduling visits with Notre Dame and Florida on Monday and Thursday.

Williams brings in instant stability to the USC cornerback room as the Trojans lose both their cornerbacks, DeCarlos Nicholson, who’s out of eligibility, and Braylon Conley, who’s entering the portal. As per On3, this 5’11”, 200-pound freak is a four-star transfer prospect and top-ranked cornerback in the 2026 transfer class.

What works in his favor is he gets an immediate chance to make an impact on the game. His resume just adds up to his hype. Williams started all 17 games over the past two seasons at Iowa State, where he led the Cyclones and tied for third in the Big 12 with four interceptions in 2024. Then he finished the season with 46 total tackles, two for loss, and five pass breakups. He finished the 2025 season with 15 total tackles, 1.5 for loss, three pass breakups, and an interception.

Injury did affect his season, as he suffered a season-ending knee injury against Arizona in Week 5. But he is recovering from his misery and coming back strong. Even former Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell couldn’t hold back his praise for his willpower.

“The one tough deal—we lost Tez,” Campbell said.  “Tez is going to be out for the year. So that’s a situation that really stinks for the kid. But man, just how he’s handled it has been uber impressive and a great human. He’ll be back ready to rock and roll next year.”

With the cornerback position, Williams’ move to USC is a major boost to USC’s defensive front too after defensive lineman Devan Thompkins and linebacker Matai Tagoa’i exit. His commitment comes as a massive boon for the team, especially knowing Lincoln Riley’s struggles to keep up a strong defense. From the 2024 season, it did improve from 121st nationally to 56th in the 2025 season. But their Alamo Bowl misstep brought it all back.

As USC blew a 10-point lead and allowed a walk-off touchdown in overtime against TCU. On top of it, their defensive coordinator’s move to Penn State is bringing more instability. So, if Riley really wants to keep his CB close to the team, he has to find a better replacement.

Lincoln Riley gets real on DC position

Lincoln Riley is sure stabilizing his roster, but his staff still needs a leader. They face a crucial hire after former defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn departed for Penn State. That gap might not even be set with all the defensive players he is bringing in. Now, several names have emerged for replacement from Pete Kwiatkowski, Al Golden, Eric Henderson, and Jimmy Lake, bringing strong experience to the team.

But Trojans defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart and Floyd Boucard have publicly advocated for promoting co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Eric Henderson as defensive coordinator. As he already knows the system well and called plays during USC’s Alamo Bowl against TCU after Lynn exited.

That decision might carry weight, as Bruce Feldman reported that Pete Kwiatkowski, who was the former Texas defensive coordinator, has become a strong candidate for Stanford, which can affect his availability. Meanwhile, LA Times reporter Ryan Kartje noted that Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden can still make his move to USC because of his connection to GM Chad Bowden. But that NFL-to-CFB transition is not very consistent.

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For now, Lincoln Riley is downplaying Lynn’s replacement stance, but the concern keeps intensifying.

“I feel fantastic,” Riley said. “You know, we’ve made obviously documented strides the last couple of years statistically, but those that really study the game and watch the way that we’ve played and the way that we’ve been able to improve, the arrow is just pointing straight up.”

Now, let’s wait and see how he tackles this situation.