USC’s relationship with the transfer portal has been a mixed bag under Lincoln Riley. Among the dozens of players shuffling in and out of the Trojans’ program, wide receiver Prince Strachan became a cautionary tale about the wild west of college football recruiting. After entering the transfer portal in mid-December 2025, Strachan signed with West Virginia on January 4, 2026. He left behind a season with USC that can only be described as underwhelming.​

USC reportedly paid Strachan $550,000 to play for the Trojans in 2025. His return on that investment? One catch for 25 yards against Missouri State in the season opener. That’s roughly $22,000 per yard, if you’re keeping score at home. NIL deals and revenue sharing have created better opportunities for college athletes. However, this particular transaction, along with other similar transactions, raises questions about the finances. That half-million could’ve been invested in defense, where USC desperately needed some quality.

But this isn’t a story about a bad player. During his 2024 season at Boise State, the 6-foot-5, 215-pound receiver showed legitimate promise. He hauled in 25 catches for 304 yards and a touchdown while starting five games. He even caught four passes for 40 yards against No. 6 Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl, proving he could perform on college football’s biggest stages. His combination of size and athleticism made him an enticing target when he entered the portal after the 2024 season.​

The plot thickens when you dig into what actually happened at USC. Strachan suffered a high ankle sprain in that season-opening game against Missouri State, the same contest where he recorded his lone reception. The injury kept him sidelined for the next two games. And while he was medically cleared and available starting in Week 4, he never saw the field again for the rest of the season. Lincoln Riley later explained that Strachan was “really close to being back to 100%” by mid-October. But the coaching staff simply chose not to use him. 

He wasn’t even listed on USC’s two-deep depth chart as the season progressed, suggesting this was less about injury management and more about where he stood in the pecking order.​​

So what went wrong? USC brought in Strachan to add size and a red-zone threat to a receiving corps. But that receiving corps already featured projected first-round picks like Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane. Somewhere in the middle of the regular season, Strachan couldn’t crack the rotation, even when healthy. 

Whether it was a scheme fit issue or simply too much talent ahead of him, the Trojans effectively benched a $550,000 investment for an entire season. Now he’s headed to West Virginia.  Rich Rodriguez and the Mountaineers are betting that a change of scenery will unlock the potential Strachan showed at Boise State. For USC, it’s another expensive lesson in the unpredictable economics of the transfer portal era.​

Riley’s hot seat gets hotter

The Prince Strachan saga doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s just one example of questionable decisions that have piled up during Lincoln Riley’s tenure at USC. And now the pressure’s finally catching up to him. 

After the Trojans collapsed in overtime to TCU in the Alamo Bowl on December 30, Riley is officially on the hot seat for the first time since arriving in Los Angeles. The $100 million man has gone 35-18 through four seasons. This sounds respectable until you realize that’s essentially the same record Lane Kiffin and Clay Helton posted during their tenures. One USC booster reportedly texted reporter Arash Markazi after the bowl game, saying, “There are cheaper ways to go 35-18 with far fewer headaches.” When you’re dropping $550,000 on a receiver who catches one pass all season, those headaches start making a lot more sense.​

The irony is that Riley’s supposed to be the offensive genius who justifies that massive contract. But his transfer portal hits have been wildly inconsistent, while misses like Strachan raise serious questions about resource allocation. USC brought in the No. 1 recruiting class for 2026. But with a brutal schedule ahead featuring Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, and Washington, Riley’s margin for error has evaporated. According to Markazi’s reporting, if Riley doesn’t get the Trojans to the College Football Playoff in 2026, he’s gone.

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