Back in the 2023 season, when USC faced the Louisville Cardinals in their Bowl game, their Heisman-winning quarterback Caleb Williams opted out to prepare for the NFL draft. Another QB grabbed that chance and registered his name as the future of the program behind the center, throwing for 372 yards. Moreover, last year, when USC under Lincoln Riley faced LSU in their first game of the season, the same player stood out.

For Miller Moss, the Trojans’ QB, the game was a fairytale start to the season as he passed for 378 yards and completed 27 of his 36 passes, helping USC beat LSU 27-20. The game was so pivotal for him that many even speculated he would win the Heisman. One of the major X accounts, the ‘college football report,’ which has 144k followers, posted Moss’s stats in that game and wrote, “Looked like a Heisman Contender tonight.”

However, during the season, all this optimism faded as Moss struggled. Over his final five starts in the season, Moss’s pass efficiency dropped, and he threw 7 interceptions. Against Washington, Moss managed to complete just 30 of the 50 passes he attempted and threw 3 interceptions, earning a 65.4 QB rating. So, what happened next was a harsh decision to save the season by the Trojans’ head coach, Lincoln Riley.

The player was benched in the following games as Riley turned to Jayden Maiava, and Moss quickly packed his bags and entered the transfer portal in December. In an interview with ON3, Moss opened up on how the decision to leave USC was tougher than he had imagined, and despite leaving the program, his dream was already fulfilled.

“In a lot of ways, my dream was to be the quarterback at USC, and in many ways, I accomplished that dream,” he told On3. “In other ways, I fell short of what I saw accomplished there. As difficult as that was, I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity and the experience. It was absolutely the right time in my life to move on,” said Miller Moss.

Miller Moss, after entering the transfer portal, landed at the Louisville Cardinals, the same team against which his career truly started. Other programs like Missouri were also after him; however, for Moss, Jeff Brohm’s ability to develop QBs proved the difference maker. And seems like Moss made a prudent decision, too. Since the Cardinals finished 9-5 overall and achieved just their 10th winning season in the program’s history. Tyler Shough, under Jeff Brohm, exceeded expectations, producing 3,195 yards after 5 mediocre seasons previously without Brohm. So, Brohm’s ability will surely help Moss achieve a comeback. But as Moss landed at Louisville, his family suffered a tragedy.

Miller Moss opened up about losing his childhood house to a disaster

Navigating the transfer portal was the challenge in itself for Moss as he was dealing with several programs’ interest. But after a month of making the decision to come to Louisville, his family’s home in Pacific Palisades was destroyed by the wildfire, a devastating wildfire that engulfed California at the time. Moss opened up about coping with the loss of his childhood home and how his family had to move out of Los Angeles.

“I mean, it was always going to be hard to get me out of L.A., but I think that, coupled with our house burning down. I’d never lived outside of Los Angeles prior to this year. For my development as a football player, but also my development as a human being, it’s been a really important step. There are two sides. We lost a ton of material stuff, but then we’re all healthy, and we still have each other. No one was injured. There’s a lesson of gratitude in that, too,” reflected Moss on the devastation.

The future surely looks bright now for Miller Moss, as he is at Louisville with Jeff Brohm, who has developed QBs like Jack Plummer (3,204 yards) and Tyler Shough, who was a second-round NFL draft pick. The pro-style and pass-heavy offense will work wonders for Moss as he will reclaim the lost glory and make a big statement ahead of the 2026 NFL draft.