USC Rival Goes After Lincoln Riley’s Sly Blueprint as Head Coach Confirms Change of Plans

As the 2025 season comes close, the prospects of Lincoln Riley seeing the USC exit gates have been ever-increasing. For one, the head coach is yet to make it to the playoffs, and his first season in the Big 10 was limited to 7 wins. So, under the microscope of that intense scrutiny, Riley prepares to start the season and fights against all odds to probably save his job. However, amidst all this chaos, lately, there’s one thing Riley has been doing effectively, but another rival is now out to derail those heroics.

Ever since Lincoln Riley arrived in 2022 at USC as the head coach, despite spending three full years, he has had a mixed record with recruiting. Was it because of the neglect of in-state recruiting? Or was focusing on national recruiting too tempting to ignore? Whatever it might have been, the USC head coach left the hotbed of talent in Southern California and instead moved his recruiting to other states. The result?

Matayo Uiagalelei went to Oregon, and Noah Mikhail went to the Aggies. Moreover, the classes also regressed, having ranked 18th nationally in 2024. But now? The head coach has learned the lessons and has focused back on in-state recruiting. It’s seemingly a result of that focus that USC’s 2026 class is ranked first nationally and has 12 commits from California out of 23 committed. In contrast, last year the Trojans landed just 3 in-state commits amongst blue-chip talents. Now, with the success of Riley’s model, another Southern California head coach also plans to implement the same model.

UCLA’s head coach, DeShaun Foster, in a recent interview, stressed the importance of keeping Southern California players at UCLA. “Southern California has a lot of talk, talent. And when the talent leaves, they go on being successful. We have Bryce Young. I got out of here like five quarterbacks. So there’s a million quarterbacks, and then there are other positions too that are doing the same thing. So, if we can just find a way to put up a fence and then pull pieces in from everywhere. Because academics do help out, people do want to come to UCLA; the sky’s the limit,” said DeShaun Foster.

In his second year as a head coach, DeShaun Foster is changing UCLA recruiting for good. Some of the results can be seen in the portal. Who’d have thought the head coach would manage to pull off Nico Iamaleave, a five-star talent who showed his talents as a freshman last year? The best thing? Nico is an in-state talent and fits the philosophy that Foster wants to see the program adopt.

When he arrived after Chip Kelly’s departure, there was just one commit in the 2024 class. However, by July 2024, Foster added 14 commits and later finished with 17 commits and 17 transfers. Now, starting from 2025, the over-reliance on the portal probably fades, and the head coach turns his focus to recruiting out of Southern California. Still, he must face stiff competition with USC both on the field and off the field in recruiting.

Lincoln Riley’s USC is out to outsmart UCLA again as QB optimism runs high

USC is going into the 2025 season with Jayden Maiava behind the center. Last year, Maiva took over from Miller Moss and passed for 1,201 yards, rushing for 277 yards in the final leg of the season. It was probably Jayden Maiava, because of whom the season was salvaged with 7 wins, as he also led them to a win against the Aggies in the Bowl game, passing for almost 300 yards. Not just that, but the QB also led the Trojans to a win against DeShaun Foster’s UCLA. Now this year, Maiava is taking a massive step up, according to Lincoln Riley.

Riley reflected on how the QB1 position isn’t sealed for Jayden Maiava, and freshman talent Husan Longstreet is working hard to prove himself. That, according to the head coach, can do wonders for the QB room and Jayden Maiava. “Well, it’s first-world problems, right? Having two guys you really believe in. And multiple guys you believe in the QB room is a great thing,” said Riley about the battle after praising Maiava’s talent.

USC has a relatively manageable schedule with major games against Michigan, Notre Dame, and Oregon. Apart from these games, Bret Bielema’s Illinois and Matt Rhule’s Nebraska could also pose some problems, although these would be the games where USC will be the favorite to win. All in all, USC has everything now, from QB to recruiting to a favorable schedule, and that makes things optimistic for them in the 2025 season.