USC defensive back James Johnson enters Transfer Portal

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USC Trojans defensive back James Johnson has entered the Transfer Portal, On3 has learned. He spent one season with the USC program.

James Johnson played his high school football at Douglas County in Douglasville, Georgia. There, he was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2025. He had been the 1,336th-ranked recruit and the 193rd-ranked wide receiver in that recruiting cycle. He would choose USC over Duke and South Carolina, among other programs.

Despite coming to USC as a defensive back, he would see action in five games on the offensive side of the ball for the Trojans. There, he carried the ball twice for -5 yards. He would also snag five receptions for 23 yards on the season. Notably, one of those five games that he played in was the bowl game, meaning that he was still able to utilize his redshirt and now has four years of eligibility remaining.

USC would finish the 2025 season going 9-4 and 7-2 in Big Ten play. That included a loss to TCU in the Alamo Bowl.

It was the fourth season for Lincoln Riley as the head coach at USC. During that time, he’s gone 35-18 overall and 24-12 in conference play. That includes the transition to the Big Ten. Along the way, the Trojans have only had one double-digit win season under Riley. Now, the pressure is there to win now and Riley believes the window is about to open for his team.

“I think all those things you just said,” Riley said after the Alamo Bowl. “But, honestly, kind of how our locker room was 10 minutes ago. You can just tell. When you’ve been in those programs and been a part of those teams that have done those things, you feel what it’s like, and this place is doing all the things that you need to do to put yourself in a position to go bust that door down and do it. I really believe a window here has opened up.”

The Transfer Portal officially opened on January 2nd and will be open until January 16th. It’s now the only window in which the portal will be open. To this point, the Trojans have seen 16 players enter the Transfer Portal while four have already committed to transferring to USC. That’s good for the 44th-ranked class in the On3 2026 College Football Team Transfer Portal Rankings.

Among the incoming transfers to USC are two defensive backs. Jontez Williams is coming in from Iowa State. Meanwhile, Carrington Pierce is coming in from Oklahoma State.

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