USC is nailing defensive recruiting without a defensive coordinator

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Before the college football transfer portal window opened last Friday, USC football fans were worried.

With defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn leaving for Penn State and the Trojans yet to announce his replacement, USC doesn’t have a leader on the defensive side of the ball that transfers can put their trust in. In this era of college football, with NIL and easy access to the transfer portal, individual development has become more important than ever to players. As a result, it’s even more important to players that they commit to a coaching staff they can trust.

Ultimate trust in USC football

And yet, USC is landing top defensive recruits despite the fact that those recruits seemingly don’t know who USC’s defensive coordinator will be next season.

How are the Trojans doing this? Let’s talk about the possibilities.

First, who has USC landed?

USC has secured the commitment of three defensive transfers.

Carrington Pierce, the brother of USC safety Christian Pierce, committed to the Trojans weeks ago, before Lynn was fired. It seems clear that he wants to play with his brother and values the USC program over who his coach may be.

But since the portal opened, USC has landed two more big time transfers.

The biggest of all is former Iowa State cornerback Jontez Williams, rated the best cornerback in the entire portal by 247 Sports.

Williams was named second team All-Big-12 at Iowa State in 2024 after a season where he recorded 46 total tackles, 5 pass breakups and 4 interceptions. He was off to a great start in 2025 before suffering a season-ending injury after just 5 games.

USC also landed Washington transfer linebacker Deven Bryant, who projects to compete for a starting role for the Trojans next season. Bryant had 62 tackles and 2 pass breakups for the Huskies this season.

Williams and Bryant bring experience and proven resumes at positions of need. USC is nailing it, getting exactly what they need in the portal so far. How are they doing it?

Could USC have already hired a defensive coordinator, and it’s just a secret?

Perhaps Jontez Williams and Deven Bryant already know who USC’s next defensive coordinator will be, even though the general public does not.

For that to have gone undetected, USC would likely have needed to promote from within or hire a totally outside of the box candidate that no one is expecting.

Also, what would USC’s motivation for keeping it a secret even be? Maybe other schools are underestimating the Trojans given that they don’t have an announced defensive coordinator? But I can’t think of a clear cut competitive advantage to keeping USC’s defensive coordinator a secret a second longer than it takes to finalize the contract. If anything, it’s just going to make USC fans more restless.

Maybe money and Chad Bowden are enough

The most likely explanation is just that general manager Chad Bowden is an absolute machine and USC’s NIL/financial resources are enough to get recruits to commit and just trust that they will play for a decent defensive coordinator.

We shouldn’t be ashamed if that’s the case. Willingness to spend signals a competitive spirit. It’s the same business model that the Los Angeles Dodgers operate on in the MLB. Spend big, win big.

USC has crushed every phase of recruiting since Bowden came to town. High school recruiting, retaining the current roster. It would be no surprise to see the Trojans now crushing it in the transfer portal too if Bowden is the reason.

USC’s assistant coaches may just be crushing it

Maybe Doug Belk, Eric Henderson, Shaun Nua, Trovon Reed and Rob Ryan are just putting in the work. After USC’s inconsistent defensive results on the field in 2025, it seems like it would be tough to trust any of these assistants with your development as a player. But, so much of recruiting is about building relationships and building belief in the future.

It’s possible that these recruits don’t even really care who the DC turns out to be because they have so much trust in the position coach who recruited them.

Or maybe, they just see the team-oriented opportunity

We’ve talked a lot about the individual calculus for these recruits, but football players are still some of the most competitive people on the planet. Maybe they just see USC as the best place to meaningfully contribute to winning.

Jumping onto USC’s roster for 2026 isn’t like immediately becoming part of a national title contender. But, if you were a defensive player watching USC from a distance in 2025, you could sense a real opportunity.

USC was elite offensively in 2025. Many of their best offensive players are returning for 2026, and USC is also bringing in plenty of incredible new talent on that side of the ball as well.

Buying in

Maybe defensive recruits are motivated by the idea that they could become a big reason why USC’s defense becomes as good as its offense in 2026. Maybe it’s more of a trust in the offensive talent around them than the defensive talent.

Regardless of the reason, props to USC for getting some very good players to buy in. Hopefully that trend continues — and hopefully USC also nails its defensive coordinator hire, whether that’s technically already happened or not.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC succeeds in the transfer portal without a defensive coordinator

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos