The USC Trojans’ head coach was on the verge of losing his reputation as the “quarterback whisperer.” The 2024 season brought significant confusion, shaking up Lincoln Riley’s quarterback room. From benching his former quarterback Miller Moss to favoring new quarterback Jayden Maiava, USC fans are eager to avoid further disruptions this season. Fortunately, some positive news has emerged. A national analyst has offered a favorable assessment of Maiava. Meanwhile, fans are also focused on their head coach, as Riley develops a master plan for an ‘aggressive’ turnaround.   

The Trojans still had three games left last season when Maiava replaced Moss as their starting quarterback. By then, Riley’s squad had lost four of their last five games, leaving their bowl eligibility hanging by a thin thread. Maybe the QB’s numbers did show the HC some glimmer of hope. Maiava had started 11 games for the Rebels last year, passing for 3,085 yards and 17 touchdowns as a promising redshirt freshman. The UNLV transfer passed for 259 yards and three touchdowns in his first start for the Trojans. However, his best feat came against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, which seems to have stayed with the On3 analyst J.D. PicKell.

On his podcast, the analyst stated, “I just appreciate the mental toughness that I saw last year for Maiava. Sort of subtle, but I saw against Notre Dame where he throws a pick six. It was a tough play in the swing of that game for USC. It put him on their heels.” Against Marcus Freeman’s boys, Riley’s QB’s 360 passing yards were the most by any quarterback against the Irish this past season. It was a huge surprise, considering quarterbacks usually have a ton on their plate and mistakes are just part of the game. Cut to Maiava, “trying to finish the season strong, just came back swinging, throwing darts downfield. There was no flinching.” Even though he looked out of sync against Texas A&M throwing three interceptions, Pickell believes, “We got a guy with some killer instinct confidence to keep throwing it downfield.” 

The Notre Dame factor brings in a lot of hope for Lincoln Riley about his QB. “A lead in every single fourth quarter except for one and that was Notre Dame and even in that spot you were driving to tie in the red Zone before the pick six…that’s against the team that was playing for a national title at the end of the year Notre Dame. There’s a lot there to be excited about.” While the QB picture is likely to fall into place, Riley has got to prove himself. 

Lincoln Riley’s game-changing hire and it’s not a player

This fall is going to make or break Riley and the Trojans’ fate as they push to become a significant Big Ten title contender. Right now, they are plagued with players swapping wagons—WR Duce Robinson and Zachariah Branch, and OL Emmanuel Pregnon. However, as CBS Sports’ John Talty stated, hiring the ex-Notre Dame GM Chad Bowden comes off as a respite amidst the gloom.

“But big picture, I love that USC is building out an extensive personnel department of some of the nation’s most highly-regarded people. It started with hiring Chad Bowden away from Notre Dame after a national runner-up season for the Fighting Irish,” he said. And Bowden is the push, showing Riley’s recruiting vision is on point. 

“We’ll be very aggressive in recruiting guys that are committed,” Riley’s new GM stated. “We’re going to be on those kids more so than the guys we’re trying to get committed because they’re already part of our family, and we see it that way. They need to be taken care of more than the kid we’re just recruiting and is deciding between multiple schools.”

The biggest USP in their recruiting race is their being aggressive in NIL as well. Looks like already the plans are paying off. Lincoln Riley’s 2026 class is reportedly number one, which is crazy considering they’ve had some losses, too. Looks like the Trojans are about to make a splash along the recruiting trail.