The beaches of southern California are transpiring into quicksand for USC Trojans’ head coach Lincoln Riley. As hard as he tries to escape it, he seems to be hauled further in. He and the program are seeking to put this year, their first in the Big 10, behind them. However, the off-season has entailed more of the same. When Lincoln Riley took over the helm in 2022, the Trojans’ facility saw more 5 stars than downtown LA. 3 seasons on, absolutely all of them- down to the last one- have left via the portal. Now, quarterback Jayden Maiava may be following suit.

The Trojans’ first year post-realigning over from the Pac-12 was pretty dismal. A .500 season was somewhat salvaged by beating Texas A&M in the Las Vegas Bowl. But that’s a rather thin silver lining.  You’d be forgiven for thinking a school on the Pacific coast, located in a city that’s probably the biggest sports market in the country, would be the biggest beneficiary of the NIL and transfer portal era. Attracting high-caliber recruits should be the easy part. Turns out, they’re actually unable to even keep hold of the talent that’s in-house. 

Jayden Maiava has been a name floated about for the Cam Ward-shaped void at the Miami Hurricanes. The redshirt sophomore only came to USC a year ago. After initially deputizing behind Miller Moss, he finished the season atop the QB depth chart. Expectantly, Miller Moss has already departed. One would expect Maiava to buckle down the QB1 role. 5-star recruit Husan Longstreet is a tangible threat, but not in the immediate. Yet, his latest off-field decision suggests Lincoln Riley needs to be wary of losing Maiava.

LA Times’ Ryan Kartje took to X and reported the latest developments pertaining to Jayden Maiava. “While rumors have flown the last few days about Jayden Maiava, one note I can report on USC’s QB …” he wrote. “Maiava has changed his NIL representation for the second time in a year. He’ll now be represented by Athletes First.” Maiava was previously associated with California Power. This doesn’t help dissipate the self-acknowledged rumours. The dynamic around this time of year is fickle, and a switch in representation should sound alarm bells for Lincoln Riley.

Cast your minds back to coach Riley with the Oklahoma Sooners. He led OU to 4 conf. championships in 5 years. All while earning the moniker of “quarterback whisperer”. 4 of his quarterbacks are NFL starters today, and 3 won the Heisman. This did translate to USC for a while, with Caleb Williams whom he brought along with him via the portal. The same portal has circled around to bite him. He’s lost his best receiver, Zachariah Branch, among a plethora of others, and now can’t rest assured about Maiava either. USC has lost at least 19 players to the portal already.

The sheen from his stint in Oklahoma dulls the further along we get from it. He’s losing built-up credit in his reserve, and the Trojans fanbase is livid. This disdain was echoed by one prominent member of CFB media, whose words won’t fall on deaf ears.

Jayden Maiava potentially departing shall spell trouble for Lincoln Riley

Under Lincoln Riley, USC has had a conspicuous downward spiral year after year. They’ve gone from 11 wins to 8 and now to 7. It only appears to be getting worse. This recruitment cycle has been an unmitigated disaster. Only 5 out of the top-15 rated recruits acquired by Riley remain at USC. Josh Pate has aired concern over the trajectory of the program. Concern that has reverberated across the west coast for a while.

“USC appears to be collapsing before our eyes,” he remarked. “I don’t like to speak in hyperbole. I don’t like to jump to conclusions. Handily, I think it’s why I’ve taken this long to speak this directly…They’re in major trouble. They don’t have good enough players.” For a program of this ilk and a coach perceived as the next big thing not long ago, this is a massive indictment.

Even if Jayden Maiava does stay put, things seem like they’ll get worse before getting better. The playoffs have been a proponent of how stacked the B1G is. It’s likely that USC will spend 2025 in the abyss of mediocrity once again. The last thing the program needs is being forced to thrust freshman Husan Longstreet under center. Riley and the powers that be will have to keep Maiava around for at least another year while they sort the rest of this fractured roster.