Brandon Pili's doctor told him he may never have the same explosion, the same level of mobility he had before tearing his Achilles tendon last spring, but a year removed from the injury, he offers a different assessment.

"I think that's all BS. I feel great," he said with a smile after practice last Thursday. "Even though I'm a little bit overweight -- I'm looking to drop 10-15 more pounds before the season -- I feel great. It can't get much better than this."

Pili has certainly come away from his lost season with different perspective on things.

It was supposed to be his year in 2021, as the long-time rotational defensive tackle was the projected starter and really the only option at nose tackle with any collegiate experience.

The sixth-year senior has played 998 defensive snaps over 38 games in his Trojans career (including 500 in 2019), totaling 49 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. A big season last year as a full-time starter and he'd be preparing for a shot at the NFL right now.

Instead, his season ended before it could even begin -- early in spring practice with that Achilles injury.

"I was crying, man. When you love something so much and it's taken from you like that and you know you can't do it for a while, it's a tough feeling," he said. "But man, I see it as God giving me a blessing in disguise because obviously last season didn't go the way we wanted it to. But with the new coaching staff, the fresh start, I feel like it's a perfect setup for me to come and play under Coach Riley and give it my all."