WATCH: 5-star DE Korey Foreman officially reveals his USC decision
USC had already delivered a recruiting rejuvenation in this 2021 cycle after its nadir last year. The Trojans had locked up a strong foundation of Rivals250 4-star prospects on both sides of the ball, secured two highly-coveted quarterbacks and largely addressed most of their needs in the Early Signing Period while hovering around the top 10 in the national recruiting rankings.
And yet, the perception of this recruiting class was still going to be largely determined by what happened Saturday as 5-star defensive end Korey Foreman saved his much-anticipated announcement for the All-American Bowl TV special live on NBC.
Well ... a very good recruiting haul became great as Foreman grabbed the Trojans hat from a group that also included Clemson (where he was committed for a few months early last year), Georgia, LSU and Arizona State.
USC lands its highest-ranked prospect since wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown in the 2018 class in securing the No. 1-ranked defensive end and No. 3 overall national prospect in this 2021 cycle.
"Every one of these schools have done everything they can to show me everything they can possibly show me. I weighed everything, I dotted all my i's and crossed all my t's. ... The coaching staff at 'SC, I'm blessed to be under them and I'm thankful for everything else they have brought to me, and I'm blessed to see what [the] journey has to come. Fight On," Foreman said after making the announcement.
Foreman's plan was to have already signed during the Early Signing Period while keeping the news under wraps until Saturday. He is not an early enrollee, but when he does arrive at USC this summer the expectation is that he'll make an immediate impact as a bookend pass rusher with his former Corona Centennial HS teammate Drake Jackson.
As for what swayed Foreman back to USC and the decision to stay close to home, after many twists and turns in his recruitment where Clemson, LSU and Georgia all looked like possible destinations at various points, he told TrojanSports.com a few weeks ago that the new defensive staff -- with defensive coordinator Todd Orlando and defensive line coach Vic So'oto -- had earned his trust both in building relationships and in the product he saw on the field this fall.
"Success. Definitely success. Over the last years, USC's defense has been a little skeptical and like a little iffy. But now that TO's there and Coach Vic and everybody else along with the defensive staff, I trust them," Foreman said. "... To everybody on television on the other end of the TV, everybody sees how many times the quarterback's having to run away or just things like that. The fact that he's not comfortable in the backfield, that right there is the biggest part of everything. So just constant pressure and a lot of tackles, those are big things that play big roles, especially where I fit -- how they view the defensive end.
"I would say how 'SC deals with Drake and how they do with Nick Figueroa and how they're putting people on the map that weren't even on the map. There's little things like that I just take under consideration."
That new defensive staff had to work to build that trust, though. It wasn't just given. The turnover and turmoil within the USC coaching staff in recent years had only made it even easier for Foreman to commit to Clemson last January and consider a future elsewhere. He later decided he wanted to step back and explore all of his options, and So'oto, Orlando and the staff went to work selling him on a new direction for the defense.
"I'm going to be honest, I didn't trust Coach Vic at first. But me being able to see -- and TO -- how they're using the defense, it's [impressive]. Not that I doubted them, but it's just the fact that I know USC's had a little bit of coaches in the past go in and out of the program. So just other things I was worried about, but Coach Vic and Coach TO, they know what they're doing," Foreman said.
Meanwhile, Jackson and Foreman are not only former HS teammates but close friends who have talked regularly throughout this process -- but rarely about recruiting. Foreman knows Jackson might only be at USC for one more year before considering the NFL draft, so it may not have been a driving factor in his decision but it's a nice bonus. Jackson was the dominant senior defensive end at Corona Centennial when Foreman had his breakout season on the opposite end as a sophomore. They've been tight ever since, and that connection extends to their families.
"It would be me and Drake as QB killers back again," Foreman had said a few weeks ago. "... I trust and I believe in Drake. Everybody knows what it would look like."
Jackson was moved from a more traditional defensive end role to a stand-up pass-rushing outside linebacker role this season and tied for the team lead with 17 total pressures (per PFF) along with 5.5 tackles for loss and 2 sacks in six games. It's unclear exactly how they'll have Foreman play -- USC had two OLBs up near the line of scrimmage at times last season with Jackson and Hunter Echols -- but the Trojans were flexible with their fronts and will surely seek to put Foreman in the most advantageous position to make an impact.
"I feel like standing up is not a bad deal. If it's third-and-long, I'm definitely going to want my hand in the dirt," Foreman said.
Meanwhile, this is the culmination of about a year and a half firmly in the national spotlight for Foreman, who remembers everything changing for him after he was named the Defensive Line MVP at The Opening in Frisco, Texas, the summer before his junior year, despite being the youngest lineman competing.
"I didn't think anything of the recruiting process until I had come back from The Opening. That's when everything kind of sparked," he recalled. "... Afterwards I was the No. 1 player, so that's probably when I started to see everything excel. But dang, ever since I came back from The Opening, there hasn't been a day I haven't checked my phone and had like 100 messages. I mean, yeah, it's crazy. It's crazy. After The Opening, it was Clemson, it was Bama and it was all the other big schools. It was insane."
He also reflected on what this experience has been like for he and his family to share in together from that point to the culmination Saturday.
"Everybody is amazed at the whole thing. Especially when I had [initially] committed to Clemson, I'm the first one in my family to do anything as big as this or get places like this. So I kind of see me, if I get drafted, I'm the only one in the family to ever touch any experience or ever come anywhere close to that," he said. "I try to do the best I can to put on for my [family]. It's definitely a three-year plan."