Donte Williams hopes to raise the bar higher for USC recruiting in 2022

There was no more impactful factor in USC's recruiting resurgence this past year than cornerbacks coach -- and now associate head coach -- Donte Williams.

The Trojans had just wrapped up a 2020 recruiting class that would ultimately finish ranked tied for 71st nationally when Williams was hired away from Oregon last February. A year later, USC climbed to No. 8 in the Rivals rankings, with Williams' fingerprints all over the class.

He was the lead recruiter for 5-star DE Korey Foreman, 4-star Rivals100 LB Raesjon Davis, 4-star Rivals100 WR Kyron Ware-Hudson, 4-star Rivals250 LB Julien Simon, 4-star Rivals250 CBs Ceyair Wright, Prophet Brown and Jaylin Smith, and Williams and safeties coach Craig Naivar teamed on 4-star safeties Anthony Beavers, Calen Bullock and Xamarion Gordon.

All of that said, Williams says the expectation is even greater for the 2022 class now.

"Well, I mean I want to be first. So my expectations, I feel like we fell short because we're not first," Williams said while appearing on the Trojan Talk podcast this week. "And so it's still the same mantra -- we're going to make sure we 'Take Back the West,' and once the west is taken back we're going to make sure we take back the nation and make USC back where it belongs. And that's on top. Until we do that, it pretty much hasn't fit the criteria where I want us to be, and once we are back on top it's all about doing it over and over again. We're nowhere near where I want to be yet, but I see us working toward that goal."

Williams isn't able to talk about or address 2022 prospects yet per NCAA rules -- he's already landed commitments from 5-star CB Domani Jackson and 4-star CB Fabian Ross -- but now that National Signing Day has passed he was able to go more in-depth on some of those 2021 recruiting battles he helped the Trojans win.

For some notable details on Foreman's recruitment, check out our story from Friday, as Williams shared how the 5-star DE went silent on him for the two-plus weeks leading up to his Jan. 2 announcement, trying to maintain the suspense while only a few members of USC's staff knew he had officially locked in during the early signing period in mid-December.

Meanwhile, Williams discussed the late pursuit for Davis, the highly-ranked linebacker from Mater Dei HS, the cornerback class he signed and one recruit who may be flying under the radar for fans.