Justin Dedich settles into role he was meant for as Trojans team captain

Bill Dedich watched back his son's interview from the practice field earlier this week after Justin, USC's fifth-year senior right guard, was named one of four team captains for the Trojans.

He liked the way Justin talked about being a "servant" for his team and that he wasn't looking at the captaincy as a personal accomplishment but rather a call for more responsibility.

But he had to correct his son on one point.

The younger Dedich had been asked how he stayed patient for so long in an era of college football where players hop in the transfer portal rather than wait five years for a full-fledged starting job.

"Kind of talks with my dad and mentors in my life. It's very cliche, but it's a trust the process kind of thing," he said.

"He's got it wrong and it's neat to correct him every once in a while," Bill Dedich says over the phone. "What's funny is as a parent you want your kids to be healthy, happy, whole humans, and when you see some of those things happening as a parent you start to question things naturally, like, 'What the heck is going on? This kind of isn't what we thought was going to be happening,' is a bigger picture of the whole previous administration, previous coaching staff. So we watched all that stuff turning for a few years, and every time that would happen and Justin and I would have these conversations, he was quick to tell me, 'Dad, I'm here, I'm a Trojan. I'm trusting the process.'

"When he mentioned it in those interviews, he turned it around as if I was the one who said it to him. It was actually the opposite. He was the rock, he was the steady one where he said, 'Dad, I'm not talking about that other stuff. I'm focused on doing my job, I'm focused on listening to the coaches and delivering what they're asking me to do. ... I'm trusting the process."

And it was indeed a process.

Dedich, rated a four-star offensive lineman and the No. 1 center prospect in the country in the 2018 recruiting class, competed for the job his second year in the program in 2019, with Brett Neilon winning the position and holding it still to this day. And since then, Dedich has been kind of USC's super sub along the line, plugging in at center or guard when needs arise.

He's made 7 starts and played in 22 games over the last few years, but he's never had a position to call his own. That changes Saturday when he lines up as USC's starting right guard -- and team captain -- in the Coliseum for the opener vs. Rice.

"I'm excited to play right guard with the 1s. I feel like we have good chemistry with all the guys up front," Dedich said. "I've been here a long time with some of them, so we're rolling, we got this offense down, we've got 25 practices about to be under our belt, so I'm looking forward to playing against Rice."

There's a lot of people within the program excited to see Dedich take his spot as a starter Saturday, for that matter.

There may not be a more universally respected player on the Trojans roster, because his teammates have seen that dedication and commitment without the desired payoff for years now. They know how much work he's put into earning this opportunity, waiting for this moment.

"Well deserved," left guard Andrew Vorhees said. "He's one of the most vocal and genuine dudes out there, and I'm super proud of his leadership and his ability to navigate through the tough times and not necessarily get that playing time that he thought he was going to get throughout his years here. I think everything he's done has put himself in a position to where he can prosper. ... Really proud of that dude.

"Talk about consistently doing the right thing unconditionally, I would look to someone like Justin and say that is a dude who is unwavering in his commitment to this team and this program."

Said Neilon, who won that competition at center back in 2019 and now will line up next to his close friend and longtime teammate this season: "He's a tremendous energy ball for the team. He does a great job hyping up. He's just a leader, father figure, takes care of guys and he works extremely hard at his craft."

With Dedich and Vorhees flanking Neilon, the Trojans have two sixth-year seniors and a fifth-year senior anchoring the middle of their offensive line -- a group that has bonded off and on the field throughout their college careers now.

"I'm excited, we get to finally play a whole season next to each other," Neilon added. "He's very knowledgeable. It's nice to play next to a guy like that because you know you can count on him and he'll help you make the calls and take care of the right tackle. He's just a dependable guy. He's going to be a great player this season, have a great season."

Bill Dedich believes his son was always meant to be an offensive lineman. It just fit.

By age 5 or 6, he was already the "biggest kid in the area," as his dad recalls. And while his parents weren't necessarily football fans, Dedich had always taken to the sport and expressed an interest. But not just football -- specifically the offensive line, as if it were a calling.

"Growing up, he's kind of epitomized that O-line mentality. It's the only position on the field where your whole job is to make sure other people are safe," Bill Dedich said. "... It's cool to see him grow up kind of always being the bouncer looking out for the other kids who are being picked on or needing some help. He's kind of always done that, like a bouncer at a bar. ...

"He's one of those people you kind of just knew what he was going to do. He just looked like it, acted like it."

The same could be said about Dedich now stepping into a team captain role for the Trojans.

It's hard to imagine a more obvious pick.

"I'm grateful to serve this team. I feel like I bleed Cardinal and Gold now. I've always bled it," he said Tuesday.

So much so that despite pushing year after year for a more formal role on the offensive line, he was continually left waiting. Asked point blank if he ever considered looking to make a move transfer-wise, he answers honestly -- and exactly how one would expect he would.

"Some days you have your dark days, you talk about it, but I never meant it. I never said it verbally or anything. I would get down on myself and it was just kind of talking to my dad, talking to my mentors -- 'Trust the process, trust the process.' I think that's a normal thing," Dedich said. "It's something I want to teach the young guys, if they come here, if they go to any other school, it's just trust it because your opportunity will come one day and you've got to seize it."