Late USC recruiting pickup Dorian Hewett now ready to be early contributor
USC was in a bit of a scramble at the end of the 2019 recruiting cycle, trying to address paramount needs in the secondary and making late offers for defensive backs across the country.
That's when Dorian Hewett, a 3-star safety from Houston, Texas, came on the Trojans' radar, and his family couldn't help but wonder initially how Hewett truly fit into the program's plans.
That is, until head coach Clay Helton showed up at the family's door.
"We were like, it's kind of late in the game. Maybe they didn't get the guy that they wanted so they're just trying to get a rebound off of you is what we initially thought," Donald Hewett, Dorian's father, told TrojanSports.com this week. "Until my doorbell rang and it was coach Helton at the door unannounced. He was the first head coach to walk through the door and we didn't even expect him."
As Hewett recalls of his father's reaction, "He was happy, calling friends, telling them who he had in his living room."
Helton arrived for that late January visit with DBs coach Greg Burns and outside linebackers coach Joe DeForest, who has recruited the state of Texas throughout his career and had recently made the initial contact with Hewett by phone.
As the Hewett family visited with the coaches, it became clear that the staff had done its research and thoroughly scouted the North Shore High School prospect, but the question still had to be asked.
"I expressed my concern to them that I felt that Dorian was maybe a fallback plan. They [said] the only reason they hadn't offered Dorian was because they didn't know he was out there," Donald Hewett said. "And the thing was for coach Helton to jump on the plane from California to come to Texas to visit one kid, it meant a lot. With them showing that much interest in Dorian, we wanted to repay the favor and at least take the trip."
Hewett was supposed to take an official visit to Washington on that final weekend before National Signing Day, but he instead changed his plans to visit USC. (He offered Washington a mid-week visit, but the staff there didn't want to do that). He announced his commitment soon thereafter, officially signed that Wednesday and eight and a half months later is now in line to likely make his first start at cornerback for the Trojans on Saturday night vs. Arizona.
Donald Hewett said the USC coaches convinced the family they had a plan for Dorian during that final recruiting push, but the way the start to his collegiate career has played out has certainly been a surprise to many -- including perhaps even those coaches to some degree, as Burns seemed to acknowledge this week.
"We were in a need for DBs and his biggest attribute was his speed. He was able to play safety and we were looking for that potential position, but when he got here we were like, wow, not only is he fast but he can do some more stuff, and there's some more tools that he had that we didn't quite see," Burns said.
That could be said for many college recruiters who scouted Hewett's stacked 16-0 state champion North Shore team and overlooked the speedy safety. He didn't attend the national camp circuit, didn't have a Division I offer until the summer before his senior season (from Syracuse) and to that point had accepted that his path might include an initial stop at Division II Texas A&M-Commerce.
Now he's set to play a major role for one of college football's most historic programs inside the Coliseum on Saturday night in a pivotal game that could shape the rest of USC's season.
Regardless of how his recruitment unfolded, or where he slotted on the prospect rankings, it's led him to a prime opportunity to prove something he and his family have never doubted.
"Dorian is always underrated. I don't want to call him an underdog, but he's always underrated and it's partly due to his personality because he's so even-keeled," his father said. "He's not boisterous or he doesn't want the attention so a lot of people kind of would miss him because of that, but I guarantee you he will raise some eyebrows this weekend because one thing he is, is a ballplayer."
'I really thought I was going D-II'
Visiting with a reporter in Houston back in May, Hewett was already putting his path to USC in perspective -- well before he even knew what kind of opportunity would present itself this fall.
"Man, there's a lot of times I talk to the kids around here and I've just got to sit there and think for a minute," he said. "I came from the bottom to being one of the best recruits out here, and for me to say that, and I'm talking to all these kids that's in little league, middle school, like freshmen, I'm telling them just don't give up on your dream."
Looking back, Donald Hewett said, the family didn't fully understand the recruiting process early on. With his work schedule, he didn't necessarily have time to shuttle Dorian to all the regional and national recruiting camps around the country, and in hindsight he feels that hampered the young DB's recruiting stock.
He attended only two camps at Baylor and Syracuse, and the Orange would give Hewett his first Division I offer in June before his senior season -- largely because Kirk Martin, the QBs coach there, had been the head coach at fellow Houston state power Manvel HS and was aware of Hewett that way.
But before that offer came, as he saw his highly-rated North Shore teammates racking up their own offers, Hewett decided to accept what he thought was his path at that time.
"I really thought I was going D-II. I just had Texas A&M-Commerce -- that was up in Dallas and I really thought that was the only offer I was going to get. So I already had my mind set that I was going to head there," he recalled. "I understood that getting a D-I offer was a big deal, not everyone got one. And I wasn't having my hopes up if I did or didn't get one because I knew it was hard so getting that D-II offer was just fine for me."
As was later shifting that focus to Syracuse after they showed interest. Hewett was committed to the Orange from that summer until Jan. 15.
In the end, he said his final decision came down to USC, Syracuse and Washington while his father says Utah was also very much in the mix. To be honest, his parents were especially high on the Utes and the opportunity there, but Donald Hewett didn't want to influence his son.
As the story goes, Donald's brother had played football at Texas-El Paso after their father steered him there over a potential opportunity at Texas, with the logic being that he'd see the field earlier at UTEP.
When Dorian was then faced with a similar decision, he made it clear he didn't want the easier path.
"He's a competitor. He's a builder. Dorian really thinks he can go in and [help] turn the program around through leadership," Donald Hewett said. "At the time USC was coming off of a down year. Utah had had a good year, Syracuse was coming off a great year, 10-win season. The thing was, he felt it would be easy if he had went to any other shocol but USC.
"That would be the biggest challenge as far as playing time -- he would have to go there and earn it. I felt if he would have gone to any of the other schools, they kind of had him penciled in -- he had an opportunity to compete to be the Day 1 guy and they were confident he could win the job. … I told him that USC would be more of a challenge, you would probably have to wait a year or two and show the coaches what you can do. He's done that a lot faster than I thought he would, but I tell you, that's how Dorian is. You can't count him out. He always comes through in the clutch. I'm excited, but I'm not surprised."
'His best games are his biggest games'
Back when Hewett was still trying to get on the radar of big-time college football programs, his father would nudge him to show more emotion on the field after a big play as maybe that would help him standout a little more.
That's just not Hewett's personality, though.
"He's just real even-keeled and that's just the way he's always been," Donald Hewett said.
So when Dorian called his father this week to tell him the news -- that he had a good chance to start at cornerback with key cogs Olaijah Griffin and Isaac Taylor-Stuart dealing with injuries -- the freshman did so in his same, usual calm and unfazed manner.
Donald Hewett, meanwhile, had enough emotions for both of them.
"We were blown away, my wife and I both," he said. "... I'm glad I was sitting down when he told me."
Taylor-Stuart managed a limited practice Thursday and is a game-time decision for Saturday night with his sprained ankle, but even if he plays he likely would be limited. Because USC has relied exclusively on its top three corners -- including freshman Chris Steele -- fans and reporters weren't even sure who the next in line was at the position entering this week.
Media hasn't been able to see any significant period of practice since the end of fall camp, and the depth chart USC releases each week continues to list Hewett as the fourth-string nickel.
But Burns revealed on Wednesday that Hewett has actually been the next in line at corner for a while and that he moved to the position full time back in August -- after coming in as a safety and then working some at nickel.
Again, Hewett -- who ran a 10.33-second 100 meters in regional competition and then placed fifth at the Texas 6A state meet (in addition to two top-5 relay finishes) -- has perhaps proved to be even more than the Trojans knew they were getting.
"He's really fast and then at the safety spot it was kind of getting bottled up and I didn't want to waste him behind a bunch of people, and he's athletic enough to do multiple things," Burns said. "We actually had him at nickel a little bit, so he almost knows every spot right now. But then as we were going, I was like, corner might be his spot."
Said fellow freshman Steele, who will be starting at the other corner spot Saturday night: "He's a playmaker. He's real physical, probably one of the fastest -- he is one of the fastest dudes on the team. I expect a lot from him this week just because of what I see him do every day. ...
"I've seen Velus [Jones] beat him at the line, have like four yards on him and the last few steps you see Dorian running using his track form and breaking the ball up, and I was just like, 'Dang, that's dude's fast -- like really fast.'"
It could be a limited audition If Taylor-Stuart's ankle and Griffin's back (bulging disc) allow them to return to their regular roles in the coming weeks, but it's an opportunity nonetheless for Hewett (who has played some on special teams this season) and that's all he's wanted.
"He was really down after they lost to Notre Dame, and the thing is because he wants to contribute. Not down because he didn't get in the game -- he just knows if he's in the game he can make a play or he can do this. He feels that way," Donald Hewett said. "So I think he's going to get an opportunity to show it and he's excited about it. I'm nervous enough for the both of us."
Donald was also nervous this week about finding a place to watch it. His cable provider doesn't offer the Pac-12 network, which is broadcasting the game, so he was calling around to sports bars and even joined a Facebook group for USC fans in Houston.
"I'm going to find a way," he said.
And while he notes that he'll be on the edge of his seat watching his son play his first defensive snaps for the Trojans, he doesn't think the freshman corner will share those nerves. Again, that's just not been his way.
"With him being so even-keeled, his best games are his biggest games," Donald Hewett said. "… Dorian's going to open some eyes this weekend, I really think so."
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