Lincoln Riley comments on each of USC's signees so far

On a day when USC officially signed five-star cornerback Domani Jackson -- the No. 15-ranked over prospect in the country -- new Trojans coach Lincoln Riley met with reporters to break down his signing class so far.

It's a small one still -- just seven signees plus a transfer addition -- but Riley emphasized that he and his staff are being selective to make sure they're only adding the right pieces that fit the puzzle he is trying to assemble.

"We started thinking the other day when we were in the staff room talking about the position we were in here the last few weeks, you have to make a decision. You have to make decisions on, OK, do we want to go sign 20 guys in this first signing period?" Riley said. "There’s been a lot of interest in people wanting to come here. But we said in the beginning what our priorities are going to be for creating a championship roster here, and we said we’re not going to stray from that, even though it’s tempting.

"It is. It’s tempting to want to come up here today and have 20 names on this list. But we know in the end that’s not how you build a championship roster. It’s about getting the right names. The numbers will come."

USC ranks 63rd in the Rivals recruiting rankings through the end of the early signing period, although that only counts public commitments/signings and the Trojans have a few key targets who have signed with their school of choice but won't announce until the all-star games in January.

The Trojans rank No. 7 in terms of average star rating per commit/signee (3.71), and that's factoring in a two-star ding from taking on a high-upside punter from Australia. Isolate punter Atticus Bertrams from the equation -- it's simply a reality that even the best punting prospects aren't going to command high 4- or 5-star status -- and USC's other six commits average a 4.0 star rating.

With Jackson and Mater Dei HS teammate Raleek Brown signed, USC is one of just five programs nationally to have signed two five-star prospects in this class, and only Georgia has signed more than two.

Riley shared his thoughts about each of those seven signees and the impact he thinks they can make for the Trojans in years to come ...

"Extremely talented football player. One of the most talented football players in the country at his position. The combination of speed, size and then just a natural confidence that Domani has is very, very impressive. And it was great to get a chance to spend a lot of time with him and his family here over the last few weeks and certainly glad that this was the right fit for him.

"We were thrilled that he’d chosen this place and probably most excited at just how, when we did call us to tell us, how all in he was. There was zero hesitation. This is where he wants to be. This is where his family wants to be. He has total belief and shares our vision about what this place could be. That’s what you want. Whether it’s a guy you’re signing, whether it’s a current player on this team, there has to be a shared vision. There has to be a crazy dedicated belief within everybody that if we all work together, we can get this done. Domani certainly adds to that."

"Raleek Brown, talking about one of the most dynamic playmakers in the country. A very, very unique player that has the chance to impact the game in many different ways. Another guy that comes from a tremendous program in Mater Dei. Another great family, and thrilled to see all the different ways that we're going to be able to use Raleek."

"Zion Branch comes from a tremendous family and a great program there in Bishop Gorman. Safety that we've known for a long a time. We're thrilled that this came together, and talk about just the complete package. Tremendous young man, great student and very, very talented football player that we think he fits great into our system, great into our culture, great into our university. Couldn't be happier about that."

"Fabian Ross, also out of Bishop Gorman, again, another championship program. A guy that brings that kind of DNA and identity to our program. Fabian, a tremendous player, very versatile player in the secondary, very physical. Another player that was obviously committed here before and as we got the chance to spend more time with him and his family, there was no question that we wanted him here. Brings a great outlook, brings a lot of position flexibility, so very thrilled to have Fabian be part of our family."

"An elite edge player and one of the things when brought Coach Grinch to our previous stop, one of the things that we had to change initially was the makeup of a defensive line and really kind of define what we want that to look like in our current defensive system. And the emphasis being on speed, being on athleticism, guys that can win one-on-ones. This is not going to be a two-gap defensive line, this is not going to be somebody that we just try to hold off blockers so that people at the second or third level can make tackles. This is gonna be a defensive front that we want to be explosive. They have to be productive, they have to be reckless, they have to impact the game for us to play the way we want. And felt like Devan fit the bill. Elite length, tremendous athleticism. It'll be interesting to see how big this guy gets because he's still got a frame that he's going to continue to grow and get better and better. But we were thrilled to come in, get a chance to evaluate him and say, 'Absolutely.' We would have recruited him anywhere in the country."

"Garrison Madden, really feel like this guy's in some sense a diamond in the rough. Got away from football for a few years, just recently came back to it but that has tremendous length, has a great frame. He's 6-2.5, 200 pounds right now but is going to be 225 before he can blink. You're talking about one of the fastest linebackers in the country. I mean, the speed just jumps off the tape and that's one thing for us defensively here. Of course, we want physicality, of course we want size, power, all of that, but we are not going to compromise speed at any position and Garrison certainly adds to that."

'Interesting story. Obviously was a guy that was committed when we got here. We had a chance to evaluate him and the challenges of evaluating an international player, especially when a lot of his career has been during the COVID era is unique. But there are a lot of people in that world that we trust very much and when you watch film of this guy, you can see an elite talent. There's no question about it, an elite talent. And as we got to know the kid, I've been very impressed with his work ethic, his excitement to come to USC. I think he fits the bill of what we're looking for at that position. Obviously, punter position is not something that you're going to take every single year so you gotta feel sure and we certainly have that with Atticus."