The original National Signing Day in February has lost its luster in recent years, as the overwhelming majority of high school football recruits choose to finalize decisions and sign with schools during the early signing period in December.
But the USC staff wasn't done putting the finishing touches on its 2025 recruiting class until Wednesday, when the Trojans signed linebacker AJ Tuitele (Las Vegas, Nevada) and defensive end Jadyn Ramos (Conroe, Texas).
"Give our staff a lot of credit, these are two guys that were a little bit kind of under the radar and people that we'd had our eyes on for a long time -- Jadyn Ramos and AJ Tuitele," coach Lincoln Riley said.
He then elaborated on both late additions to the class -- one which finished ranked No. 15 nationally by Rivals with 24 signees.
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Tuitele had seemed ticketed to USC for weeks since he picked up a late USC offer and interest after getting released from his initial National Letter of Intent to Washington State, when the coaching staff there left in December.
Badly needing to add more talent and depth at linebacker, the Trojans made a priority push to reel in Tuitele, who recorded 167 tackles, including 37 for loss (with 4 sacks) through 13 games as a senior Mojave HS. Tuitele had 10 games of double-digit tackles, including a season-best 20 on two occasions. He led Mojave to a 12-1 record, including a 6-0 league mark en route to winning the 2024 Class 4A Desert League title and the Nevada 4A State Championship.
"A linebacker that really jumped off the tape. A kid that kind of blew up a little bit his senior year, one of those guys that in the new age of recruiting where so much of this happens early, he's one of those guys that you go pop on this kid's senior tape and it really stands out," Riley said. "So felt very fortunate to be able to identify him, to be able to build a relationship with him and his great family. Another guy that we had a great visit with here in Los Angeles and feel very strongly about and very excited to be able to sign him and add his explosiveness, his character to our linebacker room."
Ramos was more of a surprise to most when he announced his commitment Tuesday. While he fell through the cracks of the Rivals rankings, receiving just two stars, his production in a very competitive level of Texas high school football is impossible to ignore.
As a senior in 2024, Ramos recorded 73 tackles, including 36.5 for loss with 18 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery. He was selected as the 2024 District 13-6A Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the All-Greater Houston First Team.
He needs to add size and strength, but his upside in highly intriguing.
"Jadyn being an edge player out of Texas and the Houston area, we had some great connections there locally to his high school coaches and a couple of other people close to him and somebody that we felt very strong about from a developmental standpoint, was a highly productive player in Texas this year that's got a great frame," Riley said. "We really fell in love with the kid when he came up on the visit and excited to be able to sign him today."
