USC has had 11 players enter the transfer portal, which officially opened Monday, or at least publicly announce over the last week their plans to enter the portal.
Most haven't been surprises or particularly moved the needle -- but others have been notable, like running back Quinten Joyner and starting right tackle Mason Murphy on Monday.
Joyner, who averaged 7.6 yards per carry in limited backup duty this year, could have been one of the featured playmakers for the Trojans offense next year while Murphy had his ups and downs but was nonetheless a multi-year starter at a position with minimal depth for USC.
Appearing on Trojans Live on Monday afternoon, coach Lincoln Riley said that a lot more goes into those transfer portal departures in some cases than people realize. He wasn't talking about any one specifically, but it serves to show that it's hard to assume that anyone leaving is making a decision solely based on playing time or opportunity -- especially in this NIL era.
"We're a college model that's becoming a professional model. And I know some people don't want to say that, but it's here. It is what it is, and the reality is there's just some guys that you just can't or are not going to pay what they want," Riley said. "Or you assess their value and it does not -- just like you guys have done the NFL thing, you've seen it -- if you're value doesn't match the money then it's not going to go well much longer, it's not going to go further. There's a cutthroat part of that that is just part of being a professional organization, and again, that's what we're becoming.
"And so, yeah, we're having to make some tough decisions. We're having to decide where to allocate reps or where to allocate resources, roster spots, all of those things. You're getting ready to reduce the roster size, you're getting ready to have a salary cap essentially, I mean, like, that's what we're becoming so you're going to see that. And sometimes all these transfers across the country, and we're no different, you're going to see sometimes people that feel like 'I got a better opportunity to go play at this place or that place,' and sometimes more often than what people realize now, it's the school telling the kid, 'Hey, we're sorry. This just is what it is right now.' The business has really changed that way, but that's what we all are."
Riley is referring to the ramifications of the House vs. NCAA settlement, which will clear the way for revenue sharing to hit college sports next year and an expected salary cap that has been estimated to be around $22-23 million for athletic departments to use and disperse at their discretion. (Athletes can still earn additional NIL deals through sponsorship and appearances fees, etc.)
As for the Trojans' current situation ...
In losing Murphy and really the only two experienced reserve offensive linemen, Gino Quinones and Amos Talalele, to the transfer portal, plus starting center Jonah Monheim and expectedly starting left guard Emmanuel Pregnon to the NFL, USC has to replace three starting spots and figure out its OL depth.
If only that was all ...
With quarterbacks Miller Moss and third-stringer Jake Jensen transferring -- neither a surprise -- USC has just two scholarship QBs left in incumbent starter Jayden Maiava and incoming four-star freshman Husan Longstreet and needs to either add at least depth through the portal or a proven QB to come in and challenge for the top job.
With Joyner departing along with starter Woody Marks, who is off to the NFL, USC has minimal experience returning at running back and will surely look to procure yet another proven veteran from the portal as it has done the last three years at that position.
The Trojans could also lose their entire starting secondary, if safety Kamari Ramsey leaves early for the NFL, along with known departures in cornerbacks Jaylin Smith, Jacobe Covington, John Humphrey and DeCarlos Nicholson, starting nickel Greedy Vance Jr., starting safety Akili Arnold and backup safety Bryson Shaw.
USC could also use a veteran linebacker and defensive tackle.
That's a lot of needs to fill.
"You have deep down in your core what you want to be, which I've said many times -- like, I want us to be a developmental program. I really want to rely on high school recruiting as much as we can, but you also, you do have to adapt. You do have to adapt to the market. I mean, it's changed so much -- the fact that we even call it a market now. But it is, it is," Riley said. "You're seeing high school players that are overpriced in this market, you're seeing transfer players that are overpriced in this market, and the one thing a lot of people forget about, especially with this portal is like the risk of guys leaving. For every successful story for a guy that transfers from School A to School B, for every one successful one there's three or four like trainwrecks. And that's just kind of part of it right now. So there's a risk associated with all this.
"That's the one that the agents and lot of people don't necessarily want to talk about. I think it will be in some ways tough for head coaches and programs to like fully settle on a philosophy until all of this fully settles. I mean, it's so much different than it even was last year at this time. I mean, in just about every way possible. Until some of these decisions happen, which a lot of those are obviously upcoming here quickly, we hope, it's going to continue to move. I think you're going to have just a lot of people that are trying to adapt each year with how this changes, and I think until you have that you'll see the volatility that we've seen the last few years with everyone -- and we're all dealing with it. You talk to head coaches and all the peers I have, good friends in the business, everybody's dealing with the same stuff, everybody's trying to figure out what's the best route, how are we going to do it.
"And it's like, right when you get settled in on something then the mark kind of continues to move. So, hopefully we can get this thing reeled in back a little bit just in terms of being able to add some structure for everybody -- for the players, the schools, the coaches, it would benefit everybody right now."
