Lincoln Riley talks USC's early signees: 'This roster build is ongoing'

As USC signed only six prospects Wednesday on the first day of the early signing period, new Trojans coach Lincoln Riley issued a reminder that this is only the very start of what he says is a significant roster transformation in the works.

"Honestly, every day is signing day," Riley said. "Today it's so much different than what we were all used to it being. With the transfer portal now, every day is signing day, and so this in a lot of ways is just another day for us and it's kind of the norm now. And when you're getting ready to turn over the number of spots we're getting ready to turn over, I think there's an understanding it's going to be a process."

Riley made the comments in an interview on the Pac-12 Network. He isn't scheduled to meet with USC reporters until Friday, and there could be a good reason for that.

Five-star Mater Dei High School cornerback Domani Jackson, the former USC commit who is now deciding between the Trojans and Alabama, is expected to announce a decision on Friday.

He's one of a number of top USC targets who did not end their recruitments Wednesday. His Mater Dei HS teammate, four-star Rivals100 WR CJ Williams, is expected to sign this week with a school but not announce until the All-American Bowl on Jan. 8. The Trojans look like the favorite in his recruitment after he de-committed from Notre Dame earlier this week.

Five-star Servite HS wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who remains committed to Oregon but did not sign Wednesday, is expected to make a final decision between the Ducks, Arizona and USC later this week, though the Trojans have more of an uphill climb with him.

Four-star edge rusher Cyrus Moss, from Bishop Gorman HS in Las Vegas, Nev., is also planning to sign Friday but not announce until Jan. 8. He's deciding between Alabama, Oregon, USC, Miami and Arizona State. Four-star running back Jovantae Barnes (Desert Pines HS/Las Vegas, Nev.) is signing this week but not announcing until the Under Armour All-America game on Jan. 2.

And four-star Rivals100 offensive tackle Josh Conerly (Rainier Beach HS/Seattle, Wash.) is not signing until February.

Add in that the Trojans plan to be extremely aggressive in mining the transfer portal and, indeed, Wednesday was just the start.

The news of the day was four-star Rivals100 safety Zion Branch (Bishop Gorman HS/Las Vegas, Nev.) announcing live on ESPN2 that he was signing with USC over Oklahoma and Ohio State, and three-star inside linebacker Garrison Madden (Dutchtown HS/Hampton, Ga.) picking the Trojans on the heels of his official visit last weekend.

The Trojans also signed their four preexisting commits in five-star Rivals100 all-purpose back Raleek Brown (Mater Dei HS), four-star Rivals250 cornerback Fabian Ross (Bishop Gorman HS), three-star defensive end Devan Thompkins (Edison Senior HS/Stockton) and two-star punter Atticus Bertrams (Prokick Australia).

That leaves USC at 79th in the Rivals recruiting rankings, but again, this is just the start, Riley said.

"The No. 1 thing we want to do is if we're going to build this, this class coming in from the ground floor is going to be so critical to that, let's make sure we're bringing in the right guys. Let's avoid bringing in people that maybe don't fit exactly from a culture and a mindset standpoint what we have to improve and what we have to build here. Today's a great starting point," Riley said. "It's going to continue on throughout this month, well into the second signing day in February and honestly well throughout the spring. This roster build is ongoing and today's fun and exciting, but tomorrow will be as well, Friday will be as well and on through it."

All eyes are on Riley's ability to help the Trojans reclaim their recruiting stronghold in Southern California, which has deteriorated in recent years with many top prospects leaving the state.

Brown, ranked the No. 18 overall national prospect in this class, was a good step toward that goal. Some combination of Jackson, Williams and McMillan would really make a statement.

"I think it's important. You look across the country right now and there's a lot of great players that have come from this area that are playing at other institutions doing very well. One of the key factors in this job and the success of this job is you're in one of the great areas for talent in the country and you can't just rely on a logo or a history to be the only reason to think that guys are going to sign here just because," Riley said. "We've got to create an experience here that makes it so these players want to be here and there's no reason for them to travel and go all the way across the country when they can get the best of everything right here at USC.

"So I think a lot of these changes that we've made are putting us in that position and we're going to continue to prove to all these guys why they need to be Trojans."

Riley broke down each of USC's early commitments, except for Branch, who hadn't publicly announced his decision at the time Riley was talking on the Pac-12 Network.

On Raleek Brown, who was previously committed to Riley at Oklahoma:

"Raleek's a special talent, there's no question about it. Obviously, we got to know him many years back and I think Raleek's a great example of one of those guys that wanted to be at USC, and honestly had the situation been different at USC he would have gone to USC a long time ago, so a great example of the power of this place, how much it means to so many, especially the people here in Southern California, and he's a great example of the kind of guys that we need to keep right here at home."

On Ross, who was USC's longest-standing commit having announced his decision last January:

"He was obviously a big name at a prime-time school there at Bishop Gorman. As we got a chance to get around him and the family, got a chance to evaluate him, he fit everything we were looking for as far as the secondary. Had a chance to have him and his family up as well, had a great time with them -- they're tremendous people. And you love guys that have come out of a program like Bishop Gorman. You talk about changing the culture and people at Gorman expect to compete for championships, and not just compete for them but do the work behind the scenes and understanding what it takes, that process to be a champion. He comes out of a tremendous program, was a prime-time playmaker and leader for them and we'll count on the same here at 'SC."

On Thompkins, who committed to the previous USC staff in mid-November:

"That was one of the first things we did when we got here is we looked at the guys that were committed to the previous staff and we wanted to get a great evaluation on them and we wanted to be very upfront with them, their families, their coaches because obviously the situation has changed here drastically. And Devan was one of those guys when we got a chance to look at him and evaluate him we were thrilled. We loved everything that we saw. Got a chance to spend some times with him and his family and they were tremendous. We think they fit in really well with our defensive system. [Defensive coordinator Alex] Grinch, myself, all of us, we felt very fortunate that he had already had the ties to 'SC and that we felt as strongly about him as we did because, honestly, we would have recruited him anywhere."

On Madden, who was offered last week and promptly took a USC official visit over the weekend:

"Impressive guy. Really impressive guy. In some ways a late bloomer, kind of when he got back on the football field. Guy has incredible length and he's one of the fastest linebackers in the country, period. The guy can really run, he's somebody that we've had an eye on for a long time and this ended up being the right fit for him from a football standpoint. Also, a kid that's very serious about his academics. Obviously, that's a tremendous fit here. Yeah, I feel fortunate that that one came together as quickly as it did and I think we landed certainly a diamond in the rough."

On Bertrams, who also committed to the previous staff:

"He'll have the coolest name in the building. No, there's some guys certainly that we trust quite a bit that were certainly a big part of this. Certainly, when you're recruiting an international student-athlete there's going to be an element of that. The effects of COVID are still there on this class, even now we can get out and recruit, they're still so many of these people that haven't been seen through the process as much and he's certainly a guy that fits that mold. But evaluating punters at least from a tape standpoint is not that difficult. It's a pretty simple job -- it's not an easy job to do but it's a very simple job. You see all the makings of a guy that can truly be elite. And our conversations with him and the kid's mindset and work ethic, everybody there speaks extremely highly about him so it's honestly a pretty easy decision for us to bring him in."

The rest of the week will be very interesting for USC fans as Riley's roster rebuild continues to take shape.

The Trojans have had nine scholarship players enter the transfer portal and there will be more, on top of the guys who will move on to the NFL. There's a lot of work to be done, for sure.

"It's been fun. It's such a unique time. You pop in here two weeks before signing day and it's been fun because it's a balance, I think, between getting to know some of the players we're recruiting, some of the players we're going to bring in and really be on the ground floor of what we think is going to be a great transformation here at USC," Riley said. "And then also balancing knowing our situation, knowing that we're getting ready in a lot of ways to overhaul this roster and this is going to be a process. Today is a fun day, it's an exciting day, but it's really one step in what's going to be a process to continue to bring in the right kind of players here.

"So it's been a great day so far. We couldn't have asked for more as far as the response from our fan base, the response from a lot of these prospects here, and the ones that we're going to bring in early are ones that we feel very confident are going to help us change the culture and really turn this thing around."