Recruiting Exit Interview: QB Jaxson Dart reflects on his path to USC

**As a precursor to our upcoming signature USC Next Up series of in-depth feature stories on the Trojans' incoming freshmen, we also conducted some Recruiting Exit Interviews, going back through the memorable moments, anecdotes and reflections on the recruiting process.**

KAYSVILLE, Utah -- Four-star quarterback Jaxson Dart's recruitment was easily one of the most interesting among USC's 2021 signees.

He went from essentially off the radar entering his senior season at Corner Canyon HS in Draper, Utah -- his first at the Utah state power after transferring in from another school in the area -- to breaking state records with 67 passing touchdowns (plus 12 rushing) and 5,867 total offensive yards, to suddenly one of the most intriguing subplots of the early signing period.

Ultimately, he chose USC over UCLA and Arizona State, forming arguably the strongest QB recruiting class in the country alongside fellow 4-star Miller Moss, while signing soon after long-time 4-star QB commit Jake Garcia backed off his Trojans pledge and ended up at Miami.

It's really quite a story -- and one we'll tell in full in our upcoming USC Next Up series profile next week -- but in visiting with Dart and his family at their home earlier this month, we reflected back on the recruiting process in general and some of the memorable and pivotal moments along the way.

What was the most surprising part of the recruiting process as you now reflect back on it?

Jaxson Dart: "I would say how stressful it was, especially with it coming so late onto me. I was right in the middle of my season and we just switched to online school because our school got shut down because we had too many cases. So I was just trying to do everything at once. So I would say the biggest thing that stuck out to me is I wasn't expecting it to be as stressful as it was."

What was the toughest part of all that?

Dart: "Definitely telling the coaches that I was going to be going somewhere else because I grew such great relationships with so many guys, and I would say that was the hardest thing."

What was the most creative thing a school did to get your attention or make an impression upon you in recruiting?

Dart: "I would say a lot of it was kind of similar because it was virtual, but I thought it was really cool I was able to talk to some ADs. I talked to Arizona State's and USC [senior associate AD Brandon Sosna]. So that was really cool because it really showed me that they really wanted me. UCLA had me hookup with Troy Aikman and I had a call with him, so that was something. That was really cool. I was just like amazed I was actually talking to a Hall of Famer. He was super cool, he answered all my questions and gave me some good wisdom, some good advice. He was super down to earth. My dad loved Troy Aikman, so he probably understood that it was more of a big deal than I did because he was like, 'Woah, you're talking to Troy Aikman.' ...

"We stayed in touch, would text back and forth. Still do now. When I told him I was going to 'SC, he was bummed. He didn't say he really agreed with my decision. He said that he would support me, so I thought that was really cool. He's a great guy."

What stood out about USC's approach?

Dart: "I loved it. I just think the biggest thing was how close I got with Coach [Seth] Doege, Coach [Clay] Helton and Coach [Graham] Harrell and JDB [John David Baker]-- those were my four dudes. We kind of go back with each other and say that we're cut from the same cloth, so they were super down to earth and I was able to relate with them really well. And just like the consistency with them -- them and Arizona State were probably the most consistent schools with me getting to know all of the coaching staff and some of the academic guys, so that was really cool. And I talked to the AD, so that was really cool. I would say that I probably got on two to three Zoom calls a week with them, and especially towards the end it seemed like it was kind of coming down to every day or every other day. So I loved that part of it."