Trojans strike again with commitment from four-star DE Isaiah Gibson

Since his arrival, since the first group of defensive line prospects swung by campus in January speaking highly about the impactful connection he made with them, it's been presumed that new USC defensive line coach Eric Henderson would be a difference-maker as a recruiter.

Coming over from the Los Angeles Rams, where he was the position coach to future Hall of Fame defensive tackle Aaron Donald, Henderson brings immediate credibility to any recruiting pitch, but he also does so with a captivating and compelling personality that makes it easy to see why recruits would connect so quickly with him.

Which is all to say that it's somehow not a total surprise what Henderson pulled off this weekend ...

Hosting some of the most highly-coveted defensive line prospects in the country, Henderson and USC managed to flip five-star defensive tackle Justus Terry (Manchester, Georgia), who had been committed to Georgia for more than 14 months, and followed that up Sunday morning by also reeling in a commitment from four-star Rivals250 defensive end Isaiah Gibson (Warner Robins, Georgia).

While it's still a long way until signing day for this 2025 class, Henderson in one fell swoop showed that USC's perennial shortcomings in attracting top defensive line talent may finally be solved.

With Terry and five-star quarterback commit Julian Lewis, USC also boasts commitments from the top two ranked prospects in the state of Georgia and two of the top 6 nationally.

It also didn't hurt that Donald, the recently retired NFL legend, happened to be on campus at USC this weekend and delivered a message over social media about the impact Henderson would make for the Trojans.

"As long as this D-line got Coach Henny, man, they gonna be a great," Donald said. "They're going to be technically sound. There's going to be a bunch of dawgs flying around, playing mean, playing fast. The chemistry they're going to have as a group with Coach Henny there is going to match no other and they're going to have a lot of success. Just as long as they got Coach Henny, I know from personal experience, seeing what he did with our group, with me personally, I got nothing but love for Coach Henny. That's why we're down here today supporting him."

A message those recruits surely heard first-hand.

USC coach Lincoln Riley spoke about Henderson's impact earlier this week.

"He's done a great job, he has. He's really taken to our players, to the recruiting. Obviously, he's got a great pedigree coming in here that commands respect of our players, it commands respect of recruits across the country, and he really has an infectious energy and passion to compete that you really, really feel," Riley said. "So, he's been incredibly impactful."

Take a closer look at the Trojans' newest commits here ...

And see more of the reaction to the Trojans' momentous recruiting weekend ...