It was announced in June that the NCAA Division I Council had approved a rule change to remove the limit on the number of coaches allowed to provide on-field instruction, whereas programs had been limited to 10 official assistant coaches.

The rule change was made effective immediately, though programs are still limited to only 11 off-campus recruiters (including the head coach).

FBS programs also remain able to have up to four graduate student coaches and no more than five strength and conditioning coaches.

USC coach Lincoln Riley addressed this change earlier this month and hinted that the Trojans would be making some formal title changes as a result, elevating former quality control analysts/grad assistants.

Those have now taken affect with the official USC coaching roster updated to show that Taylor Mays is now the assistant defensive backs coach, Zach Crabtree is the assistant offensive line coach and Ryan Dougherty is the special teams coordinator.

"We have a few things internally that we’ve restructured and are using people in different ways. ... It’s nice. It’s kind of like, finally," Riley said. "The NCAA has been behind the times so far on that rule, so it’s great that you now can use the people on your staff how you feel is the best way. A lot of people taking more active roles, especially some of the guys that are more experienced in the QC world for us that are really taking active roles on all three sides. We will have a few title changes and some shifts that’ll happen, some before the season, some after. But yeah it already feels a lot different in the way we’re using our staff."

So perhaps more are still to come.

Dougherty joined the program as an analyst in January of 2022 after spending the previous five seasons as a special teams analyst for Oklahoma under Riley.

"Ryan's been with me for a long time. He's been loyal. We've coached together for a long time. He's done a great job everywhere he's been, and now with the new rule change he's able to do more than he ever has," Riley said. "So, he's always had a big role. Special teams-wise, he hasn't been the one calling it on gameday and been able to coach the guys, but he's certainly had a big role behind the scenes in terms of the specialists that we recruit, breaking down opponents, making suggestions and recommendations from a scheme standpoint during the week. And now he's really become more active in the coaching with this new rule. He's more heavily involved, and I think that's an advantage for us because he's really good at what he does. He deserves it. Honestly, a long time coming for him."

Crabtree joined USC as a graduate assistant in December of 2022, and Mays -- the former Trojans All-American safety -- has been with the program since Riley arrived as a defensive analyst. He was elevated to interim safeties coach for the Holiday Bowl and showed his value as USC's defensive backs played the best they had all season.

"For Zach and for Taylor, two guys who have been loyal here throughout our entire time here, have worked their tails off, they've made themselves both very valuable members of our staff and wanted to get a chance to be able to reward their loyalty and the hard work they put in, and just felt that was an appropriate thing to do," Riley said.

Riley had previously lauded Mays' impact back in December.

"Taylor's been really just a great addition to our staff. Was here the day we came and really just had that attitude of what can I do to help the program? And he really, it was no job too big, no job too small, was here to learn, has been just very invested in everything we've done really from Day 1," Riley said then. "And it's just been impressive to watch his climb. It's no surprise getting to know him over the last close to two years now that he was the player that he was. You see it in his dedication, his passion, his work ethic. He's learned a lot here in the last couple years and I think has a good pulse of our guys. I think our guys respect him certainly and what he did here, what he's done on the field."