The USC football team hired Lincoln Riley to be their head coach a couple seasons ago, and Riley left Oklahoma to coach the Trojans. Riley had been very successful as the head coach of Oklahoma, and his first season as the head coach of USC was a success as well. The Trojans had struggled in the previous years leading up to the Lincoln Riley era, but in year one, they were immediately a national title contender, and they were just one win away from winning the Pac-12 title and going to the College Football Playoff. The Trojans ended up losing in the Pac-12 title game against Utah to miss out on the playoff, but that was still a very promising first season for Riley.

Because of the success that Lincoln Riley and USC football had in that first year, the expectations for year two became sky-high. A big reason for that was Caleb Williams and the offense. Williams won the Heisman trophy during Riley's first season as the head coach of the Trojans, and the offense was too much for almost every defense that they faced. Williams and a lot of the weapons on that offense came back for the 2023 season, and when that happened, USC became the favorite to win the Pac-12, and a lot of people thought that they were going to make the College Football Playoff.

Unfortunately for USC, the 2023 season did not go as planned. Caleb Williams was once again one of the best players in the country, but the Trojans failed to address their major weakness from the 2022 team: the defense. The reason that USC wasn't able to accomplish everything in 2022 because was because the defense was holding them back. Their offense was loaded with talent, but the defense just wasn't good enough. Instead of fixing the defense, it seemed like the Trojans just tried to load up the offense even more, and their plan didn't work.

This past year was not a good season for USC football. The Trojans had all of this talent on offense, they had the high preseason ranking, they had the expectations, but they were never able to deliver on the field. USC started off the year 6-0 and they were still clinging to their championship hopes, but a 1-5 back half ended any hopes of having a successful season. The Trojans finished the regular season 7-5, and they concluded the year with a trip to the Holiday Bowl. It was a very disappointing 2023 campaign.

Now, for the first time in his career, Lincoln Riley has some of his fanbase doubting him. USC took a major step backwards last year, and now, the 2o24 season is going to be a very important one. The Trojans are making the move to the Big Ten, so they have quite the tricky schedule, and they also will be without Caleb Williams next year. The quarterback position is going to be a major question mark as Williams is heading to the NFL and the former #1 overall recruit, Malachi Nelson, transferred to Boise State.

The good news for USC and Riley is that they can go to the transfer portal to get some of the help that they need. They already have dipped in as they picked up QB transfer Jayden Maiava from UNLV, and they have a good amount of other talented players that they have picked up as well. Everybody that is coming to USC from the transfer portal will be crucial in next year's mission of a turnaround season. Here is one player that might not be getting as much attention as the other transfers, but still has a lot of potential.

CB John Humphrey, UCLA

One of the most important things that USC football has done this offseason is hire a new defensive coordinator. Since Lincoln Riley took over, the defense has been the main problem. It kept them from making the College Football Playoff in 2022, and it was a big reason why they struggled so much this past season too as the unit somehow got worse. However, they have a new DC now after former DC Alex Grinch was fired. Their new guy is D'Anton Lynn. Where did he come from? UCLA.

USC and UCLA are crosstown rivals, but there are a few Bruins coming to join the Trojans for next season. Once Lynn made the move, some of his defensive players decided to follow him, and John Humphrey is one of him. Humphrey might not be the highest ranked prospect in this transfer portal class, but he might end up being a very important player on this USC team next season.

First of all, Humphrey is a cornerback, and USC desperately needs help on defense. Second, Humphrey is a senior, so he will be bringing a lot of experience to the Trojans that they need. Experienced defensive players are what the Trojans need the most this offseason. Lastly, Humphrey is already very familiar with Lynn as he has been playing with him at UCLA, so he won't really have to adjust to a new defense like the majority of his teammates. Humphrey could end up being a very important part of the secondary next season.