USC finished with the 54th-ranked college football recruiting class in the country in 2020, the lowest it has finished since ESPN started its class rankings in 2009. In fact, 2020 marked the first time the Trojans had finished outside the top 20, a far fall from when they finished with the No. 5 class in 2017 and the No. 7 class in 2018.
Bryce Young, the No. 1-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the Class of 2020, flipped from USC to Alabama. Clemson came into the state of California and landed No. 1-ranked pocket-passing quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei. The Trojans landed only one ESPN 300 commitment from the state, and though the class as a whole had just 13 total commitments, 2020 saw the fewest in-state ESPN 300 commits USC has ever had in one class.
USC can't land every top prospect in the state. But there can be a concerted effort to try to keep the best ones home. So far this year, the Trojans have stuck to a theme: Take back the West.
"The last two years, people think USC has fallen off, whether it's the recruiting ranking, the national championship and being in those conversations," said Donte Williams, who was added to new defensive coordinator Todd Orlando's staff as cornerbacks coach.
So far, head coach Clay Helton and the Trojans have the No. 11-ranked recruiting class in the 2021 cycle. Their class currently features five ESPN 300 prospects, four of whom are from California, led by pocket-passing QB Jake Garcia, the 19th-ranked prospect overall.
Williams, who was at Oregon and had recruiting success against USC (the Ducks signed the No. 1 overall prospect in the Class of 2019, defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux of Los Angeles), has been an important coach when it comes to recruiting. Originally from Los Angeles, he has recruited players all over California in each of his coaching stops.
He wanted to do the same when he joined the USC staff, and it started with a phrase that is more than a moniker or a hashtag the coaches use. It's a new perspective.
"The whole hashtag part started because it's the tradition of USC and taking back everything," Williams said. "It's kind of like reclaiming your throne or spot because a couple things, we've maybe fallen as a whole and want to make sure we're back being No. 1 at everything."
Williams wouldn't have been on the Trojans if not for head coach Clay Helton's being retained, something new USC athletic director Mike Bohn did shortly after his hiring in November. The two of them tried to come up with a plan to bring USC's football program back to a championship level.
"I have to commend Mike Bohn. In December of last year, he said, 'Coach, what do you need?'" Helton said. "I said, one, we're going to acquire the staff that Coach Orlando will need. We also need to up our recruiting platform with personnel to be able to have video production, have extra graphic artists, a brand marketer, being able to have additional personnel. He did that for us, and that aspect has changed a lot. The resources and pools that Mike has given us has been a big part of this."
Orlando, who spent the previous three seasons at Texas, replaced Clancy Pendergast, and USC made sure it had the resources to hire the defensive assistants to help on the field and in recruiting. Williams was part of that, as were new safeties coach Craig Naivar and Vic So'oto, who coached the defensive line at Virginia.
Part 2 of USC's strategy involved upgrading its recruiting operations, which turned out to be a dire need. USC at one point was competing with the top programs in the country, with a staff of four people in its recruiting department. By contrast, some athletic programs have more than four people in their graphic design departments.
Helton recently attended a seminar within the athletic department that went over how important technology is in recruiting, emphasizing that recruits are in front of some form of technology for eight to 12 hours each day and how important it is to get graphics, videos and messages in front of them on that technology.
That led USC to more than double its recruiting staff, giving the Trojans the tools to compete with other national college football powers.
"It's kind of like reclaiming your throne or spot because a couple things, we've maybe fallen as a whole and want to make sure we're back being No. 1 at everything." USC cornerbacks coach Donte Manning
"You can see the investment Mike has made, when you acquire that type of talent coaching-wise and then all [of a] sudden you build that recruiting piece around it," Helton said. "People see the investment and the stability. That goes a long way."
USC isn't back to the No. 1 recruiting class, but the early returns have been positive. Although the Trojans sit outside the top 10 in the class rankings, they lead the Pac-12, ahead of Oregon (17th) and Cal (19th).
Garcia, OLB Ma'a Gaoteote (No. 95 overall), ATH Anthony Beavers (No. 166) and OG Jay Toia (No. 178) are USC's four commits from within state lines. Of the 27 ESPN 300 prospects from California, 14 are uncommitted, including third-ranked Korey Foreman, a defensive end who recently decommitted from Clemson.
Beavers, out of Narbonne High School in Los Angeles, initially committed to Oregon, but he decommitted from the Ducks in February and committed to the Trojans in April.
"It's just a new energy. It's kind of hard to explain," said Beavers, who projects as a safety at the next level. "The coaches like recruiting, if that makes sense. Not saying the old coaches didn't like recruiting, but when Todd Orlando was hired on a Monday, he was out at my school on that Wednesday. He got hired on Monday and called me that night, and there was just a lot of communication from the whole staff."
The energy comes from the top down, with Helton making himself more available and accessible to his staff and recruits. He picks up the phone no matter the time of day, whether it's a recruit or a coach.
Helton also understands the urgency of the situation. The Trojans' winning the Rose Bowl a few seasons back wasn't good enough without a national championship, and it certainly isn't acceptable for a program such as USC to finish outside the top 20 -- let alone the top 50 -- of recruiting rankings.
He is working to change that as quickly as he can with a newfound urgency.
"I've tried to be the most successful I've ever been in my life right now," Helton said. "Recruiting is about work ethic. We have the opportunity right now because we're away from our team -- and believe me, we're putting a ton of energy in that, too -- but right now, this phone is duct taped to my head. The last piece of the puzzle, with this good, young team, you have that great season, and you just add fuel to the fire.
"That's our next step is to go out and have a great season, and that's going to add fuel to this fire."