Biggest Observations From USC Trojans' Seventh Spring Practice

USC continues to open every practice with the entire team taking part in the same special teams drills. Every coach is involved, including Lincoln Riley, who has taken a special interest this spring in coaching guys up in this facet of the game. The focus is on having great technique and working in cohesion with one another.

Linebackers coach Mike Ekeler and outside linebackers coach AJ Howard essentially switched off on who was the primary and who was the secondary while running the drills. The two work very well together and bring a new energy to the room.

Ekeler has referred to himself as a teacher, which is the best way to describe him and exactly what you want in position coaches. Being technically sound and playing with disciplined aggression at the second level can transform the Trojans defense.

Overall, the linebackers are moving extremely well as a group. It’s a room full of tremendous athletes, led by Desman Stephens and Jadyn Walker. Redshirt sophomore Elijah Newby, a former four-star recruit, has added some serious muscle this offseason. Newby is an Ekeler guy. He is a high energy and physical player that is pushing for a larger role in 2026. 

Defensive Backs 

The cornerback room worked on various techniques with coach Trovon Reed, which included kick-slide technique, with an emphasis on turning and locating the football and catch technique. 

Last season, the Trojans struggled to play anything other than off man coverage a majority of the snaps. This spring, there has been a point of interest to develop more techniques they would be comfortable running throughout the course of a game in the fall.

Freshman Jayden Crowder drew some praise from Reed for his kick-slide. Can’t harp on it enough, but freshman Elbert “Rock” Hill’s technique is advanced for his age. It’s detailed, patient and smooth and easy to tell how comfortable he is playing on an island. 

With the safeties coach Paul Gonzales and nickels coach Sam Carter, they are going to continue to harp on the details.

Trestin Castro, a four-star cornerback in the 2025 class, has moved to safety. Prophet Brown, a sixth-year senior and sophomore Dee Reddick have also been playing safety, after primarily playing nickel before. The Trojans are thin at safety with starter Christian Pierce out this spring as he recovers from shoulder surgery and redshirt sophomore Marquis Gallegos is also out as now. Reddick stood out during drills.

Freshman safety Peyton Dyer and Madden Riordan and redshirt sophomore Isaiah Rubin are playing nickel, creating depth at that position behind redshirt freshman Alex Graham.

Secondary has been a position the Trojans loaded up on in recruiting. In this previous cycle alone, they signed six and added two more in the transfer portal. Therefore, they have allocated plenty of resources with Gonzales, Reed and Carter to develop those rooms. Similar to Ekeler, they are teachers.

Any bad reps or missing a small detail during these drills from the back seven of the defense, and the coaches will have the players redo them. But its not just about having them redo a rep, there's an emphasis on teaching them what was wrong before having them go again.