The reality of the situation is that USC needed Derrick Harmon in the transfer portal. The reality is that Oregon got him and USC didn’t. We wrote about Harmon several days ago:
“The Trojans went in the wrong direction, losing two of four defensive linemen over 300 pounds on the roster. On Thursday, multiple online sources announced that 6-foot-3, 305-pound redshirt freshman Deijon Laffitte had entered the transfer portal. Laffitte was considered a project and wasn’t expected to play a significant role on the defensive line in 2024, but after Isaiah Raikes entered the transfer portal two weeks ago and recently signed with Auburn, USC needed to add — not lose — depth.
“In a move reminiscent of Bear Alexander’s brief flirtation with the transfer portal, Georgia nose tackle Christen Miller created a stir when he toyed with the idea. However, a day later, Miller put an end to the speculation by reaffirming his commitment to the Bulldogs.
USC lost players and lost players in its search for defensive line help. Oregon swooped in and grabbed Harmon, despite USC having elite defensive line coach Eric Henderson as its main selling point.
You can’t blame Henderson or D’Anton Lynn or any first-year member of the new coaching staff. Oregon also has Phil Knight’s Nike money, an undeniable source of leverage for the Ducks. We are not dumb enough to ignore this. Obviously, it’s a central factor for Oregon to beat USC for another key player. However, if you’re Derrick Harmon, it must be said that Eric Henderson — as attractive as he might have been in pitching USC as the place to be — wasn’t enough to offset a simple and very inconvenient truth: Oregon, with its combination of recruiting wins, established depth and portal acquisitions, it’s closer to a national championship than USC. Oregon definitely has more depth. Dillon Gabriel is a more proven quarterback — we didn’t say better, but he’s certainly more established — than Miller Moss. Oregon has fewer questions along its offensive line. Harmon reasonably wanted to be the proverbial “final piece of the puzzle” on a team that many will pick to win the Big Ten and fend off Ohio State this year.
USC is not where Oregon is. We don’t like to say it, and we wish we didn’t have to say it… but we do, because we believe in telling it like it is, rather than telling people what they want to hear.
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