In our USC Calling Program on The Voice of College Football, Trojan fans are understandably voicing their frustrations. It was a bad week for the program. There is no other way to say it. The Trojans lost two key defensive commits. This raised questions about the NIL operation. Fans are right to focus on the inadequacies of USC’s NIL as a problem that must be resolved. However, one fan blamed Lincoln Riley for this NIL situation. The blame should go elsewhere, as we wrote:
“Lincoln Riley hired (Eric) Henderson to sell USC’s new emphasis on developing NFL-quality players. This hire – and the sales pitch associated with it – successfully won a commitment. This was a tangible achievement. The fact that the commitment was not maintained – with Terry and Gibson changing their minds – points to factors other than the coaching staff. These write-offs were not the product of Eric Henderson suddenly becoming less of an authority on defensive line coaching and player development. These write-offs didn’t occur because D’Anton Lynn somehow became a less impressive defensive coordinator. No, it was almost certainly about player compensation and what was put on the table by USC compared to other schools these players visited.
What matters is not who is to blame, but how this NIL mess will be resolved.
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