USC has perennially been a college football powerhouse, and one of the big reasons for that is its location. It can recruit from Southern California, and Southern California? It’s got a lot of really good high school football players! Like, so many good high school football players!
USC is a Power 5 school with a rich tradition, great infrastructure, a great location, and everything else a school could possibly want when it comes to recruiting.
Which makes it all the more stunning that, as of 11:30 ET on Early Signing Day, USC has the 76th best recruiting class in the country, per 24/7 Sports. They needed to land three-star DT Tuli Tuipulotu to move up to 76th, too — before that, they were slotted in at the 85th spot … just below Georgia State.
To put it bluntly, USC is a mess. The school didn’t end up firing head coach Clay Helton this offseason, but there were rumors throughout the year that they were going to. With an unsettled AD — the school brought in outsider Mike Bohn this year — it’s unsurprising that many recruits were scared off by a team that seems so in flux. Why commit to a team where you’re pretty sure the coach won’t be there in a year?
Anyway, it’s a mess, and CFB fans and writers enjoyed it.
