Jacobsen comes to USC from Jenks, Oklahoma. Per 247Sports, he is the number 1358 overall player in the class of 2025, the number 149 defensive lineman, and the number 25 player in the state of Oklahoma.
The Jacobsen commitment followed two huge recruiting stories for USC football on Sunday. The Trojans lost the commitment of quarterback Julian Lewis but were able to quickly regroup by gaining the commitment of quarterback Husan Longstreet, who flipped from Texas A&M. The Trojans and Lincoln Riley managed to have a plan in place for a Julian Lewis change of heart, and it’s very important that they did.
USC currently holds the No. 13 recruiting class in the country for the 2024-2025 cycle, per 247’s rankings. Three Big Ten teams currently sit ahead of the Trojans: Ohio State at No. 1, Oregon at No. 6, and Michigan at No. 11.
It has not been a boring week for USC football, that’s for sure. We have seen the Trojans flip a prospect from Georgia and lose a prospect who was flipped by Georgia. We have seen some commitments. We have seen a JUCO offensive lineman sign with USC. We have seen a lot. USC is just about to begin preseason camp, and the offseason is about to recede into the past in a very real way. We’re about to talk about on-field football developments for each of the next five months. It really is that time of year; we made it. Xavier Griffin has also made it to USC.
At 1:24 of our recent show at The Voice of College Football, Trojans Wire discusses concerns and impact that surround the new commitment from Georgia, Xavier Griffin. We discuss the coach Henny (Eric Henderson) effect and the impact of D’Anton Lynn’s defense on the field for current and future USC football recruits.
2023 injuries and coaching changes could lead to a better-than-expected 2024 for the USC defensive line.
College football analyst and magazine publisher Phil Steele has rated the USC defensive line No. 46 in the country heading into the 2024 season. Bear Alexander is back for his third year of college football, his second with the Trojans and his first with new defensive line coach Eric Henderson. Former five-star prospect Anthony Lucas received praise from defensive ends coach Shaun Nua as being the most versatile player on the line, and he should shine both on the interior and exterior of the line. Can Lucas reach his potential with some “Dawgwork”? On the outside, Jamil Muhammad started the 2023 season hot, but his production tailed off toward the end of the year, which led to speculation that injuries might have caught up with him. However, with the increased depth this season, the load will be lighter and he should thrive.
Last year, 6-5, 250-pound Braylan Shelby flashed his elite combination of size and quickness. This year Kameryn Fountain, a 6-6, 256-pound freshman from Mobile, Alabama, was lured away from Alabama and Georgia to play at USC. He is young, but he has shown that he has a high ceiling.
USC might not have the depth it needs on defense, but its frontline quality seems to be good.
This is a recurring theme in the world of college football commentary and analysis in the 2024 offseason: Everyone knows that USC and Lincoln Riley overhauled their defensive coaching staff. Everyone knows Alex Grinch won’t coach these players in 2024. Everyone knows there will be different voices in the room. Everyone knows D’Anton Lynn did a tremendous job of whipping a previously mediocre UCLA defense into shape in one year last season. Everyone knows USC has defensive coaches who are highly credentialed. Yet, it still isn’t translating into high ratings and strongly positive evaluations of the 2024 USC defense.
To be fair to the pundits, USC does have questions about its depth. The Trojans have not accumulated the number of quality players which can withstand attrition if it hits hard this year. The Big Ten figures to be physically punishing in such a way that USC’s depth probably will be tested at some point. However, USC’s starting 11 on defense might be underrated. The Trojans’ frontline talent might be getting underestimated a little by analysts such as Phil Steele. We talked about this on The Voice of College Football:
In the offseason, USC lured defensive line coach Eric Henderson, the dean of dawgwork, away from his successful run with the Los Angeles Rams. Henderson coached 14-year NFL veteran Michael Brockers, who played two years for the Rams with Henderson as his defensive line coach.
Brockers interviewed “Coach Henny” for his YouTube podcast, TheBrockcast, this week. During the interview at 19:11 Henderson explained the “Dawg” that he’s looking to sign for his defensive line room at USC.
“A dawg, straight up. You know sometimes guys don’t always have elite measurables, or be the tallest guy, the biggest guy, the strongest guy … but when you got something in your chest that pumpin’ louder than everybody else, I’m rocking with that. Because I trust my ability as a coach to get you better. There is no one better in the game that has been there to help you to reach that level of competitiveness, when you talk about defensive line play, then I think I am. I know I can help anybody; I help everybody get better. That’s just the way I feel. That may be an issue, but at the end of the day I feel that way.”
It may frustrate Trojan fans, but Henderson is not chasing star rankings on recruiting services; he’s looking for “dawgs” with the heart and drive to play for him at USC and develop for the NFL. His work with five-star players Anthony Lucas and Bear Alexander will be just as important as the development of Kobe Pepe, Gavin Meyer and young guys such as true freshmen Jide Abisiri and Carlon Jones. He will try to take Nate Clifton’s game to the next level with “dawgwork.”
Young stars of the future, those thinking about committing and even those who have decommitted recently, will be closely watching the defensive development along the line for improvement. Will Henderson have his guys focused on base fundamentals and playing sound defense in new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s defense in year one?
Henderson’s confidence is infectious the same ability he used to bring out the “DAWG” in his players was good enough to produce a Super Bowl winning defensive line and by polishing veterans and developing rookies in the NFL.
Eric Henderson and Josh Henson are viewed in fundamentally different ways at USC.
The USC Trojans have two position coaches who are both hugely important for USC football in 2024. One of them is Eric Henderson on the defensive line. One is Josh Henson on the offensive line. Naturally, line play is the central key for USC in its 2024 season, so in that sense, Henderson and Henson are in the same boat. Yet, a fuller look at these coaches unearths a fundamental difference between them.
Eric Henderson is the hope of this coaching staff. The hope at USC is that if Henderson is as great as advertised, USC can take less-than-spectacular talent and turn it into a top-tier defensive line unit in the course of the 2024 season. Henderson is the coach who has the most upside because of his credentials as he enters his job.
Josh Henson is the concern of this coaching staff at USC. After a difficult 2023 season, Henson has a lot to prove heading into 2024. There are recruiting concerns attached to Henson which don’t exist with Henderson. Part of that is simply a product of longevity. Henson is entering his third year on staff while Henderson is new. However, Henson’s need to coach up players is heightened by his lack of five-star splash hits on the trail. If he recruited better, his player development performance wouldn’t be as much of a question mark.
Henderson and Henson are linked in that they’re the two most important position coaches on the roster, but the ways in which that shared importance emerges are substantially different. This is how Eric Henderson and Josh Henson are entering the 2024 USC season from fundamentally different vantage points.
Eric Henderson’s ability to develop players comes into focus as the Trojans add depth on their defensive line.
USC football added a defensive tackle in the transfer portal when it brought aboard Gavin Meyer from Wyoming. This is news Eric Henderson badly needed. USC was simply thin — not bad, mind you, just thin — on the defensive front. There are quality players here, but the Trojans needed to beef up their depth chart and guard against the attrition which is a natural and regular part of football.
“Instead of adding depth early in the spring portal window, the Trojans saw projected starting nose guard Isaiah Raikes enter the transfer portal. Raikes, an offseason transfer from Texas A&M, was seen as the athletic and disruptive force in the middle that would command attention from the offensive line to free up the defensive ends and tackle Bear Alexander. His departure was made worse by the surprise departure of redshirt freshman Deijon Laffitte 13 days later.”
USC needed bodies. Meyer gives the Trojans another piece Henderson can use. The big hope is that Henderson will be so good at developing players up front that the Trojans can field a strong defensive line even without splashy national names or five-star-level recruits. This is how Henderson can add value to USC.
Caring about people is the heart of Eric Henderson’s approach at USC.
New USC defensive line coach Eric Henderson spoke to the media recently about why he had such a huge and instant impact on recruiting. He explained his process and how the opportunity at USC is a unique one.
“When you really care about people, people can feel that and you really want what’s best for the young man and his family. I think that always wins in my mind,” Henderson said.
“The developmental process is going to be the best that it can. Any defensive linemen that come here can get (that development) in terms of your preparation for the next level. If that’s really what you want and you really have someone that truly cares about you, then there’s not a better school than USC.”
While Henderson shared that it was not planned, having newly-retired shoo-in Hall of Fame defensive tackle Aaron Donald at USC practice does send the message about development. Donald gave Henderson a ringing endorsement, saying that as long as Henderson is coaching they will be successful and have guys flying around and getting developed.
USC can’t rest on its laurels.
Henderson explained, “At the end of the day we need to continue to recruit and continue to win with the relationships, the genuine approach that we have and that we like. Obviously there was a type of environment around here and at the end of the day, SC sells itself. You don’t have to do anything out of the ordinary.
“You can’t ever get comfortable,” he continued. “It’s always going to be about building those relationships. It’s always going to be about being willing to withstand the test of time in terms of going the distance if you will, and so at the end of the day I look forward to it. I mean it’s who we are. It’s fun. “
Lincoln Riley thinks all position groups matter, but he finally did lean toward one more than another.
Significant changes to the USC football program have brought in a slew of new faces for Lincoln Riley as the Trojans prepare for the Big Ten. The defensive coordinator and three additional defensive coaches have joined the team. The inside receivers coach has transitioned to the quarterbacks coach role. The running backs coach departed for the NFL, and a replacement has been brought on board. Additionally, the roster has experienced a loss of 50 players due to the draft, eligibility, or transfers.
During Lincoln Riley’s recent conference call a few days ago, Trojans Wire asked him a simple question. With all the changes going on in the program, the expectations are higher than ever. Which position group needs to take the proverbial “next step” to help the Trojans reach their team goals in 2024?
With all this change, Riley was quick to point out that it is quite a challenge to choose a specific group.
“Tim, I would say it’s hard to narrow it down to one. I mean it’s a new team and it’s every position group (that) has something new about it, and then on top of it we’re installing a brand new defense, so there’s major changes at every offensive position. Even though the system’s still the same, we have a new position coach in the offensive room.
“Everybody needs to climb. Everybody needs o get better. I know that’s probably not the answer you were hoping for me to say, but it’s really the truth, you know. I think if I were really to lean in on they’re all super important, but in terms of changes compared to what we were doing it’s hard not to really point out the defensive line. I mean you know where the changes defensively are probably more radical there than any other level of our defense,” explained Riley. “It’s not just learning. It’s not necessarily a scheme thing. It’s the way we teach technique and fundamentals is much different that what we were doing before, and so it’s not just do I have the A gap or do I rush the edge, or do I drop. I mean there’s a whole lot to it and really just a new way of thinking. So it’s been fun to see those guys develop by [Eric Henderson] and Shaun [Nua].
“I do like some of the young depth and young talent is really apparent there and our guys are getting better fast, but that’ll obviously be a really key group like it is every year. Especially in the situation we are going into.”
USC is joining the Big Ten, which is known for is bruising power run game with dominant offensive lines. Every week there will be a commitment to pound the ball for four quarters and Riley knows his defensive line will take the brunt of that punishment. How well that line comes together under Henderson and Nua will go a long way to predicting USC’s success in 2024.
How can USC reach its goals, and what do we need to see from this team more than anything else in 2024?
On the Conquest Call-In Show, a weekly caller-driven YouTube show on Friday nights at 6 p.m. Pacific time, John from Detroit chimed in. He said that USC would need to go at least 9-3 in its first season in the Big Ten to be successful.
I explained to John that I don’t have a number. I just want to see measureable and drastic improvement on both sides of the line of scrimmage for USC. Lincoln Riley has put together an outstanding staff with new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn and defensive line coach Eric Henderson joining defensive ends coach Sean Nua. This new staff will try to fix the issue that plagued USC’s defensive line last year. On paper, Lynn was able to turn UCLA’s dismal 2022 defense into a top five defense in 2023. He completely changed the Bruins’ defense in just one offseason, so the Trojans’ hopes ride on him replicating that feat here at USC. His plan at UCLA was to install his defense methodically in the spring and fall, building the fundamentals of the defense early and slowly. This would ensure a deep understanding of the basics of the scheme, allowing him to add additional wrinkles as the season progresses.
The addition of Isaiah Raikes, 313 pounds of quick-twitch athleticism in the middle, and the defensive line room adding 340 pounds in the offseason gives the Trojans the ability to exert the physicality that new defensive line coach Eric Henderson is stressing in the offseason. The added size and attention to fundamentals from Henderson will be tested early in the season as USC faces LSU and Michigan in their first three games of 2024.
Offensively, Josh Henson remains the offensive line coach for the third year at USC. Clay Helton’s offensive line coach, Clay McGuire, had done a great job developing the line and leaving Henson a great foundation to work with, but there was no depth. The addition of Bobby Haskins in 2022 allowed USC’s veteran line to be a strength on the team in an 11-win campaign.
However, the Trojans were unable to overcome the loss of their three-year starting center, Brett Neilon, and All-America left guard Andrew Vorhees; the unit never gelled in 2023. The football team faced significant challenges due to injuries, which included multiple key players. Courtland Ford departed the team through the transfer portal, Ethan White, a transfer from Florida, was unable to join the team due to a medical retirement, and Gino Quinones suffered a season-ending injury early in the season. Relying on multiple transfers who didn’t pan out created a less-than-ideal situation. The line was plagued by miscommunication and protection breakdowns throughout the year.
In 2024, the big and physical 2023 offensive line class has had a year of collegiate weight training, nutrition, and coaching from Henson. Two of the members of that 2023 class, Alani Noa and Elijah Paige, got some starts last year, but this unit has developed together and is expected to play significant roles. Micah Banuelos, who is on his way back from injury; Amos Talalele; and Tobias Raymond all look to push for starting roles in 2024. The left side of the line with Paige at tackle and Emmanuel Pregnon at guard seems to be set. Lincoln Riley and Henson have selected Jonah Monheim to anchor the offensive line at center, but there are questions on the right side. The Trojans will absolutely need someone to step up and take those roles for USC to call 2024 a success.
