Lincoln Riley added Doug Belk to the USC football staff during his 2023 defensive coaching staff purge. Belk was asked to improve and transform a USC secondary which did not evolve or get the level of player development it needed from Alex Grinch and Donte Williams.
It shouldn’t be ignored that Taylor Mays got a lot out of the USC secondary in the Holiday Bowl, but that was in an interim capacity. Riley needed a heavy hitter to come in and change the back line of the USC defense. We haven’t yet seen Belk coach USC on a college football game day — his big debut is against LSU in a few weeks — but while coordinator D’Anton Lynn and defensive line coach Eric Henderson might have grabbed more headlines, Belk has silently gone about his business and showed what he can do in recruiting and player acquisition.
USC just received a commitment from Kendarius Reddick, the 5-foot-11, 170-pound four-star safety from Thomasville, Ga. Doug Belk did a solid job was able to flip Reddick from UCF, another instance of USC going into the Deep South and getting a highly-rated player. Reddick is a great addition to current 2025 commits Shamar Arnoux and Trestin Castro.
Belk has been on a nice run since his hire late in 2023. He hung on to the commitments of Marcelles Williams, Isaiah Rubin and Braylon Conley in the 2024 class. If he can hang on to current commits: Brandon Lockhart, Madden Riordan and Joshua Holland while closing on RJ Sermons in 2026, the Trojans secondary can be elite.
He is speaking softly but is beginning to make his mark for the Trojans, improving the quality of the USC secondary.
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