Tag: Tackett Curtis

Lincoln Riley comments on situations faced by players who left USC in the portal

What does Lincoln Riley think about Domani Jackson and Tackett Curtis?

The USC football program is being swamped by various changes. In an immediate context, these changes were necessary. Getting rid of Alex Grinch and Donte Williams were absolutely vital moves. Neither man provided the coaching quality needed to bolster USC’s defense, the side of the ball which has clearly held the program back over the past several years (not just the last two).

Yet, it’s clear that getting rid of Grinch and Williams was going to create portal departures from players who were recruited by those two men and who were loyal to them. We can all put two and two together here and realize that as soon as Donte Williams left for Georgia, USC players loyal to Donte were likely to depart. Domani Jackson became the first one. There will probably be more.

Tackett Curtis was coached by Grinch in 2023. He did not want to stick around and be coached by new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn in 2024. He also didn’t want to be taught by new linebacker coach Matt Entz. This is part of life in college football. Players are often loyal to a coach more than to a school. That’s understandable. Recruiters and recruits forge strong relationships. When coaches leave, players are left on an island and are often uncomfortable. They might not want to stay at programs after the men who recruited them leave, either by choice or by necessity.

What does Lincoln Riley have to say about Domani Jackson’s and Tackett Curtis’s portal departure decisions? You can read for yourself below, courtesy of Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times:

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Report: Ohio State football reaches out to transfer linebacker from USC

This is an interesting development for the Bucks … maybe.

During the 2023 recruiting cycle, linebacker [autotag]Tackett Curtis[/autotag] had Ohio State in his final two schools, ultimately choosing USC.

This past season, the 6-foot, 2-inch, 225-pound freshman played well for the Trojans, registering 40 tackles, two sacks, forcing a fumble and recovering two. On Monday night, Curtis entered the transfer portal and immediately was connected to the Buckeyes due to his relationship with the coaching staff during his recruitment.

According to 247Sports Bill Kurelic (subscription required), Ohio State had already made contact with Curtis. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is leading his re-recruitment since their relationship dated to the Buckeye DC’s Oklahoma State days.

The situation is obviously developing, so we will make updates as they become known.

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USC linebacker Tackett Curtis enters the transfer portal

Here we go again.

The aftershocks from a failed 2023 college football season continue to reverberate through the USC football program. After Domani Jackson and Malachi Nelson entered the transfer portal over the previous 24 hours, linebacker Tackett Curtis joined the exodus from Los Angeles.

Though not a five-star recruit the way Jackson and Nelson were, Curtis — a four-star linebacker — was still a high-profile player who had generated considerable enthusiasm among the USC fan base.

The hype surrounding Curtis was so great that a lot of USC fans wondered if he should be given the number 55, a high honor reserved for the school’s greatest linebackers.

Curtis’s freshman season did not unfold the way he or USC hoped. This is a recurring theme, of course. Domani Jackson’s 2023 season didn’t go the way he wanted, either.

It’s as though — wait for it — Alex Grinch simply couldn’t coach his way out of a wet paper bag, which gave these highly-rated prospects a terrible experience in practice and on the field. They wanted out, not only because they had a bad time in 2023, but because the coaches they worked with in 2023 were the ones who were booted out of the program. They did not sign up for a change in coaching staffs.

Lincoln Riley did have to change his defensive staff, but the price to pay for those necessary changes is that players loyal to the departing coaches will continue to enter the portal. The Trojans will have to significantly remake their roster … again.

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Former Louisiana high school standout linebacker has entered the transfer portal

One of the top linebackers in the 2023 recruiting class has entered the transfer portal after spending one year at USC.

One of the top linebackers in the 2023 recruiting class has entered the transfer portal after spending one year at USC.

[autotag]Tackett Curtis[/autotag] was one of the hottest names in Louisiana recruiting last year and he was a guy that a lot of Tiger fans wanted. If Brian Kelly’s mantra is to “Recruit the Boot” Tackett was one of the best in the state. He was ranked as the No. 5 overall recruit in the state of Louisiana and the No. 12 overall linebacker in the country by On3.

Curtis chose the USC Trojans over the Ohio State Buckeyes when he committed in 2022 but there is a chance that Kelly could bring him home this time. Curtis played at Many High School in Many, Louisiana.

If the Tigers could get Curtis to join the team in Baton Rouge, he would join [autotag]Harold Perkins Jr.[/autotag] and [autotag]Whit Weeks[/autotag] as an incredible linebacking trio.

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USC statistical leaders through six games

You probably can name one of these guys offhand.

USC nearly lost its perfect season against Arizona but survived. Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff chances ended with a loss at Louisville. Neither team is coming into their annual meeting with the best momentum. That means talent could be the game’s determining factor.

This is a perfect opportunity for the Trojans to make a statement. They’re catching the Irish when they’re fatigued and struggling. The only thing that could slow them down is the wet conditions forecast for the game, but they’re preparing for that by using water in rather interesting ways in practice. While there’s no way to tell if that will affect anything, it shows they’re not leaving anything up to chance.

As you’re about to see, there are several players responsible for the Trojans’ offense being the country’s highest scoring, not the least of whom is the reigning Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback. Here he is among the top Trojans players on both sides of the ball:

Tackett Curtis seeks greater consistency on USC defense

Curtis did get two sacks vs Arizona State, and he was honored by the #Pac12 for it, but the full 60-minute body of work offers room for more.

USC freshman inside linebacker Tackett Curtis was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for his performance in USC’s 42-28 victory over Arizona State.

Curtis helped the USC defense with 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss (of 11 yards), both sacks.

Curtis, a Many, La., product, was one of Lincoln Riley’s primary recruits in the 2023 cycle. He was rated as the No. 9 linebacker in the country by the 247Sports composite. He signed with the Trojans on March 28 in 2023.

Curtis did get two sacks, and they look great on the stat sheet, but USC’s defense wasn’t as authoritative in the first half versus ASU as it was in the second half, when the pass rush began to get home with regularity. Curtis and USC need to play a complete game on defense to feel more prepared for Notre Dame and the other big games on the schedule.

USC looks to remain unbeaten on the season as it travels to Boulder to face Shedeur Sanders and an explosive Colorado offense led by Coach Prime “Deion Sanders.” Fox will carry the game, which will kick off just after 9 a.m. Pacific time, just after 10 a.m. local time in Boulder.

Follow Buffaloes Wire for complete coverage of Deion Sanders and Colorado, as CU prepares to play USC on Fox Big Noon Saturday.

USC win over ASU felt like a loss in many ways.

Alex Grinch is not quieting his critics, and bigger tests await.

USC coaches are raving about freshman linebacker Tackett Curtis

The hype surrounding Tackett Curtis is not wishcasting from fans; it’s the product of eye-opening performances at practice.

Let’s be clear about one thing: The hype surrounding USC freshman linebacker Tackett Curtis is not solely a fan-generated phenomenon or a media creation. It also comes from what we’re seeing on the practice field this spring. It’s real and substantive in that regard.

USC linebacker coach Brian Odom gushed about Curtis in a few specific ways in remarks made on Thursday.

Odom noted that Curtis is “consistently very, very close to his best,” and that “he doesn’t have a lot of bad days.”

Curtis might not always be perfect, but there’s little variance among practices. His performance is regularly strong and doesn’t wildly fluctuate. He sets a high standard and maintains it, instead of being a player who is excellent one day and then below-average the next.

This is the dependability USC is looking for. Now the Trojans just need this track record and this noticeably positive trait to carry over into fall Saturdays.

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Tackett Curtis will be a player to watch at USC spring game

Some #USC fans wonder if Tackett Curtis should wear No. 55. That’s the ultimate sign of how hyped the freshman LB truly is.

Tackett Curtis has received more buzz and more hype than any other incoming recruit on the 2023 USC defense — not necessarily the roster, but certainly the defense.

How can we prove it? When USC fans discuss the team’s 2023 linebackers and — more broadly — the full linebacker room, one talking point which regularly emerges is whether Curtis deserves to wear jersey number 55, the ultimate tribute to any USC linebacker. Only the very best Trojan linebackers get to wear that special number. It belonged to Junior Seau. It belonged to Chris Claiborne. It belonged to Willie McGinest and Jack Del Rio.

This number is reserved for the greats. That Tackett Curtis is already being mentioned as a No. 55 candidate says it all.

We are really excited about Curtis and his future at USC. We shared some thoughts with USA TODAY Sports in this piece on the one Trojan recruit we’re most interested in following this year:

“This recruit carries significance for USC because of the national dimensions of the recruitment, the fact that USC beat out future Big Ten competitors for Curtis, and because USC needs a lot of help on defense. If Tackett Curtis is as good as advertised, USC’s defense will become a lot better, and the Trojans will wind up addressing a foremost area of need, taking heat off defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. The only reason Grinch is still on the job at USC (other than being a Lincoln Riley loyalist) is that he didn’t have a lot of elite players in 2022. There was an awareness that Grinch didn’t have a fully-stocked roster. Curtis could prove Grinch’s point that he simply needed better players to improve the USC defense. Curtis could be the guy who saves Grinch’s job and stabilizes the Trojans’ defense this season.”

The USC spring game this Saturday became more interesting because of Kliff Kingsbury’s arrival, but Tackett Curtis is still a bigger storyline this weekend in the Coliseum.

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Tackett Curtis is bringing Linebacker U back to USC

What #USC fans will love about Tackett Curtis, according to @DonJamesSports: He tackles extremely well in open space. More on the elite linebacker prospect:

Tackett Curtis is ranked the 99th-ranked player in the 2023 class, the eighth-best linebacker, and the sixth-best player in the state of Louisiana.

At 6-foot-2 1/2 and 220 pounds, the USC commit is going to be a much-needed addition to what is an increasingly deep linebacker room. Curtis is not projected to start next season but could be a big player in the Pac-12 season because of his versatility. He can line up at LB and safety.

Curtis is one of the best linebacker prospects who has come through Louisiana in several years. He is a tackling machine espically in open space.

Curtis plays with outstanding instincts on the defensive side of the ball, and he improved in coverage over the past few years. The improvement he attained through hard work and dedication is what made Curtis the Louisiana Gatorade Player of The Year in 2022.

The Louisiana native has accumulated 195 tackles, 5 interceptions, 1,494 all-purpose yards, and 5 touchdowns over the past two seasons. His leadership on and off the field also got Many High School and Curtis a 2022 state title and a 13-0 record this season.

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Four-star Tackett Curtis joins Mason Cobb, Eric Gentry, and Shane Lee in stacked USC linebacker room

Because #USC has Shane Lee back and Mason Cobb in the fold, 4-star LB Tackett Curtis won’t feel huge pressure to be Superman right away. Depth is being built.

The USC Trojans keep adding names, and it won’t end anytime soon. On the first day of the early signing period, Zachariah Branch, Makai Lemon, and Malachi Nelson — all five-star offensive players — signed their NLIs.

That wasn’t all, either. Lincoln Riley was nowhere close to being done. According to Shotgun Spratling of 247Sports, the Trojans officially landed Tackett Curtis, a four-star linebacker who had been committed to USC since the summer.

The official USC football account confirmed the move. This is another step in the right direction for a team desperately in need of talent on defense after a rough end to the season.

Curtis drew plenty of interest from other big-name programs, including Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, Notre Dame, and plenty more.

Curtis played a hybrid safety/linebacker role in high school and should be a massive boost for the defense, one that just lost Ralen Goforth but then brought in a flurry of other players on defense.

The Trojans also added Oklahoma State transfer LB Mason Cobb, so they have brought in a ton of talent over the past few days on defense as that is clearly a priority for the Trojans in 2023 and beyond.

There should be more big names should be coming to USC, but right now, the thought of Tackett joining Cobb, Eric Gentry, and Shane Lee in the linebacker room makes USC’s defense look more robust and formidable than it did a few weeks ago.

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