Tag: USC secondary

Jaylin Smith identity as USC Swiss Army knife will be tested

Jaylin Smith could be front and center in the back line against LSU.

Jaylin Smith, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior out of Bishop Alemany High School in California, is the “Swiss Army Knife” in D’Anton Lynn’s USC defense because of his versatility. Lincoln Riley had this to say about Smith’s role on the team in his weekly meeting with the media:

He’s a piece that gives us some versatility. We’ve worked him at some different positions throughout camp and spring [and] feel like he’s got the ability to to help us at different places. Certainly it’s been his emergence at corner I think has been a really positive thing for us so far, but I think he’s one of the pieces and we have a few in the secondary right now that we feel like give us some options. So I would imagine that you’ll see him all over the place at various times throughout the year.

He has shown that he can play every position in the secondary: he can play nickelback along with both corner and safety positions. The depth chart for Sunday’s matchup against the LSU Tigers came out his week and he was listed as a starting cornerback. The coverage and run stopping skills he honed in the safety room will make him a physical corner.  Players like Smith bring skill and depth to the 2024 Trojan secondary, which appears to be a strength on the team.

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Trojans’ secondary coach Doug Belk ‘silently’ stacking recruiting victories for USC

Doug Belk might got get as many headlines as D’Anton Lynn or Eric Henderson, but he is earning his place at USC.

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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Do LSU Tigers have receivers who can challenge a talented USC secondary?

LSU receivers versus USC corners and safeties will be a featured attraction in Las Vegas.

The big USC-LSU game is now almost three weeks away on Sept. 1. You can feel the excitement growing for this huge showdown. LSU Wire wrote about “five burning questions” they had for the Tigers as they began fall practice. They lose three key components of their explosive offense last year: Heisman quarterback Jayden Daniels, and two fellow first-round NFL draft picks at wide receiver.

LSU Wire explained their concerns:

One of the biggest changes this fall will come at the receiver position. LSU is losing top producers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. with Kyren Lacy expected to assume the WR1 role.

Entering camp, the picture behind Lacy was muddy, but on Monday, Kelly said CJ Daniels and Chris Hilton Jr. are emerging to form a solid three-man lineup.

“Kyren Lacy is going to be there. Chris is going to be there. CJ is going to be there,” Kelly said, “Those three guys, you know, you can count on them being integral parts.”

Kelly added the offense is aiming to get other players first-team reps too. This is a position where depth is needed, and at some point, [Garrett] Nussmeier will be throwing to guys further down the depth chart.

The goal now is to ensure Nussmeier is comfortable with a handful of pass catchers, deepening LSU’s rotation. Lacy looks ready for a breakout year, but there are players in this group who still need to prove it at an SEC level.

USC’s secondary is tall, long and physical. Greedy Vance, who can play corner or nickle back, transferred from Florida State and joined the Trojans in the summer.  The first word cornerback coach Doug Belk used to describe him was, “Sticky.”

Vance will most likely join a commination of cornerbacks DeCarlos Nicholson, John Humphries and Jacobe Covington on the outside.  Nicholson, Humphries and Covington average just over 6-foot-2 and 198 pounds. A pair of safeties, Akili Arnold and Kamari Ramsay, will patrol over the top and up in the box.  This unit is the most experienced and talented on the team, rivaled only by the Trojan wide receiver room.

Kelly and Nussmeier are hoping that Lacy and Daniels can play physically with USC’s secondary; both are 6-foot-2 as well.  They also hope that Hilton can live up to his recruiting hype and emerge into the receiver he was predicted to be with Nabers and Thomas moving on.

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