Tag: Zach Hanson

Lincoln Riley announces offensive line updates before Las Vegas Bowl

There is a lot of reshuffling for an undermanned USC offensive line in the Las Vegas Bowl. Lincoln Riley announced which players will start.

When the USC Trojans take on Texas A&M Friday night in the Las Vegas Bowl, they will have two new starters along the offensive line.

At his pre-bowl press conference on Thursday, head coach Lincoln Riley confirmed that NFL-bound redshirt senior offensive lineman Jonah Monheim will opt out of the game. Redshirt sophomore Killian O’Connor will start in his place.

In addition, Riley announced that redshirt freshman Tobias Raymond will start at right tackle. Raymond will step in for redshirt junior Mason Murphy, who recently entered the transfer portal.

The Las Vegas Bowl will also mark the first game as offensive line coach for Zach Hanson. Hanson previously coached USC’s tight ends, but will move to offensive line following the departure of Josh Henson for Purdue.

Kickoff of the Las Vegas Bowl between USC and Texas A&M is set for 7:30 p.m. Pacific time Friday night. The game will air on ESPN television.

Offensive lineman Emmanuel Pregnon will return to USC in 2025

Emmanuel Pregnon returning is absolutely central to USC’s fortunes in 2025. The Trojans needed this to happen.

It has not exactly been the best offseason for USC’s offensive line. The Trojans have already lost several key contributors from the unit to the transfer portal, including experienced starting tackle Mason Murphy. However, USC got some great news on the front on Wednesday, when new offensive line coach Zach Hanson announced that guard Emmanuel Pregnon for the 2025 season.

After starting his career at Wyoming, Pregnon transferred to USC ahead of the 2023 season. He has started at left guard each of the past two years, and has arguably been the Trojans’ best offensive lineman during that stretch.

Getting Pregnon back will be critical for a USC O-line in an otherwise precarious state. The unit has struggled the past two years, and has lost several key players to the transfer portal, in addition to four-year starter and team captain Jonah Monheim moving on to the NFL.

Having Pregnon around will also be critical for Hanson, who was officially named the offensive line coach on Wednesday after spending the last three seasons working with USC’s tight ends. He replaces Josh Henson, who left on Tuesday to be the offensive coordinator at Purdue.

USC acts quickly to name a new offensive line coach

USC acted very quickly to replace Josh Henson as offensive line coach.

On Tuesday, USC offensive line coach Josh Henson left to become the offensive coordinator at Purdue. It took the Trojans just one day to find his replacement. On Wednesday, head coach Lincoln Riley officially announced that Zach Hanson will be USC’s new offensive line coach. Hanson has spent the past three seasons coaching the Trojans’ tight ends.

Prior to arriving at USC, Henson was the offensive line coach at Tulsa for two seasons. Before that, he worked under Riley as a senior offensive analyst at Oklahoma in 2019.

Hanson played offensive line at Kansas State from 2008 through 2011. He began is coaching career as a graduate assistant with the Wildcats the following year, and has been working his way up the coaching latter since.

Hanson is married to USC executive director of recruiting Annie Hanson.\

We will have more reaction to — and analysis of — this promotion by Lincoln Riley, a key development on the USC football coaching staff heading into 2025.

Oklahoma offensive analyst Zach Hanson to be offensive line coach at Tulsa

Zach Hanson, who was an offensive analyst for the Sooners last season, has been hired by Tulsa football as their offensive line coach.

Zach Hanson, who was the senior offensive analyst for the Sooners last season, has been hired by Tulsa football as their offensive line coach.

Hanson spent one year as the senior offensive analyst. He is the husband of Oklahoma recruiting director and assistant athletic director Annie Hanson. 

Both Zach and Annie briefly worked at North Carolina together before Annie was hired on at Oklahoma. Zach had a short stint as a full-time assistant coach with his alma mater Kansas State before getting the call from the Sooners. 

Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery had this to say about the addition to his staff: “In talking with Lincoln [Riley], I know he hates to see Zach leave but [is] excited for him to get back on the field and do what he loves to do. Zach will be an asset to our program and will do an outstanding job with our offensive line.”

At 31-years-old, Hanson will be replacing Mike Bloesch, who will be taking the co-offensive coordinator job at North Texas.