USC football evaluations simply have to get better (quickly)

USC coaching staff evaluations of portal prospects were great in 2022, then not very good in 2023.

The Isaiah Raikes transfer from USC isn’t a dark or troubling story. No one got hurt. A player simply chose to leave a program to seek a chance to play somewhere else. The story is, however, frustrating and annoying and a general waste of everyone’s time. USC thought it had a contributing player in January. Three months later, in April, it doesn’t. That’s not the desired outcome for the athlete himself, for the USC coaching staff, for the USC football program, for the fans, for everyone who is interested in the Trojans and their success.

We could choose to blame Raikes for bailing on USC just three months after he entered, but what if other players were simply better than he was in spring practice? If that was the case, Raikes — who would naturally want playing time — is being wise in transferring out. Obviously, though, something didn’t quite hit the mark. What should be the point of emphasis here for USC?

One good answer — not the only one, but a good one — is this: player evaluation.

When a player such as Isaiah Raikes transfers from a prominent program (Texas A&M) to USC, at a position group where the Trojans have an acute need, that player is expected to produce. Bear Alexander, for instance, transferred from Georgia to USC. He delivered the goods. That’s the expected outcome. Raikes not measuring up clearly indicates that if he was deemed to be a valuable player who could contribute right away to USC, that evaluation was way off the mark.

USC needs better evaluations. Let’s keep in mind that multiple offensive line pickups in the transfer portal did not pan out last year: Michael Tarquin and Jarrett Kingston did not work out very well. Emmanuel Pregnon gets one more chance to prove himself this year after a less-than-great 2023 season. The Trojans need evaluations which are accurate. If the staff brings players into the program, those players need to be hits and not misses. The “hit rate” for the staff has to be higher than it was in 2023. The hit rate was much better in 2022, when Bobby Haskins, Jordan Addison, Travis Dye, and Austin Jones were all splash hits from the portal. USC’s evaluations need to be better — soon.

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