Trojan football experiences early offseason changes
The Trojans capped off 2014 on a high note with a 45-42 victory over Nebraska in the National University Holiday Bowl, which catapulted the program into a busy offseason for former, current and future players.
Trojans to the NFL
Just two days after USC celebrated its bowl win in San Diego, junior defensive end Leonard Williams shut down any further speculation about his post-college endeavors by announcing that he would forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the 2015 NFL Draft.
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Williams, who is a two-time All-American, is projected to be a top-10 pick in the draft.
Less than a week later, junior wide receiver Nelson Agholor joined Williams by announcing his intentions to enter the draft.
Redshirt junior running back Javorius “Buck” Allen’s most recent announcement completed a trio of the three USC underclassman to declare for the draft.
The Trojans will also be losing a band of accomplished seniors with NFL aspirations including tight end Randall Telfer, cornerback Josh Shaw, safety Gerald Bowman and linebackers Hayes Pullard and J.R. Tavai.
Tavai and Telfer will be participating in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl this Saturday at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Offensive Line Coaching Vacancy
The program also lost offensive line coach Tim Drevno, who will join former San Francisco 49ers and Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh as his offensive coordinator at the University of Michigan.
Drevno served as both USC’s offensive line coach and running game coordinator in 2014, and the Trojans ranked 68th in the nation in rushing offense under his direction.
“I am happy for Coach Drev and wish him luck with his new job because he deserves it,” said offensive lineman Zach Banner, who will be a redshirt junior next season, via Twitter.
According to early reports, Mississippi State offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator John Hevesy, who spent six years with the Bulldogs, is expected to replace Drevno.
Recruiting Strides
The news of Drevno’s departure hasn’t slowed down head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff’s momentum on the recruiting trail. Since the coming of the new year, USC’s 2015 recruiting class has moved up the No. 3 ranked class, according to Rivals.com.
The program currently has 21 total commitments in its first full season back with the maximum amount of scholarships at 25. Sixteen of those commitments are verbal.
Five players comprising the 2015 class have already signed financial-aid agreements and have enrolled for the spring 2015 semester.
This group of players includes highly touted quarterback Ricky Town of St. Bonaventure High School, receiver Isaac Whitney, linebacker Cameron Smith and offensive linemen Chuma Edoga and Roy Hemsley.
As of now, Sarkisian has the ability to sign 19 more recruits as National Signing Day quickly approaches on Feb. 4.
“Our future — and I’ll say it again — is ridiculously bright,” Sarkisian said in an interview with ESPN following his team’s Holiday Bowl win.
With 5 players enrolling in Spring, those recruits apply to the 2014 Team? So wouldn’t that allow us to go 25 signees for 2015 for a total of 30?
We wont be tops until at least 2016 as long as we keep the good recruiting classes going. We have lots of returning starters but I’d caution from ranking us so high in the “Way too early” rankings. I’d put us at 11-16. Let the play during the season set our rankings and hope we win the PAC-12 South!