Junior running back Waymond Jordan will return to the Trojans for his senior season, USC football announced in a social media post Saturday. Jordan began the season as USC’s starting running back before suffering a major ankle injury in mid-October, causing him to miss the rest of the regular season.

“We left a lot of things on the table,” Jordan said in a video posted on Instagram on Saturday. “We’re coming back for everything.”

Jordan was extremely effective before his injury, rushing for at least 94 yards in three games, scoring five touchdowns and amassing 576 rushing yards through six games, then third-best in the Big Ten. His impressive 6.5 yards per carry would have made him a likely NFL Draft pick had he not gotten injured, though an additional season will give Jordan time to recover and make his case for an earlier selection.

After Jordan’s injury, as well as a season-ending injury in the same game to second-string running back Eli Sanders — who used his final year of eligibility in 2025 — redshirt freshman running back King Miller took over USC’s running game and made a name for himself. 

Miller, a walk-on, started over multiple scholarship players, including sophomore Bryan Jackson, who declared his intent to enter the transfer portal Dec. 2 likely due to limited touches. Former four-star recruit freshman running back Harry Dalton, who only got eight carries this season, also announced his intent to enter the portal. Miller finished the season with seven rushing touchdowns and 873 rushing yards, eighth best in the Big Ten. 

With Miller presumably returning for his redshirt sophomore season, Jordan will have to compete for snaps with the rising star as the duo projects as one of the best running back tandems in the country.

It is unclear whether Jordan will have the chance to begin his case in USC’s Valero Alamo Bowl appearance on Dec. 30, as he was listed as questionable rather than out on multiple Big Ten Availability Reports near the end of the season, but did not see the field.

“Waymond’s definitely progressing,” Head Coach Lincoln Riley said in a Dec. 7 virtual news conference. “As we get a little bit closer, I think we would collectively make that decision.”

While Jordan has made the decision to return, multiple other marquee Trojans’ futures remain in flux.  Junior wide receivers Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane, along with redshirt junior quarterback Jayden Maiava, are all expected to release their decisions over the next few days after earning significant NFL Draft buzz.

The only other Trojan to publicly reveal their decision was redshirt senior Lake McRee, who announced his declaration for the NFL Draft in a social media post Thursday. McRee helped reinvigorate USC’s tight end room this season after it scored no touchdowns the year prior, catching 30 passes for 450 yards and four touchdowns.