By: William Smythe

What a rebuild that Lincoln Riley has spearheaded in Southern California! Sure, it only took a Biletnikoff-winner, Heisman hopeful and 1,000-yard rusher at Oregon, but who cares? America! One can look no further than USC to witness the changes that have taken place in the college football landscape. The transfer portal “epitomized,” the Trojans have pulled a Saban-esque performance without building an army of high school recruits. Instead, they’ve reaped the benefits of giving players a second-chance in a place with higher temperatures, Hollywood and paparazzi. 

No disrespect to wide receiver Jordan Addison’s former home in Pittsburgh, yet the Steel City just doesn’t carry the same weight as the mammoth that is SoCal. The Trojans poached Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley with a mouth-watering salary and all the perks in the world. They brought with him a budding star in quarterback Caleb Williams – who left the Sooner program out to dry after giving them reason to believe in a national championship bid. Addison left the Panthers (and basically swapped with now-Pitt QB and USC’s one-year starter in Kedon Slovis) as soon as he realized the potential of a Riley-led offense. 

I kid you not when I say this: 37 of the Trojans’ current players came from a different school before landing in Los Angeles. Some of them just so happened to be the best in the business: Williams, Addison and Oregon’s Travis Dye. In a split second, Riley had been blessed with a “fresh start” – if you could even call it that – and said bye-bye to a program that he had built from the ground up. Is it even gratifying for a coach anymore, whose players come and go like Coach Cal’s one-and-done program? I’m sure of this, however: Lincoln Riley is a happy camper in Southern California, but he’s become the man we all swore to destroy. 

The fact that the mass transfer portal experiment has worked flat-out stinks. In a nutshell, it’s not necessarily Riley’s fault that he’s doing his best to win in the short term. Everyone is looking for the proven guy who can’t reach the CFP on an underwhelming roster – consider Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs and LSU’s Jayden Daniels as somewhat of success stories from this season. It’s only natural, but the age of the transfer portal is just killing the college football that I knew. 

The only bonafide programs that I consider hell-bent on grooming talent from the inside are Ohio State, Michigan and – to an extent – ‘Bama. It’s clear that these guys care about their recruits – only dipping into the transfer portal when they desperately need to address a hole on either side of the ball. Believe it or not, all of Ohio State’s wide receivers – Egbuka, Harrison Jr. and Smith-Njigba – have stayed with the Buckeyes despite the embarrassment of wealth they’ve recently had at the position. A glimmer of hope resides with Ohio State, for now.

As for coaches, the hot seat has gotten increasingly hotter if you can’t win quickly. What about developing your recruits – yes, I’m actually applauding Matt Rhule for turning around his programs over time? While we could agree that complacency is dead, patience has been thrown out the window. Guys will leave their program if they’re not getting 6+ wins in a season, and coaches are turning their focus to transfers rather than recruits. It’s too easy for a coach like Riley isn’t it? Wouldn’t everyone want an 11-1 season after a 4-8 finish the year before? 

I recognize that this process won’t change and that many schools will benefit from the transfer portal. It’s inevitable. But, USC’s rise has reminded me that money, impatience and climates can dictate where a recruit/transfer ends up. We’re stuck, mired in the mud that is the quick-turnaround mindset. The Jay-Z seven-year process? That’s an afterthought. It’s win now or you’re canned.