Times of Troy: Who will be USC’s next football general manager? The answer is the key to future success

Hello everyone! New Year’s greetings from The Times of Troy. I’m Ryan Kartge, USC beat reporter for Your Times. After a short holiday break, I came back chasing my toddler around the backyard and watching him go up and down the new slide. Not exactly a “relaxing” break, but a much needed one nonetheless.

Because, in case you haven’t noticed, the offseason as it was once known in college football no longer exists. The transfer portal is right in front of you. There’s no coach who can’t get a good night’s sleep. There is no safe roster. At any time, a star player could be poached or plans could be reversed. Just last week, Emmanuel Pregnon, USC’s top offensive lineman, transferred to the portal after committing to USC two weeks ago to choose the Trojans over the NFL. Nothing is stable at the moment.

“I don’t think anyone could have possibly predicted how quickly it changed, how fundamentally it changed, and I think the entire college football world is trying to make the right adjustments,” Lincoln Riley said on Dec. 18. . Now, to be honest, I think it’s a little difficult for anyone to keep up. ”

That includes USC, and those involved are well aware that the program’s current personnel structure doesn’t allow for that as the sports landscape continues to evolve. Since Dave Emerick joined the staff as USC’s general manager in 2022, the role and responsibilities of the position, as well as the entire operation, have completely changed. And while that’s clear to those in charge at USC, the program has stumbled at the start of this offseason, in part because it hasn’t yet adjusted to the new world.

But change is afoot. USC is looking for a new general manager and is rebuilding the structure of the program. We’re told the hire will be made in the coming weeks as USC selects from a pool of finalists with a variety of backgrounds, including NFL front office and college experience.

Whoever USC chooses for the post, what remains unknown is how that person will work with Riley. Riley has previously had complete control over nearly every aspect of the program, including being the final arbiter of all personnel decisions. Mr. Reilly has maintained a fairly close relationship with these issues. He and Emerick have known each other for years through Mike Leach, even before Emerick became general manager.

Your next hire will not be determined by Riley. But with pressure mounting ahead of Riley’s fourth season, the relationship between the coach and the new general manager will be crucial.

Current University of Alabama general manager Courtney Morgan understood that when she turned down a lucrative offer to lead the University of Southern California’s front office in August. The offer, first reported by CBS Sports, was for $1 million, a sum that would completely reset the general manager market in college football.

University of Southern California athletic director Jennifer Cohen was already familiar with Morgan from their time together in Washington, and Morgan was familiar with Los Angeles, having grown up there and graduated from Westchester High School. . On paper, his marriage to Morgan seemed like a perfect marriage, but Morgan was able to help him regain his position on the Southern California recruiting scene.

Cohen and USC used a full-court press to lure Morgan from Alabama, where he had been hired several months earlier. The $1 million offer represented a significant increase over what he was offered in Tuscaloosa.

But still, Morgan turned down USC. A person familiar with Morgan’s thinking said the decision came down to the fact that he didn’t think Riley and his approach would work as well as Karen DeBoer, who brought Morgan to Alabama from Washington. He already trusted. Apparently, the $150,000 reduction in annual income required for him to stay is enough.

He still got a huge raise at Alabama and reset the market anyway. However, after losing out on Morgan in August, USC took a step back in its GM search because it couldn’t make such a major change midway through football season. Earlier in the fall, USC hired an NFL consultant with years of front office experience to evaluate its personnel structure and make recommendations on where the department should invest.

That process should be completed soon. But the landscape continues to change, and hiring a competent GM is just the first step in a long journey that seems to be changing by the week.

— Rumors continue to fly that Jaden Maiava has left USC. However, with the transfer portal closed for the time being, there are no signs of that happening. What I do know is that Maiava abruptly changed NIL representatives last week, leaving California Power for Athletes First shortly after a new contract was negotiated at USC. This is the second time in a year that Maiava has changed representatives, having left NILX last spring and transferred to California Power.

—USC offered the passer in the transfer portal last week. But I wouldn’t expect 5-foot-10 Emmett Brown, a transfer from San Jose State, to be included in the starting quarterback conversation if he were to sign with USC. Brown, a three-star recruit out of San Marcos High School, spent one season at Washington State University and played at San Jose State University in 2024. He threw for 1,621 yards, 16 touchdowns, and five interceptions in seven games before losing his starting job. San Jose. He seems ideal as the No. 2 or No. 3 quarterback next season.

– Cap tips for former Trojan quarterback Jackson Dart, who ended his college career with Ole Miss on a high note last week. During the six seasons I was on the beat, Dart was USC’s second-best quarterback behind Caleb Williams, and a great kid to boot. Williams’ arrival along with Riley in 2022 ultimately led Dart to Oxford, Michigan, where he finished as Ole Miss’ all-time leading passer. Shedule Sanders and Cam Ward are the draft board’s consensus quarterbacks at this point, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up being a top-10 pick.

-Kennedy Smith is a vital piece of USC’s quest to reach the Final Four. That has been evident since the freshman guard returned from surgery ahead of the Trojans’ crucial college-versus-college win. The Gatorade Player of the Year award-winning defenseman helped slow the Huskies, and her ability to stretch the floor as a shooter is essential in USC’s space as opposing defenses collapse with JuJu Watkins and forward Kiki Iliafen. It was. “She’s a natural freak,” coach Lindsey Gottlieb said last week. And she should only get better from here.

— It’s sink or swim time for Eric Musselman and his Trojans. USC fought hard to stay alive in a back-and-forth loss to the University of Michigan, but the upcoming schedule could make it difficult to even tread water next month. Up until this point, USC’s strength of schedule ranked outside the top 200. But from now on, the Trojans’ next 10 games will be against teams ranked higher by KenPom. There are four teams ranked in KenPom’s top 20. This team still has a lot of questions to answer and no time to answer them.

In case you missed it

USC standout Emmanuel Plegnon reverses course and enters transfer portal

Hernandez: USC players were active during the Las Vegas Bowl win. Now Lincoln Riley must do the same.

Does Pete Carroll want to coach Caleb Williams, coach the Bears, and teach at USC? He is a young man, 73 years old.

UCLA and USC football transfer portal tracker: Who’s in and who’s out?

Unable to overcome the size disadvantage, USC lost to Michigan in the late stages.

JuJu Watkins and No. 4 USC overcome a slow start to win big against Nebraska

USC makes season-ending statement with thrilling Las Vegas Bowl upset over Texas A&M

What I’m watching this week

Mark Eidelstein (left) and Mikey Madison in a scene from “Anora.”

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Oscar season has officially begun. It’s one of my favorite times of the year. It’s that time of year when we’re trying to catch up on all the Best Picture nominees we missed during the fall. Of the films likely to be nominated this year, I had already seen “Dune 2” (phenomenal) and “Wicked” (fun).

But before I went deep with a movie like The Brutalist, which is three and a half hours long and has an intermission (!), I started my Oscar season journey with Anora. This is the story of an exotic dancer who gets married impulsively. The young son of a Russian oligarch. To put it kindly, Anora, a more profane and wild version of Pretty Woman, had a great story and so many great performances that it’s a must-see ahead of the Oscars. However, to be wise, I don’t watch it on airplanes.