Before he dominated the competition at Alabama and was a projected top 3 draft pick, Bryce Young was committed to USC and Coach Clay Helton. A native of Santa Ana, California, and a standout quarterback throwing for just a shade under ten thousand yards, Young was USC's highest recruit in the 2019 recruiting class by a country mile. Young being the stand-alone high-level recruit in his class was due to the inability of California coaches, in this case, Clay Helton, to keep elite California football players in California. Time and time again, players committed to play in the Big 10 and SEC and forgo schools such as USC, Cal, or UC Berkeley. With the recent hiring of Lincoln Riley, he not only brought his exceptional quarterback with him from Oklahoma but also got many recruits to flip and join him at USC, with more and more on the way. California may be starting to keep its players in the state for college football. 

Related: Rate the University of Southern California 

Following Lincoln Riley's switch from Oklahoma to USC game, Malachi Nelson was a five-star quarterback in the 2023 recruiting class, and during his recruiting process, Nelson clarified that he was more committed to Coach Riley than Oklahoma. He was especially keen on Riley's prowess in developing quarterbacks such as Baker Mayfield, Jalen Hurts, and Kyler Murray. Nelson played for Los Alamitos High School in California and ended up “staying home,” unlike Bryce Young and other California quarterbacks who have left the state to be starters at top-flight programs in the SEC. 

Related: Rate the University of California – Los Angeles 

Following Nelson in the class of 2022 was Raleek Brown, the number three running back in the country who went to Bryce Young's alma mater, Mater Dei. He was also originally an Oklahoma commit and transferred to USC after a tenuous recruiting process. Finally, in terms of the highest tier recruits, a teammate of Malachi Nelson, Makai Lemon, decommitted from Oklahoma and committed to USC following Riley. Nelson is the number four prospect in California per 247 Sports and will team up with Nelson next year. Another exciting aspect of Riley being at USC is his ability to keep California players away from Oregon. There had been an influx of kids who still wanted to be on the west coast but ended up going to Oregon instead of an LA school. It will be intriguing to see if this trend will increase with Chip Kelly, UCLA's head coach, and Lincoln Riley at the top of their respective programs.

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* Originally published on December 6, 2022, by William Calhoun