The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - College Football Reaction: USC’s Season In Review + 2025 Outlook, Trojans Need A GM!

Episode Date: December 28, 2024

College football reaction is presented by JLab! After beating Texas A&M to close out their season, Colin has a LOT of thoughts on the USC Trojans! He breaks down the bright spots and needs on the roster and explains why the program needs to hire a GM that isn’t one of Lincoln Riley’s “guys”. He identifies positions of need where USC needs to work hard at recruiting, and looks ahead to their 2025 season! (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #Volume #Herd  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you.

you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the ice. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to futas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex? Is it just me, or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turn, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with. laughs, tears, or tears of laughter.

Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Gianna Maria Riva on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Your husband is not who you think he is. Your body is not what you thought it was. Your identity is formed by a secret history. I'm Danny Shapiro. And these are just a few of the stunning stories I'll be exploring on the 14th season of Family Secrets. He kind of shoved me out of the way and said, move. And he went out the front door and he jumped in a car. and drove off, and that was the last time I saw him.

Listen to season 14 of Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Volume. College Football Reactions presented by J-Lab. J-Lab has the best audio products in the game. They're ready to take care of you this football season, traveling to watch your favorite team, or just streaming the game at home, find the blue box at Walmart, target Best Buy, or go to J-Lab.com. Love their stuff. The Blue Box.

All right, listen, this is just for Trojan fans. But here's about 20 minutes my thoughts on the season overall, because you know I'm into that recruiting stuff and portal stuff. I think it's one of my favorite parts of the volume that I just, if I'm in the mood, I went for an hour walk and got a coffee and thought, had so many thoughts ruminating in my head. And I thought, you know what, I want to get it out there. So I'm going to be washing football all day anyway. So let's talk about Lincoln Riley.

That timeout late in the game after the game. went out and said, listen, 10 men on the field, you know, pick your poison. We called a timeout. It all worked out. I did not like them moving away from the running game at the end of the first half and early in the third quarter. I think they have found a star running back in Brian Jackson, who's got a Lendale-white feel. I think they've really found he looks like the most formidable powerback they have had since the Pete Carroll era. I think you have a star in the freshman Brian Jackson out of Texas. It's 235, powerful, decisive, hits the hole, moving forward.

That's a Sunday player. That looks like a Sunday running back. He's not going to blow down the sidelines. He's not a speedback, but he is a power back and he can find the hole decisively. I really like him more on that later. But Lincoln Riley is here. He's got a long contract. They put $300 million into the facilities.

The collectives up to $18 million. They can buy some of the best players. In my opinion, the need for this program is a general manager. above everything. The current people in place are allies of Lincoln Riley. To me, that's not good enough. If you want to compete with the big boys, you have to go hire a former NFL GM. You know, there's a lot of people. You could hire Chris Peterson and just say, Chris, you're the general manager, run the program. That'd be one of the first guys I called. I'm not sure he has any interest. He now works at Fox as a broadcaster. But that's the number one need of the program. To get to the big

boys, you got to get a general manager, and the current people in place to me aren't at the level necessary. The second thing I would talk about is I didn't like all the play calling. I thought going away from Brian Jackson in the run game a couple different times wasn't prudent, but it all worked out. Let's talk about the season that just passed. You beat eight and four LSU to start, and you beat eight and four Texas A&M, and you lost an overtime to a Penn State team that's vying for the national championship. The Maryland lost was awful. Rutgers, Washington, don't get me wrong, but you went two and oh against the SEC. I think that's as many wins as Oklahoma had against the SEC. And again, you had Penn State in a tough spot. Penn State's a better team, clearly. So, and also

the schedule. Last year, the schedule with first year starter Miller Moss, you opened up LSU, and then you're at Michigan a couple of weeks later. Next year, the schedule is about as easy as you can get in the big town. Missouri State and Georgia Southern to start, a notch below LSU, at Purdue, Michigan State, at Illinois, and then idle. You all have two weeks to prepare for Michigan and their freshman quarterback. That's a lot different than LSU and a couple of weeks later at the big house with Miller Moss. That's a whole different scenario. So the schedule plays into their favor. two weeks to prep for a powerhouse in Michigan. That's good.

Quarterback, Jaden Maiava. He's a little too reckless for my taste, but he's a sophomore. And from UNLV to USC, he stepped up in competition. Started late in the year. He's never had a real off-season with Lincoln, Riley. I don't necessarily think they're going to bring a quarterback in. He's a sophomore. I mean, you saw from first half to second half, the different

in him last night. I mean, he's got, when he steps into it, he's got an arm. He looked anxious. He's, he's a player that's, I think, as good as his confidence. I thought he was very confident. Late. He lacked confidence early when they fell behind. Too many balls are thrown in harm's way. But again, he's a sophomore. He's never had an off-season program with Lincoln Riley. They're also bringing in a five-star high school kid from Southern California. I'm not sure they're going to go outside the program. Will he get better? Absolutely. Is he an elite college quarterback, to me, very debatable, I'd lean no. But, you know, you start looking around at the teams vying for a national championship. Not all of them have NFL quarterbacks. You don't have to have an NFL

quarterback. The positives on the roster, let's go back to Brian Jackson, six feet, two-thirty, He feels like a Lendale White would be on a comp. Really, really big-time player. I mean, that go, they got backup offensive linemen, and he is finding big holes, decisive, not a burner, but decisive power back, kind of a one-step cut guy like Zach Charbonnet was at UCLA, sort of a goes one cut off to the races. I like him a lot. Jacoby Lane, Mackay Lemon are obviously elite receivers.

I think too much is made of due. Robinson and Branch transferring out of the program. I thought it was too cluttered last year, Hudson as well. I thought it was too cluttered. I think the reality is guys want touches. And wide receiver, NFL or college has always been a little higher maintenance positions. Guys want touches. Jacoby Lane's a Sunday player. He'll come back as a junior one more year at USC. That's your number one. Lemon is a one-A outstanding. Then you're going to have upgrades at tight end, the tight end position I think will be have more dynamic playmakers next year. Some of the kids in the program now are bigger, stronger. Lincoln Riley doesn't use the tight end a ton anyway. But, you know,

sort of when I look at what USC brings back in the skill department, even the quarterback moves pretty well. I like their, their foundation. It's also, my biggest complaint this year is they just didn't have enough NFL bodies on the offense, offensive line and defensive line. They just didn't have any Next year, they bring back Elijah Page. He'll play, he'll be a top two or three left tackle in the Big Ten, probably his last year at USC, hopefully not. Tobias Raymond is certainly, I thought, last night, he's your right tackle, been in the program three years, big, hardworking kid, long. And then Justin Tuanu, who got duty last night as a freshman from Huntington Beach, I think he's tremendous. I've been telling a couple of people in the program, I'm like,

that's your kid. So you have three. capable starting offensive tackles. This year I thought it was Paige, who was a redshirt freshman. That's just not good enough in the Big Ten. I think you could probably bring in a transfer if you wanted to compete for a job at right tackle, but you're bringing in two excellent four-star offensive tackles who can redshirt and then play. I really honestly feel good about the offensive tackle position for the first time in maybe 12 to 15 years. Between Paige, Raymond and Tew, those are NFL bodies. However, it plays out for their career. I don't know, but I feel really good about that.

The other thing that's been, I remember years ago talking to Urban Meyer about this, I said, California, whatever it is, just does not produce for a state of 38 million people. It does not produce a lot of great defensive line bodies. Maybe it's the diet. Hell, I don't know. It's the California diet. Who knows? And we had talked about that.

And I remember at the time, him saying, if I ever went to USC, he goes, you know, you just got to live in Houston and Atlanta. and, you know, areas of the country that produce 325-pound defensive linemen. For whatever reasons, California doesn't produce a ton of those players. He often have to leave the state. But, and that's what Lincoln Riley's done. I think Floyd Bucard, Miami Beach defensive tackle that will come in this year as a true freshman, probably won't play a lot.

He'll be rotational. Looks like an SEC Interior defensive lineman. Jakeem Stewart, another from the South, Louisiana. looks like an SEC defensive lineman. Some of this stuff is aesthetics. We've just been too small in the trenches. Too many, 275-pound defensive linemen. Jamal Jarrett from Georgia's coming in as a transfer, big body.

Kishon Silver from Kentucky, big body. So I just feel like the look of the defensive line looks more like you get at a Michigan or a Clemson or an LSU. Are they all great players? probably not. But that has been my complaint now for several years running. We just don't have enough left tackle NFL Sunday bodies in the program. I think now we have three. We don't have enough NFL bodies in the defensive interior. Now we have three or four. So, and there's a couple of freshmen this year that played a little bit. They did play in the bowl. So I think that's

very promising to me. Because I think when you move into the Big Ten, the weather's overrated. I mean, let's be honest, college football games are September, October, November, and you maybe have one in December, right? You know, if USC made the playoff, you know, they'd maybe have a cold game on the road somewhere up north. That's, that's fine. Remember, your last regular season game is going to usually be potentially with UCLA. So home or away, the weather is fine. I think the weather aspect is overstated. I do think what the Big Ten is, and you've seen this with Oregon, Oregon has had elite offensive and defensive line recruiting with Dan Lading and Mario Cristobal and the transfer portal. They're bigger. They're bigger and they have more size up front.

Oregon's fast. That's their bread and butter. And USC teams, again, plenty of receivers and corners, safeties, whiteouts in Southern California. But the big bodies are what the Big Ten has. And as college football schedule is now longer, you go to a 12-team playoff off the regular season, there's no reason to load up and play an LSU to start the season. You're just begging for injuries. I've said this. I'd move Notre Dame off the schedule. There's no reason if I have to play Ohio State, Oregon, Washington will be better, Michigan,

Penn State. Why schedule potential losses? Have a couple cupcakes early or winnable games. Get your quarterback. Get your young freshman looks. Get your offensive line right by week three or four or five when you're, have to go to an Illinois. Don't be a romantic.

Let baseball have all the purists. Get past, oh, the Notre Dame game. Look at USC schedule going forward. Plus the 12-team playoff. You're trying to get into that thing. It's like political races. You know, you can talk about where you stand on this issue and where you stand on that issue.

Get elected, all right? Have policies that most people can embrace and put their arms around. The game is get elected. not being strident and a purist and precious on certain issues that can alienate a large part of your contingency. It's the same in football. Schedule to win games. Nick Saban for a decade. Look at the out-of-conference schedule.

He wasn't going on the road his last eight, nine years at Alabama if he didn't have to. Why would you do that? Why would you ever want to go to South Bend against Marcus Freeman in that roster? It's idiotic. Why do you want to play LSU? Play them in the playoff if you have to. But just don't outthink the room. Soft, early schedule,

cross your fingers on where you get your buy and get to the playoff. That's all that matters, not the romance of playing Notre Dame and the four horsemen. Get over it. That's not the game. Nick Sabin always understood that. You know, he makes sure they had their buys before some of their biggest games, the LSU game, and it was Cupcake City any moment he could give, you know, starters 30 snaps instead of 60 or 70 against Georgia or Florida or somebody in the SEC.

So the schedule is weaker next year. I'm not sure what they're going to do at quarterback. I think they're going to go with the guys they have. They have a start at running back, two stars at receiver, ample size up front. Some of it's very, very young, but that's okay. I just think you have to take a deep breath on this stuff. Lincoln Riley's not going anywhere. I thought that win to finish with the winning record mattered. It makes the offseason better. They've already gone to the portal for a running back, needed. They need a backup running back now that Brian Jackson looks like the starter for a kicker,

two interior defensive linemen and a corner. Again, I could see them bringing in maybe a senior offensive tackle, not a left tackle, but just for rotational purposes, injury purposes. It's a long slog of a regular season. I think they need a linebacker, an active, rangy linebacker somewhere. I like some of the young freshmen that will now be sophomores or redshirt freshman at linebacker. I think they've recruited it pretty well the last couple of years, but they probably need to go get sort of an upper-class linebacker.

But the first year, Lincoln Riley had the program the first two years, it was very much about the transfer portal. And I am disappointed with a Southern California recruiting. Not going to lie about that. But, you know, you start looking around college football. It's a new world. Ohio State had two huge regular season games. Oregon, Michigan, lost both during the playoff.

And the Penn State game was close. You know, the world's changed. You're going to lose games. You can look at USC schedule. You know, you can see a game at Notre Dame. That's going to be really tough. You know, Notre Dame, Riley Leonard's going to the pros. You know, there's rumors that they may be in.

the portal for a quarterback at the college level that many of you have seen play for a big program. So I won't give that away yet, but don't be surprised if a very, very well-known college quarterback transfers to Notre Dame wants the playoffs. And I think they're in a good spot. I just, I got to tell you, Brian Jackson, that running back, that was a revelation. That's a real thing. That's a big 10 running back. That's not a guy that's moving around and shifty and, you know, 5-8 and like 195 and can make you miss in space. No, nope, that's six foot, 235, plant the foot, decisive head down, four yards become six. That was a real revelation to me. And the O-line and D-line talent, the aesthetic, the optics, this big, long, Sunday-looking bodies. So there you go. That's

what I got this morning. I don't know what that was, but that's what I got this morning. You know what? Saturdays, I'm not going to shower today, I don't think. I'm going to sit and watch football. I got a little gumbo in the fridge, and I'm going to dive into that thing. It's not going to be the healthiest day for me. Hey, I can't eat blueberries and canelope 365 days a year. May have a shot of bourbon and some gumbo. Let's live a little, right?

Fight on, Trojan fans. College football reactions presented by J-Lab. J-Lab has the best audio products in the game. They're ready to take care of you this football season, traveling to watch your favorite team, or just streaming the game at home. Find the Blue Box at Walmart, Target Best Buy, or go to J-Lab.com. Love their stuff.

The Blue Box. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got.

Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva. And on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be?

I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to fupas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex? Is it just me? Or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of? having sex sometimes. They say we can't polish a turn, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter.

Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your husband is not who you think he is. Your body is not what you thought it was. Your identity is formed by a secret history. I'm Danny Shapiro. And these are just a few of the stunning stories I'll be exploring on the 14th season of Family Secrets. kind of shoved me out of the way and said, move. And he went out the front door and he jumped in a car and drove off.

And that was the last time I saw him. Listen to season 14 of Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.