Players Mentioned
The State of Troy | Jan. 21: USC Football Update, House Settlement & Los Angeles Wildfire Relief
January 21, 2025 | Baseball, Football, USC Athletics, Men's Basketball, Men's Swimming & Diving, Men's Tennis, Men's Volleyball, Men's Water Polo, Track & Field, Women's Basketball, Women's Soccer, Women's Tennis, Women's Water Polo
Trojan Family,
I hope this edition of The State of Troy finds you well, though I know so many Trojans have been impacted by the fires across Los Angeles this month. Our student-athletes, coaches, and staff have been highly engaged in supporting our community, and I am proud of the way our Trojan Family has stepped up for those in need.
There are two specific USC-related efforts that you can support should you be inclined: the Trojan Family Relief Fund and the LA Strong campaign. The Trojan Family Relief Fund will provide direct support to USC students, faculty, or staff members affected by the wildfires. Additionally, Fanatics has partnered with USC and multiple LA sports organizations to design "LA Strong" merchandise, and all proceeds will go directly to the American Red Cross and the LA Fire Department Foundation.
On behalf of the Trojan Athletics Family, know that our hearts are with you, and USC Athletics is united in offering support to our amazing community.
So much has happened in our community, within our department, and across college athletics since my last State of Troy. As we enter this new year, I want to touch on some important topics that will impact USC Athletics not only in 2025, but in the years to come.
TROJAN FAMILY RELIEF FUND BUY 'LA STRONG' T-SHIRT
Update on Trojan Football
Following our victory over Texas A&M in the Las Vegas Bowl on December 27, our football program has been focused on assembling its 2025 roster and coaching staff. We have signed many talented high school and transfer players, addressing roster needs and boosting talent in many important positions. Thanks to a robust and highly competitive NIL program, I feel confident we have the support and resources to compete at a championship level.
We have filled three important coaching positions with our newest hires. Rob Ryan, our linebackers coach and assistant head coach for defense, is a Super-Bowl winning coach with 24 years of NFL experience – 17 as a coordinator – and brings invaluable experience and knowledge to our staff. Chad Savage, our tight ends and inside receivers coach, is a rising star in college football circles with established relationships and proven success recruiting California. Zach Hanson takes over as offensive line coach after three seasons coaching our tight ends, returning to a position he coached at previous stops in Tulsa and Kansas State.
We also signed our outstanding defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn to a contract extension after his excellent efforts in rebuilding our defense during the 2024 season. Coach Lynn is one of the most sought-after coaches in the country, and we are thrilled to keep him in Troy.
Our work leading toward the 2025 season continues, and Coach Riley and I remain engaged in building a championship-level infrastructure around the program that supports the new and rapidly-changing era of college football. Early in the fall, we hired a consultant with NFL experience to assess our current structure and needs to help guide our investments to support our evolving model. As a result, we are investing in a number of important areas of recruiting and roster management, including, but not limited to, data analytics, scouting and evaluation, and negotiations. We are actively searching for a General Manager who will help us build and refine our structure and ensure we are competing for championships annually.
I know that a 7-6 season at USC is not up to the Trojan standard, and we must work tirelessly and collectively to do better. I am fully committed to that work and entirely confident that, with our continued investments into the program, an aligned and modernized infrastructure, and your unwavering support, our football program will be positioned to win championships.
RYAN NAMED LB COACH SAVAGE NAMED TE/IWR COACH
Latest Update on House Settlement
In previous communications, I have outlined specifics of the House vs. NCAA settlement and its impact locally and nationally. With the expected approval of the settlement quickly approaching in April, our administration and coaches remain hard at work preparing for this new era of college athletics.
Championship programs require championship resources, and as we invest the full permissible $20.5 million in 2025-26, we must prioritize more strategically and operate more efficiently than ever before. Maximizing our investment in USC Football – whose success generates the revenue that supports broad-based excellence in all our sports – is critical. So, too, is ensuring all 23 programs have the resources needed to compete for titles and to help student-athletes reach their fullest potential in all that they do.
We must also be fiscally responsible with our investments, and this new and increasing annual expense will challenge our department to do business differently. We will need to raise more money, engage more fans, and generate more exposure and NIL brand opportunities, all while reducing expenses more diligently and operating more nimbly as the landscape shifts.
At USC, we embrace these challenges and the new opportunities presented. The Trojan legacy is built on the competitive spirit of generations of student-athletes, coaches, and leaders who found opportunities where others found obstacles, and it is their spirit that inspires our work. Success in this new era will require the entire Trojan Family to Fight as One, and we are confident that together, we will thrive in this new era of college athletics.
If the last few months are any indication, much will change between now and April, and we look forward to sharing more updates on the future of our department.
B1G Updates
- Our women's basketball team remains unbeaten in conference play, its best start since 1993-94, and men's basketball has recently earned big wins over Iowa at home and Illinois on the road, the program's first ranked road win since 2010. We need the entire Trojan Family to get to Galen and be loud. The Big Ten is known for home court advantages, and it's crucial we build our own and back our basketball teams all season long. We ask our fans to wear Cardinal for men's basketball's Crosstown Showdown with UCLA on Monday, January 27, and come back to Galen for women's basketball vs. Minnesota on Thursday, January 30. We know our student-athletes and coaches will appreciate your energy and support as they battle through remainder of their Big Ten home schedules.
 - Our fall sports finished 2024 strong, and I want to shout out their incredible accomplishments! Men's water polo's won their third straight MPSF Tournament championship and finished national runner-up; women's soccer won the first Big Ten championship in school history and made the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament; and women's volleyball earned its 40th overall and third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.
 - Our facilities projects continue to progress. Construction on the Bloom Football Performance Center is well underway, Rawlinson Stadium remains on schedule for a summer opening, and this week, we began laying sod on Dedeaux Field, where the Trojans will return to practice this spring. None of this progress would be possible without the support of our generous donors, and we look forward to celebrating new milestones in the weeks and months ahead.
 - What a weekend to start our spring sports! Moritz Wesemann shattered a USC record in the 3-meter dive, Johnny Brackins Jr. set a new Trojan mark in the 60-meter hurdles, and women's tennis knocked off No. 7 Texas at home. Meanwhile, men's tennis, women's water polo, and men's volleyball are all off to undefeated starts. Looking forward to many more Trojan records and conquests this spring!
 - Our Trojans are winning in competition and in the community, using their platforms and NIL to make history and make a difference. Our women's basketball team partnered with Chipotle on the company's first-ever teamwide NIL deal, and our football program, through a partnership between House of Victory and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, helped sort more than 58,000 pounds of food for the food insecure across our community. Our men's basketball program also teamed up with HOV to host the Boys & Girls Club Metro LA for a clinic inside Galen. Men's basketball, women's basketball, and women's water polo are also among several teams who have spent time serving the community in the wake of the fires.
We have so much work to do this year, but we have so much to be grateful for, and I am excited to see what we can accomplish in 2025, together. As always, thank you for your continued support of USC Athletics.
Fight On!
Jen Cohen
Charles Griffin Cale Director of Athletics
