danton lynn

Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where we’ve got a jam-packed edition for you this week. USC beat reporters were given the chance to talk to assistants we don’t often get access to during the season. So this week, we’re going to empty the notebook, with 15 notes, quotes and other things you should know ahead of USC’s spring football session.

1. Jayden Maiava has taken “a huge leadership jump” from last season. That’s according to offensive coordinator Luke Huard, who said the quarterback has been meeting with young wideouts, setting up group chats, watching film and working with them at walk-throughs. There will be a lot on his shoulders with such a young receiving corps.

2. Freshman quarterback Jonas Williams is “pretty developed” from a physical standpoint. The athleticism also is obvious when you watch him on tape. The question is how quickly can he get up to speed mentally? Huard said Williams ran a “very multiple” offense that asked a lot of its quarterbacks. So that’s a good sign. But with Husan Longstreet gone, USC is starting from square one again at backup quarterback. Sam Huard is still an option, but this wasn’t necessarily what USC planned.

3. Huard addressed Longstreet’s exit and how plans at quarterback change on a whim nowadays. Huard’s tone, which can’t really be detected in the quote, suggested he wasn’t exactly thrilled about the situation. (Huard, after all, spent a lot of time and energy getting Longstreet to USC.) This is part of what he said: “We are going to recruit guys that are going to represent USC at an elite level and give us an opportunity to win and compete for national championships. So for us, it’s identifying those guys that USC is important to ‘em. They want to truly be here. They want to stay and develop.”

4. Don’t be shocked if a freshman running back makes an impression, even with a clear top two in the backfield. Deshonne Redeaux and Shahn Alston earned raves from running backs coach Anthony Jones — and are very different. Alston is the bigger power back, while Jones called Redeaux “a jack of all trades.” Jones said Redeaux is already a solid blocker and even can line up in the slot as a receiver if need be.

5. What’s the next step look like for King Miller? “Hopefully, King 2.0,” Jones said, with a laugh. Miller’s main goal in the offseason has been “transforming his body,” Jones added. And if Miller can maintain his breakaway speed while adding strength, the sophomore running back could be bound for an even bigger year than he had in 2025.

6. Sophomore receiver Tanook Hines is working on his route running. Hines’ athleticism was clearly off the charts in his debut season. But there’s still plenty to polish in his game. Receivers coach Dennis Simmons said that’s the next step for him as he takes the reins as the Trojans’ No. 1 wideout. This offseason is a crucial one for Hines.

7. Zach Williams will move to slot receiver. Could that mean more opportunity? Williams didn’t make much of a splash last season, largely because of injury, but when he left Utah, then-coach Kyle Whittingham said he would’ve been the Utes’ top receiver the next season. Williams has talent. And with the move inside, he finally could get the opportunity too.

8. The rest of USC’s receiving corps is very young. I expect that means we’ll see a lot of sets with Hines, Williams and N.C. State transfer Terrell Anderson at first. But freshmen Boobie Feaster and Kayden Dixon-Wyatt no doubt will get their chances to change that. Redshirt freshman Corey Simms turned heads in camp last fall and could be primed for a step forward too.

9. The competition at tight end is wide open. Lake McRee is off to the NFL. Walker Lyons transferred. “Who’s going to fill all those snaps?” tight ends coach Chad Savage asked. “Those are a lot of snaps that have gotta be replaced.” Savage mentioned that Wisconsin transfer Hunter Ashcraft would be a part of that equation. Redshirt freshman Taniela Tupou had begun to impress by the end of last season as well.

10. That said, freshman Mark Bowman might make a serious push to start. When I asked Savage about where Bowman was most developed, he said Bowman was “pretty complete” already. Remember, he still should be in high school at this point. Of course, it’ll take time for him to adjust to the physicality and blocking of college football. But I suspect that won’t take long. “In terms of being a natural pass-catcher, route runner, being explosive,” Savage said, “he can do all that.”

11. Savage had a chance to leave for another opportunity. He chose to stay and was promoted accordingly. The Trojans’ new pass game coordinator called working at USC “a dream come true.” He added, “There’s so much growth for me to happen here at USC. … I’m a West Coast guy.” That’s good news, considering he might be one of the best recruiters in college football.

12. Offensive line coach Zach Hanson said USC’s front was “nowhere near where we need to be” last season. The unit actually overachieved, considering its circumstances, but he feels there’s “a lot of room for growth.” I agree. This group will look a lot different in the fall than it did last season, with some linemen starting at new positions. Hanson believes the added competition will lead to a big leap for the line. I tend to agree.

13. Tobias Raymond will take reps at center in the spring. It has been the plan for a while that eventually Raymond would try his hand at center, as coaches see that as his best chance to stick in the NFL. It’s not out of the question that he could play there full time, assuming another linemen steps in.

14. Five-star freshman Keenyi Pepe will start off working at right tackle. Can he win the job in Year 1? He’ll have Justin Taunauu, last year’s starter, as well as young returners like Elijah Vaikona and Aaron Dunn to compete with, but Pepe is further developed than the usual freshman. “A lot is just God-given talent,” Hanson said. “The Lord blessed him with unbelievable gifts.”

15. New coordinator Gary Patterson famously split his 4-2-5 defense into two calls. One for the front seven, one for the defensive backs. But that could play out differently at USC, he said. Patterson’s plan is to use pieces of USC’s old scheme under D’Anton Lynn and “add another scheme to it.” Sometimes that’ll mean just one call for the whole defense, other times he’ll plan to deploy a double call. With slower offenses in the Big Ten, that approach could work quite well.

USC’s Laura Williams looks to pass after getting a rebound.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

—The USC men are in serious danger of missing March. It’s not just that the Trojans lost to No. 10 Illinois. They were blown out by the Illini, who then lost to UCLA three nights later. It’s not just that USC lost to Oregon, either. It’s how they lost to Oregon, a team that had lost 11 of 12, by letting the Ducks go on a stunning 7-0 run in the final minute. This version of USC doesn’t deserve to be in the tournament. But I do believe this team has the talent to be a tournament team and it’s not out of the question that it could win two of the next four, win a couple of games in the Big Ten tournament and sneak in. That climb is just a really steep one after Saturday.

—Laura Williams’ emergence as a reliable rebounder and rim protector is a big deal. All season long, Lindsay Gottlieb has been content to rely on a rotating group at the five. USC has been able to get by for most of the season, but come March, it’ll help to have someone who can do what Williams did against Wisconsin, when the redshirt freshman reeled in 14 rebounds and blocked four shots.

—What a start to the season for USC baseball. After leading a combined no-hitter the previous week, Grant Govel threw six scoreless innings, gave up just one hit and struck out 11 in a win over Rice. That was after No. 1 pitcher Mason Edwards pitched a shutout the night before. The Trojans are surging to start Andy Stankiewicz’s third season as coach, and if the pitching continues to be this good, USC could be on the brink of a breakthrough campaign.

Olympic sports spotlight

USC beach volleyball opened its season on a hot streak in Honolulu with four straight wins, including a victory over No. 2 Stanford, only to trip up twice on the final day of the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic. That one of those losses came to No. 1 UCLA, which USC won’t face again until April 4, made it an especially tough way to end the weekend.

But the season is young, and there’s no reason to doubt that Dain Blanton will have USC in the mix to win a national title when the rivals meet again.

What I’m Watching This Week

Jason Segel in “Shrinking.”

(Apple TV+)

It’s shocking that it took until this show’s third season for it to get a mention in this space, but “Shrinking” is back, and there is no show on TV that I find more life-affirming.

Jason Segel stars as Jimmy, a therapist working through grief after the sudden death of his wife. That might sound heavy — and, sure, it is sometimes — but it’s also hilarious, optimistic and heartwarming. Few shows these days can make you both laugh out loud and tear up in the same episode. This is one of them.

The second season was a revelation. And so far, I’m hopeful that Season 3 will be a worthy follow-up.

In case you missed it

Fourth-quarter drought dooms USC vs. No. 10 Ohio State despite Jazzy Davidson’s 32 points

USC men’s basketball team fumbles late lead, suffers devastating loss to Oregon

Star freshman Jazzy Davidson gives USC a scare as it wins sixth straight

USC men come unraveled in blowout loss to Illinois

Until next time …

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where I have emerged from my Hawaiian vacation and probably should be stopped before I buy a Maui timeshare. Please send help.

All jokes (and future debt) aside, we’re ready to roll after a weeklong break on the beach, just in time for the home stretch of the college basketball regular season. Both USC teams are still on the bubble midway through February, albeit one much more comfortably than the other.

The Trojan men’s March hopes are the more tenuous of the two. The sudden ascent to stardom of freshman Alijah Arenas has injected new hope into a hard-luck season. There’s still a ways to go: USC must face Illinois and Nebraska, not to mention UCLA twice, and could still use a couple more Quad 1 wins to bolster its resume. But the talent is there for USC to do some damage in the tournament … if it can make it to March.

The Trojan women are on much steadier ground, slotted at 22nd in the NCAA’s NET rankings. They’ve yet to lose a non-Quad 1 game this season and haven’t lost a game at all since Jan. 25. If the tournament started today, they’d be firmly in the field.

Lindsay Gottlieb has found a means to make it work over the last month, in spite of some shortcomings in a lineup that lost not just JuJu Watkins, but also all the other stars who might’ve lined up to play with her this season. Still, USC has weathered 25 games with a Watkins-sized hole in its lineup, a limited frontcourt and inconsistent play at point guard.

Gottlieb, as coach, deserves a lot of credit for that. As does Kara Dunn, the Trojans’ sharp-shooting grad transfer, who is shooting 51% and averaging 21 points, six rebounds and three assists over her past 11 games.

But USC could not have come this far this season if not for the best freshman in college basketball.

Jazzy Davidson has been every bit the difference-maker in her debut season that she was advertised to be as the top recruit in the 2025 class. She has been an elite defender, a dynamic and varied scorer, a poised and determined leader. She’s delivered in the clutch. She’s dragged USC out of deficits. She leads the Trojans in every statistical category: points (17.2), rebounds (6.3), assists (4.4), steals (1.9) and blocks (2.2).

The numbers only really tell part of the story. When Davidson signed with USC, she expected to play her first season with Watkins. Instead, Watkins injured her knee. The rest of USC’s Elite Eight lineup left. And Davidson suddenly found herself the centerpiece of the team’s hopes. As a freshman.

Those expectations would have weighed heavily on most first-year players, even before considering Watkins’ shadow looming over all the proceedings. But in this case, they haven’t seemed to faze the star freshman in the slightest. She’s been a picture of poise through a season that asked her to be just that. It’s an impossible thing to ask of most 18-year-olds.

And yet, in Davidson’s case, it’s working.

“You talk about overdelivering, to be a freshman and carry the load for us,” Gottlieb said, “she’s just capable of doing almost anything on a basketball court. She’s unique. I know there are several good freshmen in the country. We know how good she is. We see it every day, and we think there’s no one better.”

Someone in SEC country will surely make the case that Vanderbilt point guard Aubrey Galvan has been the nation’s top freshman. Advanced metrics, for one, will tell you that Galvan is worth 3.3 win shares compared to 3.1 for Davidson. She’s certainly been special on the offensive end, pairing up with national player of the year candidate Mikayla Blakes to make the most lethal 1-2 punch in women’s college basketball.

But Galvan is the No. 2 in that attack. That’s the role Davidson was supposed to play as a freshman. Instead, Davidson has been the focal point of opposing team’s game plans from the start, and yet still managed to adjust to the college game on the fly. Her usage rate (28.8%), which measures how often a possession ends with the ball in one’s hands, is higher than any freshman in the country. And she’s only getting better with the ball in her hands.

USC’s hopes this March hinge on Davidson continuing that ascent. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. But here we are. And in some strange, roundabout way, the experience might wind up making USC and its star freshman much better in the long run.

Because next year, USC will welcome not only Watkins back from injury, but also the No. 1 recruit in the nation, Saniyah Hall, as well as 6-foot-4 Aussie forward Sitaya Fagan, who’s redshirting this season. That lineup might be the most talented in USC history.

How it fits together will be the story of next season. But in this one, Davidson has proven she can be whatever USC needs her to be.

Not only the best freshman in college basketball, but the glue that’s kept this Trojans season together.

Mater Dei wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt pulls in a long reception to score against St John Bosco.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

—One last thing about Jazzy. She could stand to be more efficient from the three-point line, where she has made just nine of her last 52 attempts (17%). USC, as a team, has really struggled from behind the arc, which is not something you want in March.

—Chad Baker-Mazara should be back this week. It’s not clear if he’ll be ready for Wednesday’s big matchup. When USC welcomes No. 8 Illinois to Galen Center, it will have been more than two weeks since Baker-Mazara sprained his medial collateral ligament against Indiana. A Grade I sprain usually requires sitting out a week or two, so the timeline is pretty normal. USC is going to need its full arsenal, Baker-Mazara included, to hold its own against the Illini. But if not Wednesday, the sixth-year senior will definitely be back by Saturday against Oregon.

—Chad Bowden wasn’t subtle about his expectations for next season. USC’s general manager told reporters that he was “on a warpath” heading into 2026. He made clear that success next season is “black and white. You’re either in the playoffs or you’re not,” he said. He added that fans “should be unhappy” with a nine-win season and that he was “sick to his stomach” about it. Strong words from someone whose opinion matters a lot within Heritage Hall. Chalk it up as more evidence that a Playoff appearance is the baseline of expectations for Lincoln Riley next season.

—Blue-chip pass-catching prospects Kayden Dixon-Wyatt and Mark Bowman both took less money to sign with USC. That’s a good sign. Bowden said USC hadn’t talked to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt in three or four months while the top-50 receiver recruit was committed to Ohio State. But Dixon-Wyatt decided out of the blue that he was coming to USC, to stay home and play in front of family, even if it meant taking less money than he would’ve gotten in Columbus. He wasn’t the only one. On signing day, Lane Kiffin and LSU swooped in to offer Dixon-Wyatt’s Mater Dei teammate, tight end Mark Bowman, “significantly more” than the deal he had with USC, Bowden said. Bowman made Bowden wait most of the day before reassuring he was always bound for USC. We might look back on that decision as a pretty consequential one, if Bowman lives up to his billing from Bowden as “one of the best players in the country.”

—USC is putting a lot of faith in its linebacker room for 2026. Bowden says he thinks the room will “take the biggest leap” of any position next season, but for the moment, that would require quite a bit of projection. Riley pointed to the progress from Desman Stephens down the stretch of last season, as well as the late emergence of Jadyn Walker, as reasons why USC didn’t feel the need to add more in the transfer portal. USC did add Deven Bryant, who the front office viewed as a quality run defender, and welcomes a freshman in Talanoa Ili who could be involved right away.

—The Big Ten is still pushing the 24-team Playoff – *shakes head* – but its plan isn’t all bad. I am not a fan in the slightest of doubling the size of the Playoff. That would significantly devalue the regular season, while lining the coffers of college football’s ruling class. The Big Ten has dominated the last three years of the 12-team Playoff, and yet it wants to open the field up more? It doesn’t make sense. What does sound logical to me, amid an otherwise insane plan, is the elimination of the conference championship games. Not only would that cut a full week out of the calendar, which needs to happen, it would do away with any questions about whether teams can hurt their resume just by playing another game. Go to 16 teams, do away with conference championship games and please — I beg you — stop tweaking the system.

—USC baseball’s season opened with a combined no-hitter. After beating Pepperdine in its season opener, the Trojans went one step further in their Saturday matchup, serving up the school’s first no-hitter in eight years. Sophomore right-hander Grant Govel went seven innings and struck out 10 batters while walking just one, and freshman Cameron Fausset closed the door with another hitless inning before Andrew Lamb hit a two-run homer to invoke the 10-run rule. Hard to imagine a better start to USC’s first season back on campus.

Olympic sports spotlight

After winning its first indoor NCAA title in 53 years last season, the future of USC men’s track has looked strong this indoor season.

Jack Stadlman, a Temecula native, set the indoor 400-meter freshman record at USC, finishing in second with a 45.51 on Day 1 of the Don Kirby Elite Invite on Friday. Stadlman actually didn’t start running track until his junior year at Temecula Valley High and didn’t start running the 400 until last spring. Now already he’s run the fastest indoor time ever for a freshman at USC and the fourth-fastest time in the NCAA in the event this season. That should set Stadlman up nicely for next month’s NCAA indoor championships.

Freshman Cordial Vann also made a strong impression, tying the indoor freshman record at USC with a 6.60 in the 60-meter sprint. The NCAA best so far this year is a 6.49.

In case you missed it

USC coach Lincoln Riley completes staff featuring new defensive blood, continuity

‘She’s unique.’ Jazzy Davidson helps USC climb out of early hole and win fifth in a row

USC men come up a bit short against Ohio State

What I’m watching this week

Timothée Chalamet in “Marty Supreme.”

I finally had the chance this past weekend to watch “Marty Supreme,” the best picture nominee starring Timothée Chalamet and directed by Josh Safdie. And boy was it worth the wait.

Let me start by saying that I generally dislike sports movies. There are exceptions to this rule, of course. But as someone who spends a lot of time thinking about the beauty and romance and drama inherent to sports, I am a documented hater of the genre.

“Marty Supreme,” though, was no ordinary sports movie. This was a propulsive, anxiety-inducing roller coaster ride as we follow Marty Mauser, played by Chalamet, as he tries to become the face of the emerging sport of table tennis in a post-World War II America. Those plans, as you might imagine, unravel along the way, and in the process, Chalamet gives one of the best performances of the year.

I’m still partial to “One Battle After Another” if we’re talking best picture in next month’s Academy Awards, but “Marty Supreme” is no doubt one of the best movies of the last year.

Until next time …

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

When D’Anton Lynn abruptly left for Penn State on the eve of USC’s bowl game, the hope within the program had been to keep what remained of his defensive staff intact. All while also attracting a top-notch defensive coordinator to take Lynn’s place.

But Lincoln Riley, after four years of regular churn with his staff at USC, was also realistic. The coach had learned by now how quickly plans could change with the coaching carousel.

“It really doesn’t matter what team you are,” Riley said in December. “It doesn’t matter what staff you are. Doesn’t matter what your postseason situation is like. … We’ve been through this now for a few years. So you can’t always predict everything that’s going to happen, but this time of year, you have to be ready to adjust. It’s just the nature of the game.”

Some adjustments, as Riley suggested then, were probably inevitable.

New USC defensive coordinator Gary Patterson takes questions from the media during a news conference.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

The worst of it came late in the carousel, when defensive line coach Eric Henderson elected to return to the NFL, departing for the same position with the Washington Commanders. Losing Henderson, from a recruiting perspective alone, is significant. He finished the last recruiting cycle as the nation’s top-ranked recruiter, according to 247 Sports.

It was Henderson who took over the defense for USC’s bowl game, which led some players to voice their belief he should get the full-time gig. His name was floated for other jobs, too, including the coordinator position at his alma mater, Georgia Tech.

USC hoped to retain him as defensive line coach. But with the program determined to go outside of its staff for a new coordinator, Henderson ultimately chose to leave.

USC also moved on from secondary coach Doug Belk, who’d also been mentioned as a potential internal candidate. He spent the previous two seasons as a leading voice on USC’s defensive staff. But his contract was not renewed.

In hiring longtime Texas Christian coach Gary Patterson, Riley found the rare coordinator happy to blend in with a staff that’s largely in place already. Last month, in his first meeting with reporters, Patterson said he viewed himself more as “that last piece” on USC’s staff. He even assured he’d adapt his 4-2-5 defensive scheme to what USC did under Lynn.

“The group that’s here, they improved the defense last year,” Patterson said. “So instead of just coming in and saying, ‘Well this is how we’re gonna do it, it’s been a little bit more work of trying to put both of them together, understanding they did a great job and recruiting really good players. So you gotta really kind of listen a little bit more before you say this how we [do it].”

Some unique aspects of Patterson’s scheme, however, are probably best left in familiar hands. That’s especially the case with his secondary, which is called separately from the front seven.

It stands to reason then that Patterson would bring Paul Gonzales, a defensive backs coach who worked with Patterson for nearly half of his tenure at TCU. He left Baylor to join USC’s staff and is expected to lead the Trojans entire secondary. He’ll be joined by Sam Carter, a former all-Big 12 safety who played under Patterson.

The rest of the staff remains largely intact from last season. Defensive ends coach Shaun Nua stuck with USC amid rumors of interest from his alma mater, Brigham Young. Trovon Reed will continue to coach cornerbacks and Rob Ryan, for the time being at least, remains as linebackers coach.

After a debut that produced mixed results with a thin linebacker room, Ryan’s status has been up in the air over the past two months. Whether he returns or not, his unit will have another voice in the linebacker room in Year 2. Mike Ekeler, who previously coached at USC under Lane Kiffin in 2013, was hired away from Nebraska to coach both special teams and linebackers.

Two defensive analysts were also promoted to full-time roles, as Skyler Jones, in his third season on staff, will coach defensive tackles and AJ Howard, entering his second, will coach outside linebackers.

That makes nine coaches on USC’s defensive staff alone, three more than it employed last season.

As of 2024, there are no longer limits on the number of coaches who can provide on-field instruction, meaning the Trojans can have as many assistants on staff as they please. But only 10 total, plus the head coach, are allowed to recruit off-campus. It’s unclear who among USC’s current staff will fill those 10 roles.

On the other side of the ball, Riley was able to keep the whole band together. Offensive line coach Zach Hanson was pursued heavily by his alma mater, Kansas State, to be offensive coordinator under new coach Collin Klein, who Hanson considers to be one of his closest friends.

Still, Hanson chose to stick with USC and Riley, whose offense will return not just every member of its staff, but also its entire offensive line, its star running back and a Heisman candidate at quarterback.