In the wake of the Bear Alexander transfer scare and the legitimate news of Jason Zandamela’s impending transfer, USC Football head coach Lincoln Riley was asked about how he navigates recruiting in the transfer portal era.
You Can’t Make Somebody Fit USC Football
“Every kid is different, in this age. Every set of parents is different. You understand that it’s just part of what we deal with,” Riley stated, “I don’t get too overly emotional one way or another when we have a guy that’s thinking about moving on. This is not going to be the right fit for every single player. We get that. This is a special place. A hard place. You can’t make somebody fit here. And that’s OK. That’s not a problem.”
Line of 100 People that Would Die to Take That Spot
Riley holds transfers with an amount of distance, in part because of the position he holds at the institution where he works.
“I mean, this is USC. You’re not going to beg people to be here. I mean, for every guy that leaves here, there’s gonna be a line of 100 people that would die to take that spot in a heartbeat.”
“We certainly want to do a good job retaining which part of that is evaluation in the first place. But we understand it’s not going to be 100% and when it’s not, we wish those guys the best and we’re kind of on to the next moving on.”
