Wednesday marked the first day of college football’s early signing period. On Wednesday, USC football officially signed 21 high school players into the program. The big highlight was Eric Henderson bringing in the big guy from New Orleans, Jahkeem Stewart, and scoring a recruiting win on LSU’s turf.
“When we consider Eric Henderson’s impact in recruiting at USC, we have to start with the point that his entry into the program — and the coaching staff — occurred after the end of the 2023 NFL season. He wasn’t able to be onboarded in late November or early December after USC’s last regular-season game in 2023, which was on Nov. 18 of that year against UCLA. Henderson didn’t really have enough time or space to be able to make a maximum impact on the trail. It wasn’t anything he realistically could have controlled. Lincoln Riley and D’Anton Lynn were willing to wait a few weeks in the winter to bring aboard Coach Henny in January. Waiting a few weeks to get Henderson on staff was, Riley and Lynn calculated, worth the future benefits he would bring to the program. This Jahkeem Stewart recruiting win affirms the wisdom of the USC coaching staff.”
Here is a full list of the players USC football added on the defensive side of the ball.
Mandatory Credit: Tim Prangley | Trojans Wire
Floyd Boucard landed at USC. He could have gone to Miami. It seemed that he was going to Oklahoma, but he decommitted from the Sooners. It’s not just a win for USC, but a loss for OU. That has to make Trojan fans happy.
Tim Prangley – trojans wire
Getting a quality defensive back anywhere is good. Getting one in state is even better.
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Defensive line is where USC has to get better and deeper. This pickup from the state of Texas needs to pan out.
Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
This defensive back is a flip from Deion Sanders and Colorado. That has to feel especially good for USC. Hopefully this becomes a Prime pickup, to use a specific phrase.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Defensive line depth pieces need to live up to the billing, and they need to be able to make contributions in Big Ten play. Can the youthful pieces on the line make their way into the rotation and then deliver an impact?
The USC defense’s lack of depth showed up against Notre Dame. The Trojans have to be deeper at all three levels of their defense. Here’s a defensive back who will be called upon to raise the bar in the secondary.
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
You can see that Doug Belk has made multiple successful forays into the state of Georgia to bring USC help in the secondary.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The number of Georgia-based players in this defensive recruiting class will test USC’s Southern strategy on the trail. It needs to pay off.
. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
This is the crown jewel of USC’s 2025 class. If Jahkeem Stewart lives up to the billing, USC’s defense will get better.
Tim Prangley, Trojans Wire
Linebacker coach Matt Entz is off to Fresno State, but USC still retained a linebacker from the state of California who obviously had faith in D’Anton Lynn to coach him well on the Trojans’ defense.
