USC Football

Former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll will turn 73 on Sept. 15, but he isn't showing any signs of slowing down.

Appearing on Sports Radio 93.3 KJR-FM (h/t ESPN's Brady Henderson), Carroll revealed he will be returning to USC to teach a class this spring without offering any specifics about the job.

Asked in the same interview if he wanted to get back into coaching, Carroll said he "could coach tomorrow" but it's not something he's "desiring it at this point."

Carroll added he would be "doing some advising" without clarifying what that meant, though he did note it wouldn't be for football teams.

This fall will mark the first time since 2000 that Carroll isn't coaching football. He spent the past 14 seasons coaching the Seattle Seahawks, but the two sides surprisingly agreed to a parting of ways in January.

Prior to being hired by the Seahawks in January 2010, Carroll was USC's head coach for nine seasons. He led the Trojans to a 97-19 record from 2001 to '09, but the program's national title in 2004 was vacated due to sanctions imposed for impermissible benefits given to Reggie Bush.

During his tenure with the Seahawks, Carroll led the franchise to its longest sustained run of success. They made the postseason 10 times, won five division titles, reached the Super Bowl twice with a victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 48.

Carroll is the Seahawks' all-time leader in games coached (227) and wins (137). He was the fourth-oldest head coach in NFL history at the time he parted ways with Seattle.

There has been no indication that Carroll will formally retire from coaching. He has a 170-120-1 career record as an NFL head coach between his time with the Seahawks, New York Jets and New England Patriots.

After losing dynamic quarterback Caleb Williams to the NFL, USC had huge shoes to fill for its starting quarterback position for the 2024 season.

Head coach Lincoln Riley tabbed redshirt junior Miller Moss as the Trojans' starter on Monday, per Paolo Uggetti of ESPN. The signal-caller had spent the first three years of his collegiate career as a backup, so his patience has finally been rewarded. He beat out Jayden Maiava, a transfer from UNLV, for the starting job.

In his limited action on the field, Moss has thrown for 681 yards and seven touchdowns in his career at USC. However, he turned heads when he assumed the starting role in the Holiday Bowl last season after Williams chose to sit out the game in preparation for the NFL draft, where he ended up being the No. 1 pick by the Chicago Bears.

Moss stepped in and completed 23 of his 33 passes for 372 yards and a Holiday Bowl-record six touchdowns to lead the Trojans to a 42-28 win over Louisville.

While it took the entire spring and most of the summer for Moss to be named the starter for the 2024 season, he made himself the frontrunner with his performance in the Holiday Bowl.

"He might've scared off anybody that wanted to come here," Riley said at the time. "Miller could've bolted off at different times, but he's stayed here. He's gotten better."

Moss will get his first taste of being the full-time starter for the Trojans when USC opens the 2024 season on Sept. 1 against LSU in Las Vegas.

USC head coach Lincoln Riley said he "would love" to continue playing against Notre Dame but would not commit to continuing the rivalry now that the Trojans are in the Big Ten.

"I would love to," he said Wednesday, per Matt Fortuna of The Inside Zone. "I know it means a lot to a lot of people. The purist in you, no doubt. Now if you get in a position where you got to make a decision on what's best for SC to help us win a national championship vs. keeping that, shoot, then you got to look at it.

"And listen, we're not the first example of that. Look all the way across the country. There has been a lot of other teams sacrifice rivalry games. And I'm not saying that's what's going to happen. But as we get into this Playoff structure, and if it changes or not, we're in this new conference, we're going to learn something about this as we go and what the right and the best track is to winning a national championship, that's going to evolve."

Fans who want the game to stay don't have to worry about the immediate future.

After all, the Trojans and Fighting Irish will face each other to end the regular season on Nov. 30 and are slated to play in 2025 and 2026 as well.

However, Riley's comments didn't exactly suggest the game will surely stay on future schedules.

From USC's perspective, it is already in a loaded Big Ten conference that features Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, Oregon, Washington, UCLA and others. Every year's schedule is going to be a daunting one moving forward in the new league, and facing difficult non-conference opponents like Notre Dame only makes losses more likely.

There is something to be said about an expanded College Football Playoff, which will feature 12 teams for the first time during the upcoming season, making headline non=conference games more likely because teams can afford a loss more than in the past.

But USC will be tested enough in the Big Ten and may look to schedule easier foes in preparation for league play in the future.

Five-star defensive tackle prospect Justus Terry has rescinded his commitment to USC football, he announced Wednesday on X.

Terry's post comes less than one day after five-star EDGE prospect Isaiah Gibson confirmed his own de-commitment from USC on X.

Both Terry and Gibson are ranked among the top 20 Class of 2025 recruits in the nation by 247Sports.

Quarterback Julian Lewis, another top-20 prospect, remains committed to USC despite visiting Auburn last weekend.

Gibson announced his decommitment during an official visit to Ohio State.

Terry plans to take an official visit to Alabama this weekend in place of a scheduled visit to USC, On3's Chad Simmons reported. He had recently visited Georgia and Florida, per ESPN's Eli Lederman.

Their decommitments are a major blow for USC's hopes of using recruiting to rebuild their defense under new coordinator D'Anton Lynn, following a 2023-24 season in which the Trojans ranked among the most porous defenses in the FBS.

The Trojans are at risk of another blow to the future depth of the team's defensive line if they are unable to hold onto four-star safety prospect Hylton Stubbs.

Stubbs, ranked No. 99 in the nation by 247Sports, recently completed an official visit to Florida that he said brought the Gators "very close" to USC in his ranking, per USA Today's Adam Dubbin.

The Trojans will additionally need to make a bid to retain Lewis, who has also been pursued by Indiana and Colorado, although the quarterback told On3's Collin Ginnan that he was "100 percent" committed to USC after the official visit to Auburn.

Lewis, who has been committed to USC since last August, told 247Sports' Tom Loy that his decision to remain committed to the Trojans is driven by his desire to play for head coach Lincoln Riley.

Riley will now attempt to retain Stubbs and Lewis, while adding more defensive lineman to USC's 2025 recruiting class, as the Trojans prepare for their first season in the Big Ten this fall.

Reggie Bush believes USC's 2004 national championship is headed back on the record books.

Bush told TMZ Sports he "absolutely" thinks the Trojans' title will be reinstated after the former USC running back had his Heisman Trophy reinstated earlier this year. The NCAA stripped USC of its national title in 2011 amid a probe into impermissible benefits given to Bush during his time at the program.

Those benefits would be considered permissible under current rules, which allow players to make money off their name, image and likeness. The Heisman Trophy Trust returned Bush's Heisman earlier this year amid the allowance of NIL rules.

Bush was one of the most dynamic running backs in college football history, compiling 3,169 rushing yards and 1,301 receiving yards in three seasons with the Trojans. He compiled 1,740 rushing yards and 478 receiving yards in his 2005 Heisman-winning campaign.

"I'm thinking about my time at USC and just how much of the work we put in produced the results that you saw on the football field, including this Heisman Trophy right here," Bush said in April. "You can't get to this—or a national championship—by cheating, I promise you."

The NCAA has not given any indication that they are considering reinstatement of championships that were vacated by violations of past rules.

It's a day ending in Y, so Baby Gronk—or, more accurately, his father—has announced another flip-flop in his recruitment.

The 11-year-old social media star, whose real name is Madden San Miguel, posted his commitment to USC on Tuesday, a day after committing to both Auburn and Alabama within a three-hour span.

Of course, none of these commitments are binding because none of these schools can even offer Baby Gronk an official scholarship. Schools are not allowed to render official offers until a player's junior year of high school, which is roughly six years from now for Baby Gronk.

This is merely another ploy for social media attention, likely coming from San Miguel's father, Jake, who runs his son's social presence. Jake San Miguel is known for making aggressive and relentless pitches to influencers in the sports world hoping to land his son coverage and collaborations.

The constant flipping of Baby Gronk's commitment seems to be the latest strategy to keep the 11-year-old, who shot to fame in 2023, in the national spotlight. Baby Gronk has now committed to around a dozen schools in the last month, already making it one of the oddest recruitment stories in college football history before his actual recruitment can begin.

Baby Gronk currently has 319,000 subscribers on YouTube and 520,000 followers on Instagram.

Former USC star Reggie Bush isn't halting his litigation against the NCAA after the Heisman Trust reinstated him as the official winner of the 2005 Heisman Trophy.

Bush filed a defamation suit against the NCAA because the organization had once said he was wrapped up in a "pay-for-play" situation while with the Trojans. He and his legal team made it clear they are still pursuing the lawsuit:

Bush explained the defamation suit was "more of being labeled a cheater," via the Associated Press.

"The trophy ... being taken away from me [was painful], but being labeled a cheater was far worse, because I've never cheated, and there's no proof of that, that I've cheated."

By and large, the decision to give Bush back his Heisman Trophy was celebrated by fans and people who follow college football. Whereas a player accepting improper benefits in 2005 was enough to warrant a major scandal and serious sanctions for their team, the dawn of the NIL era has totally shifted the paradigm.

Heisman Trust president Michael Comerford cited Wednesday "the enormous changes in college athletics over the last several years" as one reason for the organization's reversal regarding the Trojans legend.

However, the Los Angeles Times' Bill Plaschke argued why returning the Heisman to Bush shouldn't equate to a form of absolution.

Maybe the NCAA rules against improper benefits were far too stringent, but they were the standards Bush and his peers had to abide by. He knowingly broke those rules, per the NCAA's investigation. Allowing athletes to now cash in on their name, image and likeness doesn't change that fact.

There's also the impact the sanctions levied against USC in the ensuing scandal had on the football program. More than a decade after the NCAA ruling came down, the Trojans are still chasing the heights they enjoyed during the Pete Carroll era.

Bush's situation isn't totally unlike Pete Rose's ongoing exile from baseball. While sports leagues including MLB have embraced sports betting with open arms, Rose committed a cardinal sin when he bet on baseball games.

Sportico's Michael McMann wrote Wednesday how Bush regaining his Heisman may not impact the NCAA's legal argument too much since the organization has nothing to do with the Heisman Trust.

"Expect the NCAA to argue at the hearing that the Trust returning the trophy is legally irrelevant to Bush's case," McCann said. "The Trust is a separate organization and a non-party whose decision about a trophy is unrelated to whether an NCAA's spokesperson's statement—which is what the case is about—was truthful and accurate."

Should his lawsuit continue on, Bush might learn how much—or how little—vindication Wednesday's announcement actually represented.

Former NFL superstar quarterback Cam Newton reviewed the top six quarterback prospects in the upcoming NFL draft (both the good and the bad) on his 4th and 1 podcast.

Newton had a lot to say about projected No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, most positively stating that he agreed with comparisons to three-time Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes. But he also noted some concerns as well (1:00:25 mark).

"I think his gift can and possibly will be his curse...his inability to make the bold play," Newton said.

He then described the type of moment where people perceive that a quarterback is about to make a big mistake before making a great play.

"And also, how does he manage the expectation?" Newton continued.

"That's the bad. You can't prepare for that. When I see his career and how it stacks up, it is very well-known that he is capable of making plays.

"Obviously, everybody says Caleb Williams' NFL comparison will be Patrick Mahomes...it's a big comparison, I think it's an accurate comparison though, too. He's very skillful while throwing on the run, and when scrambling, he's not just looking to run.

"He's looking to extend the play. He has the capability of making the bold play, but my concern will be how does he manage the expectations of being the projected No. 1, because it's not going to be all peaches and cream, bro. It's not. It is not.

"Mothef--kers get an opportunity to knock your head off, they're gonna try to knock your f--king head off."

Williams already had monstrous expectations in college, and things didn't always go his way, as he previously noted.

So he's been through it a bit, but now he's all but certain to head to Chicago, a football-loving city with a historic franchise that hasn't won a Super Bowl since 1985.

With the Bears building up an impressive team over the past two years, expectations will be on Williams' shoulders to bring the Bears to great heights.

Williams is capable of making those bold plays, like Newton referenced, and he'll have to make plenty of them if he's to fulfill expectations and be placed in the top tier of NFL quarterbacks.

For now, though, Williams technically isn't even a Bear yet with the draft not until Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. All eyes will be on him come September, however, as Chicago embarks on a new era.

Florida legend Tim Tebow looked happy to see the Heisman Trophy back in the possession of Reggie Bush.

The Heisman Trust announced Wednesday it reinstated the former USC running back as the winner of the 2005 award. Tebow shared a picture of Bush with the hardware and called him "one of the greatest to ever play!"

Bush forfeited the Heisman in 2010 after the NCAA levied sanctions against USC for violations regarding improper benefits toward the two-time All-American. The NCAA vacated a total of 14 wins for the Trojans across the 2004 and 2005 seasons as well.

Even at the time, no longer recognizing Bush as the Heisman winner felt a bit heavy-handed. The shifting tides on how student-athletes could be compensated thanks to NIL legislation subsequently brought more attention to how he was still being erased from the official history.

To Tebow's point, those who watched Bush at USC knew how great he was regardless of how the NCAA or Heisman Trust honored his achievements.

But it will be great to see the two-time national champion take his rightful place among the Heisman winners at the annual ceremony.