Lincoln Riley is determined to add pass-rush talent at USC, but 2025 class is light on bodies

LOS ANGELES — The calendar flipped to October, and USC head coach Lincoln Riley became Floyd Boucard’s best friend.

In mid-September, Boucard de-committed from Oklahoma, a defensive lineman in the class of 2025 who was largely being targeted by schools in the South. Riley, though, wanted him at USC. Badly enough, as Boucard said, that they were “always on the phone.” More precisely: Riley, eventually, was calling Boucard three to four times a day.

Riley told Boucard, a 6-foot-3, 315-pound three-star lineman, that he was at the top of USC’s board, Boucard remembered. And he told him he could make him a game-changer. And he told Boucard, as agent Chris Green remembered, that if he believed in him, Riley could make him a star.

A few days into October, Boucard committed to USC. It has stuck, Green telling the Southern California News Group that they were “100% locked” with USC, amid a tumultuous 2025 recruiting cycle for defensive linemen.

“I told Lincoln, I told all those guys, like, we’re not following what other guys are doing,” Green said. “We’re not following the trend.”

“We’re coming to make the trend.”

That trend, however, isn’t quite pointing in USC’s favor. On Wednesday, prized Oaks Christian edge rushing prospect Hayden Lowe – committed to USC since June – told On3 that he was flipping to Miami. It’s a significant blow to USC’s incoming class, Lowe rated by 247Sports as the third-best 2025 prospect in California. Even more so, though, it’s a blow to USC’s trajectory as a program, as Trojan coaches have been adamant in recent weeks about the need to acquire and develop young pass-rush talent.

“It’s been huge,” defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn said after USC’s Wednesday practice, asked about that pass-rush emphasis for USC’s 2025 class. “We don’t just want starters at those positions. We want depth, and we want young depth that we can grow, develop, and we want to be able to play multiple guys at those spots.”

There is some of that depth, on USC’s current roster. Redshirt sophomore Devan Thompkins, Riley lauded a couple of weeks ago, “has got the respect of a lot of people in our program,” emerging as a definite building block who has been able to create some pressure from the defensive tackle spot. Freshman edge rushers Kameryn Fountain and Sam Greene, too, have flashed some aggressiveness in chasing quarterbacks in increased roles across USC’s past two games. But the fact remains: after nine games in 2024, USC’s defensive linemen have racked up just 5½ sacks in total.

The offseason, Riley remarked at the end of October, had brought a “complete remake” on USC’s defensive line. In came new defensive coordinator Lynn. In came new defensive line coach Eric Henderson. In came widespread weight gain. But the remake, as Riley affirmed, didn’t involve simply a philosophical overhaul: there was an emphasis to continue adding “those body types on the edge and on the interior,” Riley told reporters.

“I mean, listen, we recruit every position hard,” Riley said. “I don’t know that there’s any position that we spend more time recruiting on than guys on the defensive front.”

In particular, Riley made clear then, he felt USC needed to add more edge rush talent that could consistently win one-on-one battles against tackles, and continuing to develop interior bodies who could collapse opposing pockets from the interior. As presently constructed, though, the program holds just two defensive line commits in its 2025 class: Boucard (Miami Central High) and Gus Cordova, a three-star prospect from Lake Travis High in Austin, Texas.

One potential option lies in Oklahoma, with 290-pound three-star defensive tackle Cash Jacobsen, who will visit USC this weekend after his recruitment has hit a sudden late-bloom surge.

“I mean, I’m a physical player, and I guess that’s what they’re looking for, is somebody that can get to the quarterback from the interior position,” Jacobsen told the Southern California News Group.

Henderson also visited Greene County High in Georgia on USC’s bye this past weekend, targeting current Florida State four-star commit Kevin Wynn, who coach Terrance Banks said “probably wouldn’t decommit, if he does” until the early signing day. Still, Wynn sat with Henderson for 90 minutes, Banks recounted, the former Rams defensive line coach saying the 6-foot-2 Wynn reminded him of Aaron Donald.

Time, ultimately, is running out, recruits in this 2025 class set to put pen to paper on early signing day on Dec. 4. But USC, at least, has one committed defensive big body joining the ranks in Boucard.

“Don’t sleep on us, don’t keep us out,” Boucard told SCNG. “We coming.”