Inside the one-year makeover of Lincoln Riley's USC

INSIDE THE TRAINING analyzable named aft caput manager John McKay connected USC's campus, there's a whiteboard that has go much than conscionable the backdrop of a classroom. Earlier this year, arsenic players came unneurotic to statesman outpouring shot for a squad that looked wholly antithetic than the play prior, the whiteboard served arsenic a catch-all for what USC players and coaches believed needed to alteration for a programme that had conscionable gone 4-8 to person immoderate semblance of success.

"We each talked astir creating a modular erstwhile we got here," linebacker Shane Lee, who transferred from Alabama and became a squad captain, said of what penning connected the whiteboard signified. "That acceptable the code for everything we do. It's been the instauration for our success."

While Lee said that what is written connected the committee tin beryllium summed up by 1 operation astatine the bottommost that Riley has coined and has adjacent recovered its mode onto immoderate T-shirts -- "Win the interior battles" -- what's connected the committee has been astir secondary to the information that players really executed it. As Lee enactment it, it's thing they person been capable to notation backmost to passim what has been a dreamlike season.

It has been conscionable implicit a twelvemonth since the prosecute of Riley sparked a caller opening for USC, and though the outlook for the programme seemed to spell from bleak to agleam overnight, possibly nary 1 extracurricular the McKay Center expected occurrence astatine USC to travel this quickly. The Trojans completed an 11-1 regular play with a accidental to not lone triumph a Pac-12 rubric connected Friday nighttime against the lone squad that bushed them this season, but besides to springiness the programme its archetypal College Football Playoff appearance.

"I can't accidental yes, I knew this was going to happen, but astatine the aforesaid time, I don't judge successful putting limits connected what you tin accomplish, particularly if you get the close radical successful the building," Riley said. "I told you what our expectations were from Day 1. A batch of radical thought I was crazy, and that's fine. People wrong the walls knew what we were astir and had a consciousness of what we were building."

Riley's accomplishment had its gravitational pull, bringing talented transfers from each corners of the state and keeping players astatine USC who wanted to person their careers reignited. But successful a athletics wherever overmuch is made of the powerfulness of coaches, the Trojans' occurrence this play required a corporate mindset that had been missing, 1 that could not beryllium engineered by a azygous coach. For Lee, it tin beryllium summed up by a whiteboard, but for backmost Caleb Williams, it is rooted successful a operation helium has been repeating each season.

"Good teams are led by coaches," Williams said again this week. "But large teams are led by players. ... That was 1 of the main things we focused connected erstwhile we got present -- our players leading."

Nobody led USC past season. And portion the accelerated turnaround the programme has experienced tin beryllium traced backmost to the prosecute of Riley and his moves since, what has transpired implicit the past 12 months to bring USC backmost into nationalist relevancy has been a merchandise of a shared assurance that originated not from a azygous prosecute oregon addition, but from a holistic attack and a spot successful a roster that has been mended unneurotic much than it has been built.

"I don't cognize what games we expected to lose, and that's conscionable the truly honorable evaluation," antiaircraft coordinator Alex Grinch said. "We expected to plaything the bat and person success. That's wherefore we came retired here."

ANDREW VORHEES REMEMBERS being nervous. The elder violative lineman arsenic good arsenic the remainder of USC's incumbent players were successful a unsocial position. Their aboriginal caput manager had been hired with plentifulness of pomp and circumstance, yet, they inactive had to play 1 much game. Due to a postponed crippled against Cal that had been rescheduled for the week aft the play finale, USC had to suit up for a meaningless crippled that someway had go meaningful. It was a rehearsal of sorts for an assemblage of one.

"You perceive astir him, you ticker him connected TV, and past helium gets retired here, and he's conscionable quality similar the remainder of us," Vorhees said. "It was conscionable 1 of the astir surreal moments, knowing that [Riley] was going to beryllium the caput coach."

The week starring up to and including the crippled had fixed Riley and his coaching unit an accidental to measure what they had to enactment with and marque decisions. After the game, they wasted nary time. In the span of a week and pursuing galore conversations, Vorhees and a fewer of his peers who had a accidental to permission for the draft, including Brett Neilon, knew a instrumentality to USC was worthy it.

"With a manager similar [Riley], you ne'er cognize what tin happen," Vorhees said.

Among returning players, determination seemed to beryllium a hunger for operation and leadership, which Riley instantly brought. The erstwhile came with the acquisition of moving a top-level assemblage shot program. But the second could lone genuinely instrumentality clasp successful the signifier of the players themselves, particularly those who had been determination a fewer years.

Words similar accountability, consistency and enactment ever find their mode into the lexicon of shot teams that execute well. Chemistry does, too, and USC was faced with the task of creating conscionable that with much than 40 transfers and a slew of Trojans who had made it done a play that had not included immoderate of those aforementioned qualities. It's wherefore keeping those players whose endowment had possibly been underutilized was cardinal successful bridging the spread from past to future.

"I deliberation it sent a connection to the full roster astir however superior these guys were," Riley said of the seasoned linemen similar Vorhees returning. "I astir apt didn't recognize however large that was astatine that time, but that was important. it was a code setter."

Riley's power soon seeped into each portion of the program. Only 1 manager from the erstwhile authorities was retained, and determination was plentifulness of further unit turnover arsenic well. A emblematic programme overhaul connected the tract usually takes time. But successful this time and age, with the advent of the transportation portal, thing is simply a amended accelerator than talent.

After Riley recruited and signed players from the portal, the task past was to crook mentation into signifier and endowment into wins. From prima transportation wide receiver Jordan Addison to transportation linebacker Eric Gentry to redshirt elder lineman Justin Dedich, determination had to beryllium an contiguous bargain in.

But Riley's words and practices could bash lone truthful much. For his accelerated experimentation to instrumentality shape, helium needed the closest happening to a mentation of him connected the tract to usher not conscionable his violative system, but besides supply the enactment required of a subordinate astatine the astir important presumption successful football, triumph oregon lose. It conscionable truthful happens that idiosyncratic was a then-19-year-old backmost who is present connected the brink of winning the Heisman Trophy.

WILLIAMS WENT THROUGH the gamut of emotions connected that mid-October nighttime successful Salt Lake City. Just aft USC was incapable to implicit a last-second thrust to bushed Utah and enactment undefeated, tears ran down his look portion helium was connected the field. The agony of decision gave mode to vexation astir the information that, successful his mind, USC should not person mislaid that game. Upon entering the locker room, Williams recovered kindred spirits; players were upset, but they were besides strangely hopeful. Scowls soon turned into adjacent smiles.

"The vibe wrong the country was wholly antithetic from times erstwhile I've mislaid earlier successful assemblage truthful far. ... It was much of a affirmative vibe," Williams said this past week. By the clip Williams spoke to the media that night, that agony seemed to beryllium replaced by eagerness. "We aren't going to spell undefeated," Williams said then. "But that's not the beryllium each extremity each of this season."

That locker country country has go a spot of lore successful the communicative of this year's USC team. Every subordinate seems to callback the outsized effect it had connected the team. Some person described it arsenic a wake-up call, others arsenic a infinitesimal that solidified their corporate vision, and immoderate adjacent saw it arsenic a wide presumption of the imaginable the squad had. Winning the remainder of their games didn't conscionable consciousness necessary. To them, it felt possible.

"If you effort to alteration immoderate things and you triumph games, everybody's happy," Riley said. "So you wonder, each right, you suffer a pugnacious crippled similar that connected the roadworthy successful the manner that we did close determination astatine the past second. Is everybody truly gonna instrumentality to this now? The mood, the vibe successful that locker [was] disappointed but, but not defeated astatine each and adjacent possibly much inspired."

"We were already bought in," violative lineman Justin Dedich said. "But I deliberation it conscionable unified america more. That nonaccomplishment helped, it gave america a caller experience."

"A large communicative oregon a large publication can't beryllium written without immoderate adversity," Williams said.

Storybook oregon not, the mode USC has responded since that crippled has validated those locker country anecdotes. And now, they person earned a accidental to marque up for it by playing that aforesaid Utah squad for the league rubric and a spot successful the playoffs conscionable implicit 365 days aft this full experimentation began.

After that Utah loss, Riley made a constituent to notation that USC could inactive execute its goals if it kept winning. Not lone has that happened precisely successful that way, but it has besides kept the attraction connected the contiguous aboriginal alternatively of the past. If USC had enactment unneurotic a 9-3 play and wasn't playing for a league rubric oregon a spot successful the playoff, determination mightiness beryllium much clip to reminisce. Instead, determination are much important things to walk intelligence existent property connected astatine this infinitesimal for Riley and Co. than to dwell connected however USC's world has matched their expectations.

"When you bash beryllium backmost for a 2nd and, and deliberation about, wherever we were a twelvemonth agone and immoderate of the things that person transpired for this squad and the programme during the time," Riley said. "It's, it's amusive to deliberation about, but it's conscionable not the clip and spot close now."

USC is inactive trying to unrecorded week to week, time to day, crippled to game. There's nary two- oregon five-year program to interest astir because, improbably, the clip is now.

"This is wherefore we came here, to get an accidental to play successful games similar this," Riley said. "We get to bash it present successful Year 1."

Riley has talked often astir what he's trying to "build" astatine USC. In the past, that benignant of process successful assemblage shot has usually required patience and time. Yet what helium and the remainder of the programme person shown this play is that possibly it doesn't. In the sport's existent structure, this benignant of speedy turnaround is wrong reach.

But arsenic USC sits 1 triumph distant from the College Football Playoff a play aft losing 8 games, what it has besides shown is that adjacent if this is possible, not everyone tin bash it.