When a major program loses a key hire, Rivals.com looks at its impact on the respective school, analyzing it from the local and national levels. To quantify the “pain” of each cut, we assign a score from one to 10, with a score not being a big deal and a score of 10 being a catastrophic hit.
PLOT
Dylan Williams committed to USC in April, and it’s a big commitment for many reasons.
Long Beach (Calif.) 4-star quarterback Poly is one of the best in his position. He was a local prospect at a traditional powerhouse show and that was the coach’s initial focus. Lincoln Rileytenure of.
It was significant and it was a great victory for the Trojans.
But in recent days, Williams has reneged on his pledge, and while he made clear USC is still very much in the picture, the 2024 four-star star also wants to consider other shows around the country.
The top programs have basically stopped hiring Williams and he wants to go through the hiring process more, so the way he feels best moving forward is to expand things and see which schools will. participate more.
Whether it’s USC or specifically SEC-wide programs, the Long Beach Poly star is available to every team at this point.
*****
LOCAL RESPONSE
This would be a 10 if there wasn’t much time left for USC to try to get him back in its class of 2024, but yes, this is the definition of a sting for Trojans. They put his commitment back in April before his hiring really exploded with top shows from coast to coast prioritizing him.
That’s another example of why initial commits always turn out to be flimsy. But for the Trojans, Williams represents another platform in rebuilding the defence, especially given the minimal depth of midfield outside at this point for years to come.
Get commitment from Rivals100 OLB Braylan Shelby is huge, but if you add Williams in the next layer he will have Trojans that seem set for years to come. Lincoln Riley and employees are also making it a priority to keep top talent locally and not lose elite SoCal potential clients like Williams to the SEC. Sure they will continue to be active in recruiting him but this will ignite the Trojans. – Ryan Young, TrojanSports.com
Stinging factor: 8
*****
NATIONAL RESPONSE
This is a big loss because Williams is really talented, he is local and from a pipe training school USC produced JuJu Smith, Iman Marshall and Willie McGinest and so many others throughout the years, so it was very painful to lose him. But to look at it another way, Williams comes from a USC training school that has produced so many superstars for Trojan that it’s hard to believe he won’t return to the recruiting class.
From speaking with Williams, the 2024 four-star line-up is definitely interested in SEC schools and watching programs around the country to get a better sense of what’s outside. My sense is that it’s time to backtrack – if he’s not at all comfortable playing in the SEC – then the Trojan would be a very serious opponent for re-commit. In that sense, this doesn’t hurt much. – Adam Gyers, National Recruitment Manager
Stinging factor: 6
