Lincoln Riley's policy may have cost USC a commit but could open another door

Four-star wide receiver Eli Woodard backed away from his pledge to USC earlier this week after he decided to re-open his recruitment. Woodard, who committed to the Trojans on February 10, said that Miami, Cal and UCLA are all in the picture, with more teams expected to jump into the race as he puts together a schedule of official visits.

Lincoln Riley has a strict no-visits policy for players that commit to USC, and he wasn't going to break that trust to retain Woodard. The Trojans coach is getting some criticism for this stance, but there's no reason for that because Woodard knew USC's rules when he committed.

Lincoln Riley and USC must hold firm with their no-visits policy for commits

Outside of general hard feelings for Riley, I don't understand why this policy is such a big deal. Recruits flip all the time, so the expectation is that it could happen to anyone. Riley is in the position where he has to protect the program. He doesn't want to get into the tricky spot of constantly re-negotiating with recruits every time there is a new school trying to pluck them away by waving an NIL package in front of their nose that may or may not be better over the long run. Riley isn't the only coach that does that. It's generally known that Kirby Smart won't get into these sorts of tactics over players that are already committed. If the recruit isn't committed and wants to compare situations, that's one thing, but Riley doesn't want to set a precedent for giving in to a recruit who is trying to strong-arm the program.

Was that the case with Woodard, who knows? His coach came out on X to defend him and at this point it really doesn't matter because both sides have moved on. 

The first big official visit weekend of the offseason is next weekend with several commits and a few targets heading to USC for the weekend. There are five commits scheduled to take their official visits, including recent pledge Gavin Williams. The four-star athlete will be joined by another four-star athlete, Honor Fa'alave-Johnson, four-star cornerback Danny Lang, three-star tight end Jace Cannon and three-star defensive lineman Isaia Vandermade. Expect the group to be collective in their efforts to sway uncommitted three-star offensive tackle Isaiah Bertola to join the fold. 

Bertola was offered by the Trojans in February and is looking at BYU, Texas and Cal. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound lineman will be making his first trip to Southern California. BYU and Cal have been in the picture from the beginning, but the Longhorns offered in late April and have quickly gained ground with the Hawaiian prospect. 

Another four-star offensive lineman, Jackson Roper, was scheduled to take a visit, but the UCLA commit went to Westwood last weekend and decided to shut down his recruitment after that visit. Three-star offensive lineman Reis Russel was also on the schedule for an official visit, but he committed to Washington earlier this month, so that trip may also be off the books. 

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