USC’s new coach shares powerful take on loaded roster – ‘I’m not joking’

Story by

Benedetto Vitale, ClutchPoints

Tue, May 12, 2026 at 11:55 PM UTC ·

2 min read

USC’s new coach shares powerful take on loaded roster – ‘I’m not joking’ appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

The USC Trojans made some changes this offseason to the coaching staff after hiring former TCU Horned Frogs head coach Gary Patterson as the new defensive coordinator and Mike Ekeler as the new special teams coordinator. With both of them working under Lincoln Riley at USC for the first time, Ekeler supported Patterson’s take about how talented this year’s roster is.

What they each have in common is that both Patterson and Ekeler will be working the most talented players they have ever coached in their careers, or at least in quite a while, according to RJ Abeytia of 247 Sports. Ekeler, who is 54 years old, shared his take about the players on the Trojans’ roster and how excited he is to work with the special teams unit.

“The amount of talent we have and the amount of talent that we’re going to be able to put out there on special teams, I’m not joking, like it’s hard for me to sleep at night because I’m so damn excited,” said Ekeler. “It’s about finding the really good mixture of guys and giving guys roles.

“We have so many talented young players here, finding a spot for them, giving them roles to go out there, and when the lights are on, make plays that are going to affect winning and losing games. To get them a part of it, so now when their number’s called and they go out on offense, they go out on defense, they’re already in the flow of the game, been there, done that. It’s about finding that right mixture, which we will.”

We’ll see just how talented USC’s roster is next season. The program is scheduled to begin the campaign with a home-opener against the San Jose State Spartans in Week 0.