"When Pete Carroll was at the height of his powers at USC, the legendary coach made it a point to own the California recruiting scene. In turning the Trojans into perennial title contenders, Carroll set out to "put a fence" around the Southland, to keep all of its top prospects at home, in cardinal and gold. It turned out to be a winning strategy. But recruiting the best players in your own backyard, as Carroll saw it, wasn't really rocket science."
"Yet since Carroll's exit, his successors at USC haven't made it look so simple. Any semblance of USC's local supremacy under Carroll was ceded completely over the past decade as other college football powers, such as Ohio State or Oregon, planted their own flags on the Trojans' home turf. The problem only festered further under Lincoln Riley, as the coach initially cast a wider net nationally, aiming for top prospects in states like Texas and Florida while local stars signed and shined elsewhere."
USC refocused on signing California prospects and regained the nation's No. 1 recruiting class on early signing day. The program returned to local-first recruiting after a decade in which other power programs poached California talent. Lincoln Riley shifted back to prioritizing in-state recruits in his fourth season, producing a top-ranked class and his first top-five signing group. The 35-player class included 20 signees from California. This marks the first time in nearly two decades that USC finished atop recruiting rankings and the first non-SEC school to lead recruiting since 2008, according to 247 Sports.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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