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6 hours ago
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As Jayden Maiava prepares to fully take on USC's QB1 reins in his second year in Los Angeles, head coach Lincoln Riley has been direct about what he expects from him.
Maiava put up a decent 3-1 record in the games he started in his first year at USC, but Riley's confidence in the QB suggests the number could go significantly higher, high enough to poise him among the "elite."
"We were excited about how he played. I mean, given his inexperience in our system, and kind of coming into that type of situation is not always the easiest. I thought he handled it really well. We went 3-1 in games that he played and he gave us a great chance to beat Notre Dame. He's good; he's so good. I mean some of the throws that this guy makes. The big goal for us is can you take the good and try to enhance that. But then can you take some of the negative plays, remove those from his game because he's really grown, continuing to get better physically," Riley told Josh Pate on Always College Football.
"He just does some things like you said are hard to teach, hard to coach, and some things that are really, really tough to defend. He came in with a little bit of a knee issue last year, and that's all cleared up. So he's been able to train. He's going to move around better this year for us. But if we can trim a few of those decisions off of him, which I certainly believe that we can, this guy's got a chance to be elite."
Maiava must live up to the expectations to keep Riley around at USC. The Trojans' head coach already has a slight hot seat buzz to his name.
A winning season will ensure Riley stays there for a while, partly because he put up a top recruiting class of 2026.
That feat alone might not last Riley much longer at USC if his team doesn't win this season. Not to mention, the fans would settle for nothing less than a college football playoff appearance.
This season will be the true proving ground for Riley's eye for picking and developing Maiava
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