Lincoln Riley’s USC bags major WR recruit to bolster future offense

NCAA Football: Las Vegas Bowl-Texas A&M at Southern California - Source: Imagn

Head coach Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans are working hard to get the team into contention in the Big Ten. While the team thrived with Caleb Williams quarterbacking the team, they did not have him this past season because he started his NFL career.

As a result, the team only achieved a 7-6 record and finished in the middle of the Big Ten.

However, with an eye on the future, Lincoln Riley and his coaching staff have been working to grow their 2026 recruiting class. Although it will not help this upcoming season, long-term plans are always at the forefront of college football programs like USC.

On Wednesday, it was announced that Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans received a verbal commitment from three-star wide receiver Kohen Brown. Brown flew into Los Angeles this past week to visit USC and enjoyed his stay. This led to his verbal commitment. He spoke with 'WeArSC' afterward to explain his decision.

"California is beautiful, I did not think I was gonna love it this much," Brown said. "People told me I was going to like it a lot, but then I got there and they showed me a lot of love. I love the city out there, I love the campus and I love how the players interact. I love the culture and I just started falling in love with all of it."

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Kohen Brown talks about how Lincoln Riley and the coaching staff impacted his decision to commit to the USC Trojans

Kohen Brown did not make the decision to commit to USC lightly. He also received offers from SMU, Baylor, Nebraska, and Ole Miss. However, he chose USC over all of them. He spoke about how the conversations he had with the Ole Miss coaching staff starting in early January led to his commitment.

"I think growing up, I think a lot of them have USC as a school we’re interested in. I mean, they’ve had great coaches and great players. And then Lincoln Riley, who doesn’t want to play for Lincoln Riley? He pulls your attention."

"Coach Savage came in when he first got the job and he offered me a couple weeks later. After that I found out I was a top priority for him. Some teams offer and that’s it, but USC kept in close contact. Shout out to Max (Stienecker), he stays in my phone and let me know I’m priority early."

Kohen Brown will play one more season at Waxahachie High School before heading to USC for the 2026 college football season.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Victor R. Lopez M.