LOS ANGELES — A year ago, as he professed to the world in early December, Eric Gentry thought football wasn’t going to work out.
Then Matt Entz came along, and – as Gentry wrote on Twitter – changed his “whole perspective.”
The senior linebacker, through preseason and a blistering start to 2024, didn’t much attempt to hide his true feelings on USC’s defensive staff upgrades last winter. When asked in early September why USC’s defense was better against the run, he smirked: The coaches, he responded, simply. And that began with Entz, the former North Dakota State head coach who’d taken a shot on an FBS position-coaching job and who had been everything Gentry had been seeking.
Entz’s arrival, though, turned out to be a one-year rental. After turning out improved production – when healthy – from returners Gentry and Mason Cobb, Entz left for a head-coaching job at Fresno State in the offseason.
“I can’t even lie I’m hurt…” Gentry wrote on Twitter on Dec. 4, as the news of Entz’s departure broke.
Head coach Lincoln Riley said USC was “hustling it, but we’re not in a hurry” in the search for Entz’s replacement. That was a month ago, this current transfer-portal window having came and went – indicating USC could be trying to pry a name from the NFL or aim high in the collegiate ranks. In any case, time is ticking before spring ball, an important hole on staff left to fill with Gentry and a group of young returners still in need of development.
As the first transfer-portal window has wrapped – although exceptions are always possible – here’s a full breakdown of the movement in USC’s linebacker room entering spring, the fifth in a six-part series examining the post-portal scholarship outlook for every part of the roster.
Linebacker
Returning: Eric Gentry, Sr.; Desman Stephens II, Fr.; Elijah Newby, Fr.; Jadyn Walker, Fr.; Garrison Madden, So.
Arriving: Matai Tagoa’i (San Clemente)
Departing: Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, Sr. (NFL draft, unconfirmed); Raesjon Davis, Sr. (portal, Oregon State); Mason Cobb, Sr. (NFL draft)
Top questions
Is Gentry healthy enough for a full season?
The senior was in the middle of a potential All-American breakout in 2024, a do-everything force who racked up 26 tackles and two sacks in his first three games. His season, though, was shut down after Gentry announced in October he’d suffered a series of concussions, a dangerous prospect for a middle linebacker. Gentry returned in USC’s bowl game against Texas A&M and racked up three tackles and a quarterback hurry in slightly limited snaps; his health will be paramount to defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s hopes in 2025.
Where’s the veteran depth?
Nowhere, at the moment. USC has been high on Stephens II for a while, and he showed why as a true freshman, making a handful of highlight plays and recording a key interception against Penn State. He still has just 105 snaps of collegiate football under his belt, though, and USC is losing three experienced seniors without importing a single snap, the only incoming name being four-star signee Tagoa’i from San Clemente. The Trojans went after Washington-turned-North Carolina transfer Khmori House in the portal; it’s possible they look to add another name here in the spring.