LOS ANGELES — A week ago, the four horsemen who’d taken a risk and bet on Lincoln Riley’s vision – D’Anton Lynn, Eric Henderson, Matt Entz and Doug Belk – strode to a USC podium for the first time to take questions from media, and it seemed as if USC’s coaching staff was set for the foray into spring ball and the Big Ten.
Except a major curveball was thrown at USC on Thursday morning.
A source confirmed to the Southern California News Group that Kiel McDonald, USC’s running backs coach, was set to join Jim Harbaugh’s rebuilding staff with the Chargers. ESPN’s Adam Schefter was first to report the news Thursday.
It seemingly fills out Harbaugh’s offensive coaching staff, after last week’s announced additions of quarterbacks coach Shane Day, offensive line coach Mike Devlin, wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal and more – and notably leaves USC with a void at the head of their running back room.
McDonald has been one of USC’s brightest spots on its coaching staff since being hired before the 2022 season, with former Oregon back Travis Dye authoring a strong campaign before getting hurt and being capably replaced by Austin Jones. In 2023, McDonald coached South Carolina transfer MarShawn Lloyd to a career year and a Pac-12-leading 7.1 yards per carry.
Before coming to USC, McDonald coached several standout backs at Utah, including current Indianapolis Colts tailback Zack Moss.
Suddenly, USC and Lincoln Riley will be forced to mount another coaching search before spring ball kicks off in a month, made particularly difficult as the winter’s coaching carousel has all but slowed. Perhaps they could try to pry away Lee Marks from Washington, who gashed USC on the ground when they met in early November – the game before Trojans defensive coordinator Alex Grinch was fired – or Riley could dig back into the Mike Leach tree and try to pull Jim Mastro from Nevada.
In any state, though, it leaves a young room in a temporary state of uncertainty. McDonald brought significant success in recruiting, particularly finding backs in Texas: He brought in 240-pound Bryan Jackson from McKinney, Texas, in 2024, and signed freshmen Quinten Joyner and A’Marion Peterson out of Texas a year earlier. USC’s running back corps is already plenty thin, with just four backs on the roster; they can’t much afford to have anyone depart in the spring transfer-portal window.
Their primary back heading into the fall, though, isn’t wavering with McDonald’s departure. Tameka Marks, mother of Mississippi State senior transfer Jo’Quavious “Woody” Marks, told the Southern California News Group that Marks was still plenty confident in USC, namely citing relationships with a variety of coaches on staff and trust in Riley.
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“Lincoln has the same concept as an Air Raid, but it’s more balanced,” Marks told the Southern California News Group in January. “And that’s what we’re looking for, like a more balanced offense, because (Woody’s) so good at catching the ball out of the backfield.”
“Some balance within the system – stability with the O-line, strength and conditioning – all that played a part in us choosing USC,” Marks added.
Still, though, with the addition of a new coach, some shuffling could occur in USC’s running back room when the portal reopens in the spring.