It was Josh Henson’s first offseason on Lincoln Riley’s USC football staff. The Trojans had Caleb Williams in the fold for the 2022 college football season. Riley’s reputation as a coach was in much better shape than it is now, two and a half years later. USC had every reason to think it would attract the very best players to play for Riley, especially on offense. Alex Grinch might not have inspired elite defensive recruits to come to Los Angeles, but the best offensive players should have been flocking to LA to play for Riley and Caleb Williams. Josh Conerly figured to be one of those cornerstone performers for USC.
Until he wasn’t.
Conerly pivoted late to Oregon in his recruitment. When he chose the Ducks, it was an obvious disappointment for USC. The Trojans’ hire of Lincoln Riley was supposed to raise the bar — and results — on the recruiting trail. USC getting beaten by Dan Lanning and Oregon was not supposed to be the new reality under Riley. Yet, when Josh Henson lost this recruitment, none of us could have realized at the time how significant a loss this would be. Today, in December of 2024, we can all appreciate how important — and costly — this one sequence was, as Henson leaves for Purdue as a failed USC offensive line coach who, like the program itself, could not turn the corner under Riley.
There is a lot to unpack here below:
JOSH CONERLY PROVED TO BE THE REAL DEAL
Josh Conerly was named a Third-Team All-American for 2024. He has become a really good, very dependable player for Dan Lanning and Oregon. We don’t talk about lost recruitments for years after they happen unless the lost recruit panned out. Conerly definitely worked out well for Oregon, which is why Josh Henson’s failure carries so much weight today, in December of 2024.
PLUG AND PLAY
Oregon has had so much success in 2024 because it can just put Conerly in his spot on the offensive line at the tackle spot and not worry about him. Conerly is an anchor-level player who holds down the fort so reliably that Oregon’s coaches can focus on the other offensive line spots. This is what USC and Josh Henson could not cultivate in 2024. They did not have that anchor who, early in the season, could hold down his spot at tackle and allow the coaches (and the team) to not worry about him. USC’s tackles were young and needed to grow into their roles this season. A veteran tackle is what USC needed in the portal, but didn’t get. That need for a tackle existed because Conerly did not come to the Trojans in 2022. You can see the domino effect which flowed from not bringing Conerly into the program two and a half years ago.
2023 WITH CALEB WILLIAMS
Not having Josh Conerly on the 2023 USC offensive line, to pass block for Caleb Williams, limited what USC was capable of. The Trojans did score big a lot of 2023 games, but they got punched in the mouth by the stronger defenses they faced, most notably Notre Dame, UCLA and Utah. Imagine having Josh Conerly on that 2023 offensive line. USC wins at least one more game, maybe two, with Conerly in the starting lineup last year.
OREGON IN 2024
Josh Conerly paired with Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel has helped the Ducks consistently defeat Big Ten opponents. Oregon handled Michigan on the road this year. USC did not. Oregon wiped out Maryland this year. USC did not. Conerly has excelled against the same Big Ten opponents which defeated USC. Imagine if Conerly was a Trojan this year, not a Duck. The impact he would have made is self-evident.
FIVE-STAR OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
Recruiting five-star offensive linemen was a problem for USC football under Clay Helton. It remained a problem under Josh Henson, a key reason Lincoln Riley has gotten stuck instead of replicating the quality performances his offenses generated at Oklahoma. No recruitment undercut USC’s attempt to craft elite offensive lines more than the Josh Conerly recruitment. It was Josh Henson’s most costly recruiting loss at USC, without question.
ZACH HANSON
It’s up to Zach Hanson — the newly-promoted offensive line coach — to do what Josh Henson could not. Hanson was the tight end coach and now moves to a much more important position on this coaching staff. We can debate the merits of the move by Lincoln Riley, but there is no debating that Hanson is central to the success of USC football in 2025. He has to pick up the pieces after Josh Henson failed to put them together.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Josh Henson never recovered from losing the Josh Conerly recruitment
