USC WR Coach Dennis Simmons Talks Replacing Drake London & New Receivers

USC's new assistant head coach/outside wide receiver/offensive passing game coordinator Dennis Simmons is fairly new to Southern California, after spending seven seasons at Oklahoma.

Simmons inherits a new group of receivers at USC, that is filled with depth and talent. Despite losing Drake London to the NFL Draft, Simmons' is 'hoping' multiple guys can step up next season.

“My hope is that it’s more of a group effort and the reason why I say that is because if you got three Drake Londons out on the field you’re going to have a successful offense," Simmons told reporters on Thursday.

"I would hope that, that void which is a big void, multiple guys take the bull by the horns and step up."

London was a star for the Trojans' offense in 2021, despite suffering a season ending injury against Arizona. He tallied 1,084 receiving yards and seven touchdowns in eight games played.

Receivers who are returning in 2022 include Kyle Ford, Kyron Ware-Hudson, Michael Jackson III, Tahj Washington and Gary Bryant Jr. Lincoln Riley also brought in three new faces through the transfer portal, Terrell Bynum [Washington], Mario Williams [Oklahoma], and Brenden Rice [Colorado].

“I wanted to bring in the right type of player," Coach Simmons said Thursday.

"We’re in this thing together so we want to be putting our best foot forward. The best thing I like about Brenden [Rice] is that you know, in talking and researching, every coach we encountered with this process all said the same thing. He works his butt off every day at practice.

With Bynum a coach from the University of Washington actually texted me the day that he announced that he was coming then called and said “You’re getting a great person.” So you have characteristics and then you have people willing to go out of their way to do things like that, you get the idea that “Hey I'm on the right path.” Obviously we’ve got to put the work in and do some things this spring and this summer to make sure that we live up to everybody's expectations this fall.”

Simmons has plenty of pieces to work with next season, despite losing London. 22' Mater Dei wide receiver CJ Williams will also join USC next fall.

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