Lincoln Riley Promotes Rising Star on USC's Offensive Staff

USC Trojans coach Lincoln Riley has made another offseason move, this time promoting one of his offensive staff members.

Nov 7, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley watches game action against the Northwestern Wildcats during the second half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

USC tight ends/inside receivers coach Chad Savage is being promoted to pass game coordinator, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Friday. He'll continue to hold onto his current role of coaching the two position groups.

Savage just completed his first season with the Trojans and according to Thamel, the USC coach was receiving interest from other programs but chose to stay in Los Angeles. 

Chad Savage Elevates Pass-Catchers 

Nov 7, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley watches game action against the Northwestern Wildcats during the second half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Player development is everything in college football is everything. Savage was instrumental in Makai Lemon elevating his game this past season after a breakout sophomore campaign in 2024. 

Lemon collected some hardware, becoming the second player in program history to win the Biletnikoff Award, presented annually to the best receiver in college football and was named an Unanimous All-American. He’s blossomed into a potential first round pick and could be possibly be the first receiver off the board in April’s draft. 

MORE: The One USC Coaching Change With Bigger Impact Than Anyone Predicted

MORE: Lincoln Riley Just Spoke Honestly About the Big Ten And SEC

MORE: Jayden Maiava Faces a New Challenger in California’s Quarterback Race

Tight ends were a big part of Lincoln Riley’s offenses when he was the head coach at Oklahoma. And since he came over to USC, Riley had been pushing to have the same production but through his first three seasons the impact from tight end room was very minimal. 

Lake McRee and Walker Lyons took a major step this past season under Savage. The Trojan tight ends developed into better route runners and their overall athleticism improved, adding a new element to the offense and giving quarterback Jayden Maiava two reliable targets. 

Southern California Recruiting Impact 

Dec 30, 2025; San Antonio, TX, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley watches in the first half against the TCU Horned Frogs during the Alamo Bowl at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Southern Cal knew it needed to be much better recruiting top prospects in their own backyard. 

In addition to general manager Chad Bowden leading a revamped personnel department when he came over from Notre Dame last January, the Trojans hired new assistant coaches that could change their fortunes on the recruiting trail. 

Savage was the Mountain West Recruiter of the Year by 247Sports for three consecutive seasons at Colorado State before joining the USC staff. He has strong recruiting ties in Southern California and played a major role in the Trojans landing the No. 1 recruiting class in the 2026 cycle. 

When Mater Dei (Calif.) five-star tight end Mark Bowman decided to reclassify to the 2026 class last January, USC was not in the picture. A trio of SEC schools in Texas, Georgia and Alabama were at the top of his list and Savage led the charge to keep the highly coveted prospect in Southern California. 

Sep 27, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley before an NCAA football game with the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Santa Margarita (Calif.) four-star receiver Trent Mosley was leaning towards Notre Dame, his parents' alma mater, early last winter but the Trojans landed were able to land a commitment from the California MaxPreps Player of the Year and First Team All-American in the spring. 

USC was late to the mix for Bowman’s high school teammate, four-star receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, who announced his pledge to Ohio State last May. Oregon was at the forefront of schools trying to flip the Mater Dei product, but it was USC working behind the scenes and pulled Dixon-Wyatt away from the Buckeyes on National Signing Day in December. 

Three elite pass-catchers from Southern California that USC had traditionally missed out on in recent years, but Savage has quickly flipped the narrative. He also landed Sherman Oaks (Calif) Notre Dame four-star receiver Luc Weaver.