USC Trojans Making Major Changes to Help NIL Operations Align

The USC Trojans are making a big change to their NIL collective with the main goal being alignment.

Nov 14, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans president Carol Folt (center), athletic director Jen Cohen (right) and president security officer Cesar Jimenez watch in the second half against the UC Irvine Anteaters at Galen Center. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The USC Trojans have been a strong program when it comes to NIL collectives for the football program. During the Big 10 media days in July, head coach Lincoln Riley spoke about the direction things were heading and how happy he was with them.

“Our collective is probably the most improved collective in the country and continues to improve,” Riley said. “Honestly, not too concerned about what everybody else has done.”

USC is doing something right on the NIL front, as they were very successful in recruiting players this offseason. Bear Alexander, the team’s star defensive tackle, was retained in this cycle.

Mississippi State running back Woody Marks committed to the program, as did UNLV quarterback Jayden Maiava. The Trojans also secured a verbal commitment from five-star quarterback Julian Lewis in the 2025 class.

The changes that have been made are paying off, but another major adjustment to their NIL operations will shift the landscape of things for the program.

Since early 2023, there have been three NIL collectives that focused on USC; House of Victory, Conquest Collective and The Tommy Group. House of Victory is the only one that is officially backed by the school.

However, there are only going to be two USC-centric collectives moving forward. Conquest Collective will cease to operate after it was announced that co-founder Jeff McKay will be joining the board at House of Victory.

McKay is a name that USC football fans will remember fondly.

He is the grandson of former coach John McKay, who oversaw four national championships. J.K. McKay, Jeff’s father, played wide receiver and was formerly an athletic director administrator.

Since Jen Cohen took over as the AD last August, a goal of the school has been to streamline their NIL efforts. Bringing on McKay and having Conquest Collective closed down will cut down on the confusion that was created by multiple collectives being run and only one being officially backed by the school.

As shared by Antonio Morales of The Athletic, "Cohen addressed a letter titled 'The State of Troy' to USC’s donors and fans on Friday. In that message, Cohen said that House of Victory 'exceeded all its fundraising goals, and our donors stepped up to help us more than double our total funds from the previous year, putting USC in the upper tier of NIL collective support nationally.'"

That lofty goal is one step closer to becoming a reality thanks to this move.

It will not only help the Trojans be competitive on the gridiron, but also help improve their NIL program as a whole across all athletic programs.