Lincoln Riley Announces USC Team Captains for the 2022 Season
Following Tuesday’s practice, USC head coach Lincoln Riley announced the four team captains for the 2022 season as voted upon by the team.
Those four are quarterback Caleb Williams, offensive lineman Justin Dedich, defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu and linebacker Shane Lee.
Riley said several other players got votes, but there four won “by a pretty significant margin.”
“The team pretty clearly looks to those four as the guys they want to represent them,” Riley said.
The selections come as no surprise, considering they are the same four who went out as captains before USC’s spring game. The selections also serve as a good representation of this particular team.
Williams and Lee came in as transfers from Oklahoma and Alabama, respectively. They are two of 20 additions out of the transfer portal that USC hopes will create an immediate turnaround following last year’s 4-8 record.
Williams will start at quarterback after a very strong freshman season at Oklahoma. He took over as the starter partway through the year. And he enters this season as one of a handful of favorites to win the Heisman Trophy.
Lee, meanwhile, was credited with taking on a captains role immediately after landing at USC. A number of teammates and coaches have credited him with being at the forefront of the culture change taking place with the Trojans.
And it’s noteworthy that the two returners who were named captains are starters on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
Tuipulotu made an immediate impact on this new group of coaches last spring. Heading into fall camp, he said he found his voice as a leader this year.
Dedich has always been one of the more vocal Trojans. He now has a home as a starter at right guard. The skill position players have gotten a lot of attention this offseason. But how well USC performs this year will come down to those lines on either side of the ball.
USC’s 2022 Season Opener
USC kicks off its 2022 season this Saturday. The Trojans will host Rice at 3 pm in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
