Tennessee, Florida State Pushing To Flip USC Trojans Linebacker Commit Xavier Griffin: Visits
![Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel disputes a call during the second quarter at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel disputes a call during the second quarter at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4466,h_2512,x_0,y_38/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/all_trojans/01jj79wbfbyhtnbxd6b8.jpg)
Gainesville (GA) 2026 four-star linebacker and USC Trojans commit Xavier Griffin will return to Los Angeles for an unofficial visit on Feb. 1. Griffin has been committed to the Trojans since July. He will be making his fifth trip out to USC, Griffin was in attendance at the Coliseum twice in the fall, on Sep. 7 against Utah State and Nov. 16 against Nebraska.
“My visits were good as always,” Griffin told On3. “This trips were more exciting because I finally got to see USC play in person and see that great defense. The defensive coaching staff is insane. So excited to see all they will do next season.”
Griffin is the No. 2 linebacker and No. 24 overall prospect in the On3 Industry Rankings. Although Griffin has been pledged to the Trojans since the summer, other schools will continue to relentlessly pursue the highly touted recruit. Griffin visited Florida State this past weekend and he will be at Tennessee this upcoming weekend. His close proximity to the other schools means the Trojans will be fighting to the end to hold onto Griffin.
“I’m in constant communication with both coaching staffs, so it speaks a lot that regardless of being locked in [with USC] they still are building that organic relationships with me and my mom,” Griffin told On3.
Griffin’s recruitment is being monitored very closely, not just because he is the highest ranked recruit in USC’s recruiting class in the 2026 cycle, but because of the number of prospects from the southeast that decommitted from the Trojans in the 2025 cycle.
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Consensus five-star defensive lineman Justus Terry and Isaiah Gibson, both from the state of Georgia, committed to USC last spring as part of massive recruiting weekend that featured a seafood boil and a visit from three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl champion Aaron Donald. USC defensive line coach Eric Henderson held the same position with the Los Angeles Rams for five seasons before joining the Trojans coaching staff this past season. Before that he was for the Los Angeles Chargers defensive line coach for two seasons. Henderson, a New Orleans native has strong recruiting ties in the south.
Both blue-chip prospects from the Peach State would end up decommitting three months later, Terry signed with Texas, and Gibson stayed home and signed with Georgia. They followed the same path as Thompson (AL) four-star safety Anquon Fegans, whose commitment lasted just three months in the summer of 2023. Fegans stayed home and signed with Auburn. The loss of Terry and Justus, two of the top 10 overall prospects were a major blow to the Trojans recruiting class, and they weren’t the only ones.
Mandarin (FL) four-star safety Hylton Stubbs and IMG Academy (FL) four-star cornerback Dominick Kelly also decommitted in the summer. They both ended up staying in the south, Stubbs signed with Florida and Kelly with Georgia.
Carrollton (GA) five-star quarterback Julian Lewis was a longtime USC commit but kept an open recruitment and the Trojans remained in pursuit of local Corona Centennial (CA) five-star quarterback Husan Longstreet throughout the process, even when he committed to Texas A&M last spring. But when Lewis began taking numerous visits to other schools in the fall, the Trojans shifted all of their focus to Longstreet. USC was able to flip Longstreet a couple of weeks before the early signing period and Lewis signed with Colorado. Lewis’ high school teammate, three-star cornerback Shamar Arnoux flipped to Auburn around the same time in November and then flipped to Florida State on the first day of the early signing period. Seminole Ridge (FL) four-star linebacker Ty Jackson also decommitted in November and signed with Florida, as did Williamson (AL) four-star offensive tackle Carde Smith, who flipped to Colorado and Oakland (TN) three-star running back Duane Morris to Tennessee.
Buford (GA) four-star linebacker Jadon Perlotte flipped to Tennessee on the first day of the early signing period when it was announced USC linebackers coach Matt Entz would be leaving to become to the head coach at Fresno State.
The Trojans lost some big-time recruits in the 2025 cycle from the south but did not completely strikeout. They landed Edna Karr (LA) five-star defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart over LSU and Oregon. Griffin's teammate, four-star offensive tackle Alex Payne flipped from North Carolina to USC in late November. The Trojans signed three other recruits from the state of Georgia, four-star safety Kendarius Reddick, three-star safety Stephen Miller and three-star cornerback James Johnson.
USC will continue to prioritize Griffin in this upcoming class, bringing him out to Los Angeles as often as possible until it can become official in December. The Trojans currently have the No. 2 recruiting class in the On3 Industry Rankings. USC coach Lincoln Riley has an opportunity to finish with his highest ranked recruiting class as a head coach, at Oklahoma and USC. The Sooners finished with the No. 4 class according to ESPN, No. 5 class according to Rivals and No. 6 according to 247Sports Composite Rankings in the 2019 cycle.
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