USC football commit Joey Olsen: 'I'm ready to compete' in crowded tight end room

Olsen committed to USC back in September of 2022

Two weeks ago, USC head coach Lincoln Riley said with a smile that the Trojans' tight end depth was "not good."

At that moment, he likely knew that a big time reinforcement (Duce Robinson) was on the way, hence the grin. 

Robinson will compete with Lake McCree, Carson Tabaracci, Jude Wolfe and Kade Eldridge for playing time at tight end this fall. Since they're both freshmen to be, neither Robinson or Eldridge is on campus yet. 

In 2024, all four of those players will have eligibility remaining and USC will welcome in two more tight ends in Walker Lyons, a 2023 signee who took an LDS mission, and 2024 pledge Joey Olsen, who committed back in September. 

The Trojans' tight end room will be packed. 

Olsen attends Lakeridge High School in Lake Oswego, Oregon and is ranked as a four-star prospect by 247Sports.com. In an interview with SI All Trojans on Wednesday, Olsen reaffirmed his USC commitment and discussed how he's looking forward to working with the five other tight ends in the fall of 2024.

“I committed knowing that there are going to be big name guys coming so I’m ready to compete," he said. "I think it’s going to be a lot of fun competing against those guys every day. It’s only going to make me better and make everyone else better so I’m looking forward to it.”

Olsen, who plans on taking his official visit to campus in June, is currently recruiting 2024 Clackamas (Ore.) offensive lineman Devin Brooks to join him at USC. Olsen also mentioned that the last time he visited, he was working hard to convince five-star St. Ignatius (Chicago) defensive end Justin Scott to commit to the Trojans too.

Here's the rest of what Olsen discussed in the interview.

On why he chose USC:

“I just love the culture there, everything that surrounds it, the tradition of USC football. I love what they’re building there with Coach Riley and how they’ve gone from 4-8 in 2021 to 11-3 last season. It’s pretty remarkable.”

On his future role with the Trojans:

“I’ll be a hybrid receiver/tight end. I’ll be split out and my hand won’t be in the ground all that much I think.”

On the current momentum that's building at USC with Duce Robinson signing Kliff Kingsbury joining the coaching staff:

“It’s great. A lot of big name dudes are hopping on and that’s great. That’s great for the program and great for the university. It’s going to be great in the near future and for a long time to come.”

On the Kingsbury addition:

"That just says a lot about the program and the direction it’s going in. It shows USC is the cream of the crop, at the top. His experience and knowledge coming from the NFL, it’s pretty crazy that he’s now on staff.”

On his relationship with Riley and what their discussions are like:

“I talk to Coach Riley probably every week or few weeks to touch base and see how we’re doing and talk about when I’m getting down there next. We also talk about how everything is going down there.”

On his relationship with tight ends coach Zach Hanson:

“I have a great relationship with Coach Hanson. We talk pretty much weekly. He’s a great dude. I really like him and I’m super excited to play for him.”

On if USC moving to the Big Ten affected his recruitment:

"It wasn’t that big of a factor honestly. I didn’t really think about it a whole lot. I just know it’s going to be longer flights which I’m okay with and a little bit colder weather. But I’m up here with rain and cold weather pretty often so I’m used to it. It didn’t affect my decision that much.”

On his excitement about playing in the Big Ten:

“Getting to play at the Big House or a Penn State white out game, that’s the stuff when you’re growing up, you see on College GameDay. I think that would be really cool.”

On earning All-League honors as a high school freshman in the top league in Oregon high school football:

“My freshman year was COVID season so we didn’t really get the full year. I was just trying to prove myself to the older guys on the team that I am here and I can play. I honestly didn’t know that all-league was a thing until it came out. I don’t think at the time I realized how big of a thing that is for the Three Rivers League. At the time, I didn’t really take it as such a big thing. I was just going out there to try and prove to myself and to everybody else that I can play, especially at a young age.”

On his overall strengths and weaknesses as a football player:

“My strengths are how big I am, my height. I think my speed and my route running ability at my size isn’t very common among football players. I can improve on blocking because I haven’t played with my hand in the ground a whole lot so I’m definitely going to need to improve and work on that. That’s my main goal right now.”