Finally at USC, Malachi Nelson ready to work, compete and develop

June 2024 · 7 minute read

LOS ANGELES — Naomi Nelson has mostly been trying to process the past few months. In reality, the past few years have been a whirlwind for her, her family and their son, five-star quarterback and USC early enrollee Malachi Nelson.

Nelson received his first scholarship offer four years ago as an eighth-grader. He started a few games at Los Alamitos (Calif.) High School as a freshman. The pandemic upended his entire sophomore year but didn’t slow things down on the recruiting trail. And shortly before his junior year, he committed to Lincoln Riley and appeared to be bound for Oklahoma. Then Riley made the move to USC, and Nelson promptly flipped his commitment to the Trojans. He wrapped up his senior season in November, signed with USC in December and enrolled in school in January.

1 of 1. @Malachi is is the 2022-23 Gatorade California Football Player of the Year. 

He is also a finalist for the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year for 2023. pic.twitter.com/LMEGseHA1I

— USC Football ✌️ (@uscfb) January 9, 2023

With all of that in the past, the focus is now on the future and USC. A week and a half ago, Naomi asked her son a simple question while they were in Hawaii for the Polynesian Bowl: Has USC been everything he imagined?

Advertisement

“He thought he would be happy, and he thought he would be in this place in his mind right now,” Naomi said, “and he is exactly how he thought he would feel at this time.”

Riley has produced three Heisman Trophy winners in his six seasons as a head coach, two at Oklahoma and one at USC. He spent two years recruiting Nelson with designs of eventually putting him in position to win college football’s most prestigious award.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

How did the 5-star prospects from the Class of 2022 fare as freshmen?

“From my freshman year, when Coach (Riley) was recruiting me, he told me he doesn’t recruit a quarterback unless he thinks they can win the Heisman,” Nelson told The Athletic in December. “So I took that to heart, and that’s definitely a goal of mine.”

National signing day arrives this week. It figures to be a relatively quiet one for USC. Even if the Trojans add Rodrick Pleasant on Wednesday or Duce Robinson down the road, the fact stands that Nelson — the first major recruit to join Riley after he took the USC job — is the centerpiece of the 2023 recruiting class.

His development over the next year will be one of the most important storylines to track at USC. If everything goes right, Nelson will have a shot to be Riley’s next star quarterback in 2024.

Hours after he made it official with USC last month, Nelson hosted a signing day party at the Faze Warehouse in Los Angeles. He and his Los Alamitos teammate Makai Lemon, a top-50 wide receiver, shared the stage that night. The two have been best friends since youth, from playing Pop Warner together to excelling at Los Alamitos to committing to — and decommitting from — Oklahoma and signing with USC. They swapped texts that morning to discuss how surreal the day was going to be.

On Nelson’s end, there was a bit of a sigh of relief, as well. This event represented an end to several years of being in the spotlight as a five-star prospect. He has been able reflect on the irony that he will be playing for USC after initially choosing Oklahoma over the Trojans in July 2021.

Advertisement

“I don’t think we ever thought, especially when we committed to Oklahoma, that we’d ever end up signing with USC,” he said. “But it ended up working out perfectly in the sense we got to stay home … parents, it’s accessible for them to come to games. And we got the development factor of what we were going to get at Oklahoma. Because that’s the main dream. So when we got both, it was a very easy decision to make.”

In @Malachi, @uscfb has signed the No. 1 player in the country for the 4th time in the high school rankings era. pic.twitter.com/AW6TXXn8xG

— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) December 21, 2022

Riley first offered Nelson two years ago this month. The relationship and trust built between the two were obviously paramount to Nelson’s choosing Oklahoma and then signing with USC.

“Malachi’s, I’ve always thought, a really unique talent,” Riley said in December at the news conference to announce the program’s signees. “His ability to throw the ball and process at a young age — he’s certainly well ahead of his years there and is very, very impressive. Throughout a long recruitment process with him and his family, getting to know who he is as a person, getting to know his family, the way he’s raised, his goals, I’ve seen him improve throughout the years. He was getting offers and a lot of attention very early on. I feel like the kid’s continued to work hard and wants to improve.

“As far as what we’re looking for at the position, he’s a guy that I feel like has an extremely bright future as a player, as a leader, and a winner, and that’s what we have to have at that position.”

About two weeks before signing with USC, Nelson had his list of priorities ready for when he arrived on campus. He had to flip the switch from coveted, five-star prospect to college freshman. He had to get healthy and recover from labrum surgery on his non-throwing shoulder. Then, he had to get to work and soak up knowledge from everyone around him, most notably Riley and 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams.

Advertisement

Williams was outstanding last fall as he turned in a record-breaking season and elevated what might have been an eight-win roster into a legitimate threat to reach the College Football Playoff. There will be immense pressure on whoever has to replace him in 2024.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

USC recruiting: 11 thoughts on the Trojans' class in the early signing period

The way Williams responded when things weren’t going his way in some games — at Oregon State, for example — left an impression on Nelson. Williams’ confidence and belief in himself resonated with the young quarterback.

“He told me he was going to (win the Heisman), and he did it,” Nelson said. “There’s only a few guys I would be OK sitting behind, and the best quarterback in the country is definitely one of them. I’m definitely going to be a sponge to him and hopefully go get that next one when it’s my turn. That’s a goal of mine — but (also) to win championships, that’s the first goal. When you’re playing well, the team is playing well, those things kind of fall in place.”

The path to starting in 2024 will have some challenges, though. First, Nelson has to recover from the labrum surgery. We’ll see what impact, if any, it has on his availability this spring. He’ll then have to compete with Miller Moss, who has spent two years in college and one year in Riley’s system, for the backup spot behind Williams. And with Riley’s reputation — and with the offensive talent he has acquired — USC will be an attractive transfer destination for a quarterback next offseason.

How Nelson responds to each of those hurdles will be an important development as USC prepares for life after Williams and a move to the Big Ten.

“I have a dream, and this is just the next step to achieving that dream,” Nelson said. “I’m ready to put my nose down and make it work.”

(Photo: Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k2pqbm9pZnxzfJFsZmlpX2h9cLnApZicoJliu6a40qilZq2jmHqywcCrq56qkpawrHs%3D