USC Trojans coach Lincoln Riley continues to bolster his staff, this time hiring UCF’s Trovon Reed as the cornerbacks coach, the school announced on Tuesday. Reed will join defensive backs Doug Belk, who oversees the entire secondary.

“Trovon Reed is another fantastic addition to our staff,” Riley said. “A rising star in our business, Reed is a talented coach with NFL playing experience. He’s an exceptional recruiter who will surely contribute to our climb as a program. We’re excited to welcome him to USC.”

He is the third coach the Riley has added to his staff this month, joining Chad Savage, who came over from Colorado State and will be the new tight ends/inside receivers coach and long-time NFL coach Rob Ryan, who will be the linebacker’s coach. The hiring of Reed helps bolster the Trojans defensive staff after assistant defensive backs coach Taylor Mays left to become Washington’s safeties coach.

Prior to beginning his coaching career, Reed was a five-star recruit coming in the 2010 cycle and played five seasons for Auburn, where they won two SEC championships and one national championship. He played four years at receiver before moving to cornerback in his final season. Reed went undrafted in 2015 coming and bounced around NFL from 2015-18, before playing in the XFL and Alliance of American Football League for a couple of seasons.

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He returned to his Alma Mater in 2021 as Auburn’s player relations coordinator and transferred over to their director of football and player relationships. Reed got his first shot at coaching this past season as the cornerbacks coach at UCF and now the 34-year-old will head out west to join the Trojans coaching staff.

Reed is known as a great recruiter and just like USC defensive line coach Eric Henderson, the Louisiana native has strong recruiting ties in the south. The Trojans currently hold the No. 2 recruiting class in the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2026 cycle and having another strong recruiter like Reed on the staff will certainly help bolster USC’s class. The hiring of Reed triggered a strong response from University Lab five-star defensive lineman Lamar Brown, the No. 1 defensive lineman and No. 11 overall prospect in the 2026 cycle.

Reed helped develop Mac McWilliams and Brandon Adams this past season with the Knights. Both players are competing in the Reese’s Senior Bowl this week down in Mobile, Alabama. Reed is the only coach in the country to have two of players competing in the Senior Bowl this season.

USC will have a new look cornerbacks room under Reed with four players exhausting their eligibility, including Jaylin Smith, Jacobe Covington, Greedy Vance and John Humphrey. DeCarlos Nicholson appeared in all 13 games this past season, including three starts. After initially entering the transfer portal this month, Nicholson quickly took his name out and returned to USC. The Trojans were able to sign former San Jose State cornerback DJ Harvey via the portal. A former four-star recruit in the 2021 cycle, Harvey had four interceptions, and six passes defended this past season for the Spartans. Prophet Brown will be returning after primarily working as a reserve and on special teams this past season, he will likely takeover as the starting nickel in 2025.

The Trojans have a ton of young talent at the position including 2024 four-star recruit Marcelles Williams. They also signed Braylon Conley and Isaiah Rubin in that same recruiting class. USC signed two more cornerbacks in the 2025 cycle in four-stars Trestin Castro and Alex Graham. Former four-star recruit in the 2023 cycle Maliki Crawford is also on the roster but has suffered back-to-back season-ending injuries and has yet to appear in any games.