Lincoln Riley poaches key member of Jim Harbaugh’s coaching staff
Lincoln Riley is set to fill out his first USC football staff with Shaun Nua, Jim Harbaugh’s defensive line coach at Michigan.
Lincoln Riley’s search for his assistant coaching staff at USC has taken twists and turns since he landed in Los Angeles.
Now, the Trojans don’t have to wonder anymore about who will be leading the defensive line.
On Wednesday, Pete Thamel reported that Shaun Nua of Michigan is set to take the defensive line coach job at USC after three seasons with the Wolverines.
According to Bruce Feldman, Nua is likely to be replaced by assistant DL and outside linebackers coach Ryan Osborn.
Would not be surprised to see Michigan promote assistant DL/OLBs coach Ryan Osborn, a former staffer at UF and Miss St., to the D-line vacancy. Have heard he did an excellent job helping develop the Wolverines edge rushers, and is very well-regarded inside the UM program.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 5, 2022
Shaun Nua is leaving Michigan to join USC football
Nua has a year of experience in the Pac-12 after coaching at ASU in 2018. He was also a graduate assistant at BYU and defensive line coach at Navy.
With Michigan, Nua helped coach star defensive linemen like Aidan Hutchinson, David Ajabo and Kwity Paye. He has a connection to the Polynesian community through his roots in American Samoa and is considered a solid recruiter.
If the Nua deal sticks, Riley may finally be able to announce his completed staff. Getting to this point hasn’t always gone smoothly.
The Trojans reportedly hired multiple assistants, including offensive line coach Brandon Jones, running backs coach Tashard Choice and defensive line coach Jamar Cain. Reporting on Jones turned out to be wrong as USC picked up Josh Henson from Texas A&M for the offensive line role. Choice ended up leaving the Trojans for the same role at Texas. Cain finished out the bowl season with Oklahoma and landed at LSU instead of LA.
To Riley’s credit, USC has taken those lemons and made lemonade, ultimately filling spots with strong candidates like Nua and the rest.
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