‘I was trippin’: 5-star WR transfers back to USC from UCLA with hilarious message

The transfer portal may be all the rage these days in college football but transfers between direct, heated rivals are still relatively rare. Transfering back where you started is just as rare.

So just call Kyle Ford a rare breed.

The former five-star wide receiver, who transferred out of USC to UCLA in 2023, announced his re-commitment to the Trojans on Tuesday.

"My fault I was trippin. #Committed," Ford told On3.

Let's all just take a second here to appreciate the phrase, "My fault I was trippin'," as an explanation for a player who transferred to a hated rival returning to his original school.

There might have been some bad feelings reserved for Ford on the USC side of things but with five simple words, the receiver likely won back a whole bunch of Trojan fans.

Kyle Ford brings experience back to USC's WR room

Ford was a fan favorite before he traded Cardinal and Gold for Bruin Blue. He was one of the crown jewels of USC's recruiting class of 2019. However, a high school knee injury slowed his introduction while Drake London quickly established himself as the next great Trojan receiver.

Bad luck seemed to follow him as Ford suffered another devastating knee injury before the 2020 season. He finished as USC's fourth and fifth-leading receiver in 2021 and 2022, gaining a positive reputation because of his reliability when he did get the ball thrown his way.

With Dorian Singer transferring in and Mario Williams, Brenden Rice and Tahj Washington returning in 2023, Ford entered the transfer portal in a bid for more playing time. Leaving USC for UCLA turned out to be a questionable decision.

Ford had just 22 catches for 236 yards for the Bruins. Meanwhile, the Trojans receiving corps was not nearly as strong or deep as expected. There likely would have been ample opportunity for Ford to prove he deserved more of the ball.

Coming back to USC now makes a lot of sense, even if competition for touches will remain fierce and uncertain. The Trojans' receiving corps is high in talent but low on experience; Five of seven scholarship players are sophomores or younger. There's practically no depth beyond the two-deep. A veteran like Ford should be welcome in that room to help nurture Zachariah Branch, Duce Robinson, Ja'Kobi Lane and Makai Lemon.