USC Football: Could Trojans flip 5-star corner Will Johnson?

Some USC football fans might be worried about losing the commitment of Domani Jackson, but could another five-star corner come into the fold? 

The USC football program has been and down under head coach Clay Helton, but the Trojans seem to be back on the upswing following a solid, but short season in 2020, as well as a strong recruiting class in 2021.

When it was all said and done, the Trojans signed the No. 7 overall class in 2021 according to the 247 sports composite rankings. 15 of those signees were four-star prospects and USC football even added No. 1 overall recruit and five-star defensive end Korey Foreman.

For those familiar with the blue-chip ratio — something defined as a team’s percentage of four and five-star recruits — USC’s ratio was 68 percent in 2021. Anything over 50 is considered solid and puts you in a position to be a national title contender according to Bud Elliott who came up with it.

Well, Helton and company are looking to build on those efforts in 2022 and were off to a solid start with the commitment of five-star cornerback Domani Jackson.

Jackson is the No. 1 cornerback recruit in 2022 and even though he’s taking a visit to Alabama, he seems solid to USC, so solid in fact, he’s trying to convince another five-star cornerback to join him.

Can USC football flip Will Johnson?

Will Johnson is another top-5 corner in the class of 2022 and the 6-foot-3 recruit out of Michigan is taking a visit to USC next month.

Johnson has taken a self-guided visit to USC and Donte Williams has been recruiting him hard from the get-go.

It’s not a huge secret that Jackson and Johnson are tight. Jackson’s dad is actually from Ohio and grew up as a Michigan fan, so there are some midwest connections.

Deon Johnson, Will’s dad, who played for the Wolverines, has talked about his son playing with Domani.

And while it looked like it could happen at Michigan, with Will taking a visit to USC, but Jackson not doing the same at U-M, it seems like the Trojans are the only team with any hope of getting both.

To be fair, Johnson seems as solid to Michigan and Jackson is with USC. Yet, there has to be some doubt, otherwise, why take the visit?

There’s been lots of staff turnover at Michigan, which is now onto its second cornerbacks coach since January after Maurice Linguist left Michigan to be the head coach at Buffalo.

If the Wolverines can steady the ship and start adding some of the recruits Johnson has been trying to get in U-M’s 2022 class, Michigan will likely keep him.

But, if Michigan doesn’t put together a strong enough class, the Trojans already have Jackson and another top-200 corner, plus an elite class from 2021, which could sell Johnson on flipping his commitment.