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Eli Lederman, ESPN Staff Writer
Lincoln Riley and USC landed another key defensive piece in the 2025 class Sunday afternoon with a commitment from four-star linebacker Ty Jackson, ESPN’s No. 1 inside linebacker in the cycle.
Jackson, ranked 44th in the 2025 ESPN 300, made his commitment following a visit to the Trojans over the weekend, during which he saw USC’s defense blank Utah State in a 48-0 victory Saturday night. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound defender is now the Trojans’ highest-rated defensive pledge and the program’s eighth ESPN 300 commit in the 2025 class.
He recently told ESPN that he planned to take his commitment deep into the fall, perhaps as late as the start of the early signing period on Dec. 4. Instead, ESPN’s fourth-highest-rated remaining uncommitted defender in the 2025 class gave his pledge just two weeks into the regular season, swayed by the brand of defense emerging with the Trojans under first-year coordinator D’Anton Lynn.
Jackson, a star defender from Loxahatchee, Florida, chose USC over a long list of SEC and Big Ten finalists that included Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Penn State. His pledge comes as the latest positive recruiting development for USC’s defense in a summer that started sour.
The Trojans’ 2025 class suffered a pair of blows in mid-June when top-30 defenders Justus Terry and Isaiah Gibson pulled their pledges in a span of 24 hours, leaving USC without the core of its incoming defensive class. The Trojans’ rebound began with summer flips of Georgia outside linebacker pledge Jadon Perlotte (No. 84 in the ESPN 300) and UCF safety commit Kendarius Reddick (No. 89).
Jackson now stands as the top prospect on a defensive class featuring six ESPN 300 pledges, rounded out by outside linebacker Matai Tagoa’i (No. 146 in the ESPN 300), cornerback Trestin Castro (No. 247) and defensive end Hayden Lowe (No. 252).
Jackson registered 135 total tackles in his junior season at Seminole (Florida) High School last fall. He had previously confirmed fall campus trips to Alabama and Penn State, and it is not clear whether Jackson intends to continue taking visits in the coming months following his commitment.
USC (2-0) is off in Week 3 before hosting Michigan on Sept. 21.