LOS ANGELES — USC defensive tackle Bear Alexander, thought before the fall to be one of the Trojans’ most crucial defensive pieces, is planning to redshirt his junior season, his guardian Tony Jones told the Southern California News Group.
“We are going to take the shirt,” Jones wrote in a text.
Alexander was viewed as an integral part of a new-look defensive line under former Rams coach Eric Henderson. Alexander transferred from Georgia and led USC in quarterback hurries in 2023 and boasted NFL-ready talent. Alexander, though, missed all of spring after a back-and-forth saga where it seemed he’d enter the transfer portal only to be drawn back, leading head coach Lincoln Riley to dub the Trojans’ fall camp as “extremely important” for Alexander.
Soon after, he was dubbed a “co-starter” on USC’s depth chart next to Wyoming transfer Gavin Meyer, and has served as simply a rotational piece on USC’s defensive line through the first three games of the season. Even as Riley insisted that staff didn’t “need to see any more” from Alexander to earn more time, he earned just 20 snaps against Utah State and 21 against Michigan, leading to Alexander posting a suggestive tweet on Monday.
“FREE 9-OWE,” Alexander wrote, in a photo with pictures of himself.
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Jones, too, posted a series of clips seeming to defend Alexander’s tape and chastise Meyer and Vanderbilt transfer Nate Clifton’s reps. When asked about Alexander’s reps on Tuesday, Riley brushed away the notion he was earning less time, pointing to the fact Alexander had still played over a third of the game against Michigan.
“He’s doing a good job for us out here, he’s getting better,” Riley said. “There’s no story there. I mean, I know you guys are looking for one. Like, there’s, there’s no story there.”
A day later, though, Alexander was absent from practice at USC during the media viewing period. And now, with three games under his belt and only eligible to play one more under redshirt guidelines, it seems the program will be down a key piece on its interior defensive line for the rest of the season.
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