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USC football brings the noise and energy to spring practice

March 31, 2026

LOS ANGELES — On a gloomy Tuesday morning, the atmosphere around the USC football team was anything but.

At the start of media availability, the team was stretching to the sounds of a country music playlist, highlighted by The Zac Brown Band and Toby Keith.

Players were enthusiastic, sprinting to their respective position groups after warmups. Maybe even a few indiscreetly grooving to the country tunes.

“It’s been an awesome vibe moving forward. I really love where this team is going right now,” quarterback Jayden Maiava said after practice. “I don’t know who controls the aux, but you know, sometimes to be honest, I appreciate it.”

The energy displayed Tuesday morning has permeated throughout the entirety of spring camp. And the way that excitement has sprouted naturally from the players themselves has to be gratifying for the coaching staff.

Of course, the coaches have been doing their part as hype people, bringing their fervent teaching styles to the team.

Whether it’s special teams coordinator and linebackers coach Mike Ekeler demonstrating what to do during a drill, or defensive coordinator Gary Patterson’s overcommunication, the enthusiasm coming from the coaches has been palpable.

But as offensive lineman Aaron Dunn noted after Tuesday’s practice, the players are motivated and determined to get better each day and bring out the best in one another.

“The energy that we bring out here on the field, everyone is competitive and everyone’s wanting to get better,” Dunn said. “The coaches are getting at us, making sure we’re pushing ourselves everyday, but the biggest thing is that it’s team driven and it’s team led. As soon as people on the team are doing it, that energy is contagious. I think that’s something that’s been great this year.”

It helps that spring football was moved to an earlier start date this year. Practices began at the beginning of March and are set to conclude the first week of April.

Last year, the first spring practice was on March 25 and the last one was on April 26.

Moving up the schedule has allowed incoming freshmen to get into the action sooner. It’s also beneficial for players who had to have offseason procedures, giving them more time to recoup and get ready for summer camp.

“It’s changed a good bit,” Dunn said, referring to the spring practice schedule. “I kind of like the practices, how they’re all bunched together and we can just get through it. It’s more like four weeks instead of six weeks.”

With three more practices left in spring, the knob controlling the energy hasn’t been turned down in the slightest.

And whether it’s country, hip-hop or rock music blaring out of the speakers at practice, the energy hasn’t wavered.

Orange County Register

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USC football brings the noise and energy to spring practice

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