USC's Lincoln Riley Gives a Clear Assessment of Jayden Maiava After Spring Ball
USC Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava is back in Los Angeles as the Trojans starter for the second season in a row. Maiava had a good 2025 season and USC coach Lincoln Riley has seen even more improvement out of him during spring camp this offseason.
Lincoln Riley Encouraged By Jayden Maiava's Growth
Lincoln Riley went on The Jim Rome Show. He talked about the growth he's seen from Jayden Maiava during the spring.
"I think this kid has grown a ton. He is a really talented kid that came in with, his game was so raw. But man, he has come a long ways," Riley said. "He played some really good football for us last year and felt like honesty the guy that I watched in spring practice here over the last month was a totally different player."
"The guy I watched in spring practice over the last month was a totally different player."@LincolnRiley on @uscfb QB Jayden Maiava's offseason development. pic.twitter.com/sCTWVpS6AH
- Jim Rome (@jimrome) April 17, 2026
Riley then dove into what aspects he has seen Maiava improve in.
"His confidence, his awareness level, his mechanics, where he is physically," Riley said. "I feel like every part of him is poised to take the next step and that obviously would be great thing for us."
Jayden Maiava's College Career
Jayden Maiava is a 6-4, 230 pound quarterback out of Henderson, Nevada. He signed with the UNLV Rebels as a member of their class of 2022 recruiting class. He was rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 64 quarterback in his class per 247Sports.
Maiava used his redshirt year as a true freshman for UNLV in 2022. As a redshirt freshman for the Rebels in 2023, Maiava played in 14 games, throwing for 3,085 yards with 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He added 277 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. He was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Year. After the season, Maiava entered the portal and transferred to USC.
2024 was Maiava's first with the Trojans. He started off the season as the backup to starting quarterback Miller Moss. Towards the end of the season with USC struggling, Riley gave Maiava the starting nod.
Maiava ended the season throwing for 1,201 yards with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions, He rushed for 45 yards and four touchdowns. Maiava entered 2025 as the starting quarterback for USC.
In 2025, Maiava had his best season in college. He threw for a Big Ten leading 3,711 passing yards to go along with 24 passing touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Maiava rushed for 157 yards and six touchdowns. He was named Third-team All-Big Ten.
USC went 9-3 during the regular season and ended the season with an Alamo Bowl loss to the TCU Horned Frogs. The 2026 season for Maiava and the Trojans will kick off on Saturday, Aug. 29 against the San Jose State Spartans.
Lincoln Riley will be aiming to get USC to their first College Football Playoff in program history. USC has an extremely difficult conference schedule and is slated to play the three best teams in the Big Ten from last year: the Ohio State Buckeyes, Indiana Hoosiers, and Oregon Ducks.
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, and X for the latest news.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/usc as USC's Lincoln Riley Gives a Clear Assessment of Jayden Maiava After Spring Ball.
Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published April 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM.