Back in December, USC signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country. It marked the Trojans’ first time signing a top-five class since Clay Helton’s 2018 group.
Of course, 2018 was eight years ago. Surely none of the players from that class are still playing college football, right?
Advertisement
Well, you would think that, but you would be wrong. This past week, former USC linebacker Solomon Tuliaupupu, now at Montana, was granted a historic ninth year of eligibility by the NCAA.
Tuliaupupu, who left USC following the 2024 season before landing at Montana, has had some brutal injury luck in his career, missing five of his seven seasons with the Trojans due to numerous injuries. Still, the notion a player spending nine years in college football is wild, regardless of the circumstances.
What did things look like at USC when Tuliaupupu first signed with the Trojans all the way back in February of 2018? Let’s take a look:
Clay Helton
Clay Helton was entering his third full season as USC’s head coach. He had just gotten a contract extension following back-to-back double-digit win seasons, a Rose Bowl victory, and a conference title. (Surely that would not come back to haunt USC!)
Advertisement
Lynn Swann
The man who gave Helton that extension was USC Athletic Director Lynn Swann. Swann would hold that position for another 19 months before resigning in September 2019.
Max Nikias
This might be the wildest part of all: When Tuliaupupu arrived at USC, Max Nikia’s was still the university’s president. Nikia’s would not step down until August of 2018 due to the George Tyndall sexual abuse scandal. (Tyndall, by the way, has been dead for more than two years now, having passed away in 2023 while awaiting trial.)
Varsity Blues
Speaking of SCandals, remember the Varisty Blues admissions saga? Remember Olivia Jade allegedly being on Rick Caruso’s yacht when it broke? Well that was still over a year away.
Advertisement
Sam Darnold
What about Sam Darnold’s wild NFL journey to becoming a Super Bowl champion? Well when Tuliapupu first signed with the Trojans, journey had not even begun yet. Darnold was still on campus at USC, and several months away from being drafted by the New York Jets.
Chris Hawkins
Also still on campus at the time was redshirt senior safety Chris Hawkins—who has had a wild journey of his own. Hawkins played for Lane Kiffin with the Trojans. Lane Kiffin!
Tuliaupupu’s recruiting class
Tuliaupupu was in the same recruiting class at USC as Amon-Ra St. Brown and JT Daniels. The former is entering his sixth season in the NFL, while the latter played six seasons of college football at four different schools, before medically retiring from football more than two years ago.
Advertisement
Tuliaupupu was also in the same recruiting cycle as Micah Parsons. The Green Bay Packers star last played college football in 2019.
Lincoln Riley
So where was current USC head coach Lincoln at the time? He was getting ready to enter his second season at the head coach at Oklahoma, breaking in a new starting quarterback named Kyler Murray.
Current USC players
What about the Trojans’ current players? Quarterback Jayden Maiava—who is entering his fifth season of college football, by the way—was still in middle school. Tight end Mark Bowman—a five-star signee in the class of 2026—was in third grade.
Me
So where was I in February of 2018? I was 16 years old and a junior in high school in Massachusetts. I had never even visited USC’s campus, and had only been to California once in my entire life.
Advertisement
I am now 24 years old, and have lived in Los Angeles for nearly five years. Despite taking a gap year due to the pandemic, I graduated from USC nearly two years ago.
In summary
So to summarize, by the time that Tuliaupupu’s college football career is over, it will have spanned three USC presidents, three USC athletic directors, numerous SCandals, Sam Darnold’s entire NFL career, and more than a third of my life to date.
What a crazy ride it has been for him.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Former USC football player Solomon Tuliaupupu granted ninth season
