His climb to that point had been steady, his trajectory as USC’s left-tackle-in-waiting still trending upward as planned, when near the midway mark of his freshman season, Elijah Paige seemed to hit a wall. Days melded together without much improvement. It wasn’t entirely uncommon for players his age, still getting used to this caliber of college football. But in Paige’s case, coaches wondered if it was more a matter of mettle.
“We were a little frustrated,” USC offensive line coach Josh Henson said. “We felt like he got to a certain spot, and then he just kind of plateaued.”
Henson knew Paige had all the tools to be a top-tier blindside protector. All you had to do was take one look at him to understand that. A viral clip of the towering 6-foot-7 tackle simply crossing the street to USC’s practice field was enough this week to work Pat McAfee and his corner of the social mediasphere into a lather.
But that physical presence didn’t always translate to competitive fire on the football field. Sometimes, Paige needed a push. That had been the case dating back to his days on the Pinnacle High freshman team in Arizona.
So when Henson shared his concerns with Lincoln Riley, USC’s head coach offered a straightforward solution: Send Paige down to the scout team. Remove him from the normal rotation. And see how he responds.
“We just said, ‘This kid needs to go down there and get beat up a little bit,’” Riley said.
“They’re trying to bully you or push you around,” Henson added, “and you have two choices. You can either take it or fight and get better and grow. He chose to grow. When he came back, then that’s when I really noticed his game had progressed to another level.”
That progress will have to continue if USC has any hopes of holding its own in a bigger, stronger Big Ten. The Trojans were pushed around up front by the Pac-12 last season, but still chose not to add any linemen through the transfer portal, electing instead to rely on the development of young prospects including Paige and guards Alani Noa and Amos Talalele.
“At some point, you’re going to take young guys and say, it’s time for that guy to make the jump, make the leap to where he’s performing at a level that’s good enough for us to go win championships,” Henson said. “That’s why they call us coach.”
For Paige, that leap forward first required a step back. Though, at the time, he couldn’t really see the first part of that equation. When Henson first told him he was moving to scout team last fall, Paige was upset.
“Obviously, that’s not really what you want to hear or where you want to be,” he said. “I didn’t have the best attitude about it.”
Jonah Monheim, his predecessor at left tackle and now the Trojans senior starting center, convinced Paige to try a different perspective. Paige had been looking to Monheim for guidance since his arrival at USC, spending long hours sifting through the playbook or picking his brain while watching film.
Now Monheim tried to reassure him. Don’t think about it as a demotion, he told him. Use it as an opportunity.
“I just knew how much that would help him focus on just improving as a player and a technician,” Monheim said. “You get so many reps against so many good players, so many looks. … I knew that would build toughness, with techniques and reps. I knew it would build a good base from him, and that he’d come out better on the other side.”
Dana Zupke took a similar approach with Paige once before. Paige was the biggest lineman Zupke had on Arizona’s Pinnacle High freshman team in 2019. But in spite of his gargantuan size, coaches noticed he didn’t always give his full effort on the field. His focus tended to ebb and flow.
So they decided to send a message, in hopes of motivating him. Instead of immediately taking him to junior varsity or varsity, as his physical skills might suggest, they kept Paige on the freshman team all season.
“We took a couple other kids who weren’t as big or strong,” Zupke said. “And I think that maybe motivated him. Because the turnaround from him from freshman to sophomore year was unbelievable.”
By the next season, Zupke said, Paige was already the best lineman at Pinnacle. He wonders if a similar leap may be in store in L.A.
At USC, Paige ultimately spent only a few weeks on the scout team. But he said that short stretch was enough to change his mentality.
“On scout team, you have to give it your all every play or it’s not going to end well,” he said.
As soon as he returned, Henson could sense the difference.
“I think that process forced him to fight, and it was a little bit on him,” Henson said. “He came back from the end of that a much more intense personality.”
Paige finally got to put that progress on display during the Holiday Bowl, as Henson and Riley handed him the left tackle spot and gleefully watched him dominate Louisville’s defensive front. The USC offense moved with ease. Quarterback Miller Moss threw for six touchdowns, with Paige protecting his blindside. The performance was impressive enough no one questioned during the offseason whether USC needed reinforcements at left tackle.
That faith in Paige has only strengthened since. So much so that it’s easy to forget, as coaches express their confidence, that he’s played in just a single game.
“You forget he’s, well … I guess, a redshirt freshman and he’s still learning,” Henson said. “But he’s gonna get there.”
