After serious injuries, lost seasons, a coaching change and a new position, the former top recruit from Mater Dei is thriving for the Trojans
LOS ANGELES — Late in USC’s season-opening win over Rice, you may have heard a name that you’d forgotten. Maybe you heard it over the Coliseum P.A. system, or maybe on the broadcast, and it jostled something from the back of your memory.A former top-100 recruit and the High School Butkus Award winner as a senior at Mater Dei, four years have passed since Tuliaupupu was one of the most sought-after recruits in the country.
Tuliaupupu, who declined to be interviewed for this story, had suffered a fracture of the Lisfranc tendon, which connects the big toe to the other toes on the foot. He missed his freshman season at USC while recovering from surgery meant to allow the tendon to heal naturally. By the time he finally got healthy in 2021, Clay Helton had already been fired and USC was entrenched in its defensive rotations. Tuliaupupu was relegated to the scout team, waiting for his shot.Tuliaupupu was asked to play some defensive line with the scout team, moving away from linebacker for the first time in his career. When he’d come home, his dad would joke about him adding some weight and moving to the line permanently.
Mater Dei head coach Bruce Rollinson got involved, too, calling Riley to vouch for Tuliaupupu. So Riley called the redshirt senior to inform him he was getting his opportunity. “He brings some intensity to the room that we needed,” defensive line coach Shaun Nua said. “It’s a lot faster when you’re closer to the line of scrimmage. Usually it takes players a little while to transition to the front end from the back end. But it did not take him long to get used to coming out of the stance.”
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