Andrew Kerth The real range of college football pay in 2026: a handful of quarterbacks above $4 million, Power Four starters commonly in six figures once revenue sharing is added, and most of the 105 man roster in four and five figures or nothing at all. Where the numbers come from and why they vary so much.
How an NIL deal actually happens in 2026, from the offer to the clearinghouse review. Who pays, what agents and collectives do, the $600 reporting rule, what NIL Go approves and rejects, and how it all stacks with the school’s revenue share.
NIL stands for name, image and likeness: the right of a college athlete to be paid by outside parties for endorsements, appearances and social media. What it is, what it is not, how it began in 2021, and how it fits alongside the school payments that started in 2025.
USC has produced roughly 85 consensus All-Americans and 28 unanimous selections, from Brice Taylor in 1925, who played with one hand, to Makai Lemon in 2025. The list by era, the tailbacks, the linebackers, and the players honoured twice.
USC has produced six No. 1 overall NFL draft picks, more than any program, 87 first rounders and more than 530 total selections. Makai Lemon went 20th to Philadelphia in 2026, and the Trojans lead the sport in picks since the common draft began.
Every USC bowl game with scores, from the 1923 Rose Bowl through the 2025 Alamo Bowl. Thirty four Rose Bowls and 25 wins there, both records for any school in any bowl, the vacated 2004 Orange Bowl, and the 2005 Rose Bowl loss to Texas.
USC is 886 wins, 375 losses and 54 ties all time, a .694 percentage, with fourteen wins the NCAA removed. The record, the four coaching eras that produced it, the sixteen years of drift since Carroll, and how close 900 is.
The Coliseum holds 77,500 for USC football after a renovation cut it from 93,607, and its record football crowd of 104,953 dates to a 1947 Notre Dame game. Two Olympics with a third coming, Super Bowl I, and a century of Trojans home games.
USC won 37 conference championships in the Pacific Coast Conference and the Pac-12 and its predecessors, twice as many as any other West Coast school. Every title by coach and year, the seven straight under Carroll, and the search for a first Big Ten title.
USC claims eleven national championships across four coaches, including one the NCAA vacated and the school still counts. Every title season, the 2003 split with LSU, the 34 game winning streak, and the six seasons the school does not claim.