USC completes its coaching staff, promotes Seth Doege to tight ends coach

To finalize its football staff, USC again promoted from within at tight ends coach.

Seth Doege, who spent the last two seasons as an offensive quality control assistant, has been promoted to tight ends coach, filling the last vacancy on USC’s staff with a coach well acquainted with Graham Harrell and his Air Raid offense.

“Seth has extensive knowledge of our offensive system and has made a significant impact on our program during his time at USC,” coach Clay Helton said Friday in a statement. “His ability to foster relationships with players makes him a valuable asset to our coaching staff as a recruiter and developer of student-athletes.”

Doege replaces John David Baker, who left USC to be tight ends coach and passing game coordinator at Mississippi. Baker and Doege came to USC in 2019 to work as quality control analysts under Harrell, who, like Doege, was a Texas Tech quarterback. Baker was promoted last season to the same position, while Doege continued to assist with USC’s quarterbacks.

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USC made a run at Arizona State assistant Prentice Gill, who spent three seasons as a graduate assistant with the Trojans and has since earned a reputation as one of the Pac-12’s top young recruiters. But Gill opted to stay in Tempe, where he’s coaching receivers.

In promoting Doege, USC is hoping to follow the same formula it did a season ago. Like Baker, Doege earned plaudits as an up-and-coming recruiter, especially at quarterback, where he played a role in USC signing two four-star quarterbacks in this year’s class.

Unlike Baker, Doege has experience as a full-time assistant. He worked as the receivers coach at Bowling Green in 2017 and 2018 and added special teams duties that final season. He joined USC’s staff the year after that.

Whether he can unlock the Trojans tight ends remains to be seen. USC has largely ignored the position over the last two seasons, in spite of promises otherwise. Last season, with Baker leading the position, USC tight ends contributed just 11 catches over six games. In 2019, under former assistant John Baxter, they weren’t much better over 13 games, adding 15 receptions.