It’s a good thing USC Football signed a top-rated center in the class of 2018, because the Trojans will be light one center going into the 2018 season.
Redshirt junior Cole Smith is planning to retire from football, per Scott Wolf of the LA Daily News, due to arthritis in his knees.
Smith signed with USC in 2015 out of Mission Viejo. A three-star prospect, he was seen as a developmental project with pedigree. His father was former Rams Pro Bowl center Doug Smith. Though the No. 10-ranked center was undersized, the thought was that he could bulk up and then slot into the middle for the Trojans.