LOS ANGELES — When Jalen Hurts left Alabama for Oklahoma ahead of the 2019 season, Lincoln Riley saw firsthand how a single transfer could reshape a team's culture. In Hurts' case, the impact was immediate. The new quarterback's presence helped lift a locker room that lost Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray, sending the Sooners soaring to the College Football Playoff for a third season in a row.
Three years later, another Alabama transfer is earning similar plaudits from Riley and his staff at USC.
Shane Lee didn't set out to be a locker-room leader. He just wanted to play, to be a part of something. After earning freshman All-American honors as the Tide's starting middle linebacker, a series of obstacles largely outside of his control kept Lee from regaining the role. A sports hernia limited him to five games as a sophomore during Alabama's 2020 national title run. A stacked depth chart limited him after that, as he registered only 10 combined tackles over his last two seasons.
