USC Passed on David Bailey Before He Ended Up at Texas Tech

During The Colin Cowherd Podcast on Thursday night, Cowherd was reacting to the New Year’s Day College Football Playoff action, when the conversation turned to USC and head coach Lincoln Riley. The head coach is under fire after a blown Alamo Bowl vs. TCU on Tuesday night.

Towards the end of the conversation with John Middlekauff, the two were discussing how USC can do a much better job getting tougher and better on defense, in particular. Of course, that’s the side of the ball that has been a thorn in the side of Lincoln Riley dating back to his time as the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners.

Middlekauff said, “Lincoln needs to draft a little more off Oregon and Texas.” His reference was to how when Nick Saban would offer a play, the rest of the SEC would follow suit. Basically, Lincoln needs to basically follow what the better defensive teams are doing when it comes to player evaluation.

Cowherd then interjected, “For the record, David Bailey was from Stanford, USC passed on him, he goes to Texas Tech, you can’t block him.”

David Bailey’s 2025 Season

Bailey finished the Orange Bowl with nine tackles and one sack in the 23-0 loss to Oregon. He was an AP First-Team All-American for the Red Raiders in his one season in Lubbock. He finished the season with 43 tackles and 13.5 sacks with three forced fumbles. Bailey is expected to be drafted in the First Round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

Bailey’s sack total ranked second in the country and first among Power 4 schools. He recorded a sack in 10 of the 13 games he played in this season and tied for third in the country in total tackles for loss with 17.5.

Before Texas Tech, Bailey totaled 111 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss and 14.5 sacks over his three seasons with the Cardinal. He was the No. 122-ranked recruit in the ESPN 300 for 2022 and immediately became a starter as a true freshman, earning Freshman All-America recognition after recording 8.5 tackles for loss in his debut season.

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