McKay additions take USC's NIL efforts a step closer toward alignment

LOS ANGELES — A notable change is on the way for USC’s name, image and likeness operations.

Jeff McKay — grandson of legendary Trojans coach John McKay who led USC to four national titles — and his father J.K. McKay, former USC standout receiver and athletic department official, will join the board at House of Victory, USC’s official NIL sponsor and its front-facing donor collective, according to multiple people briefed on USC’s NIL efforts.

For more than a year, there have been three USC-centric collectives. House of Victory is the most prominent collective that supports USC athletes and the only one with official backing from the university. There’s also Conquest Collective and The Tommy Group.

Jeff McKay was a co-founder for the Conquest Collective. With this move, Conquest Collective will cease to exist.

USC has traveled down a bumpy NIL road over the past two-plus years. There was a slow start, a general resistance to collectives, a restart which led to House of Victory, and the school has had to play catch-up on some fronts. Generally, having three collectives created confusion.

USC’s athletic administration has sought alignment on the NIL front since athletic director Jen Cohen arrived from Washington last August, and this change brings that goal one step closer to reality.

Cohen addressed a letter titled “The State of Troy” to USC’s donors and fans on Friday. In that message, Cohen said that House of Victory “exceeded all its fundraising goals, and our donors stepped up to help us more than double our total funds from the previous year, putting USC in the upper tier of NIL collective support nationally.”

In March, The Athletic reported that House of Victory’s budget for football was three times larger than what it had been the previous year. Adding the McKay name to the board should provide a boost to those fundraising efforts.

McKay has had conversations with Will Smith, a member of House of Victory’s executive board and a key donor, and those conversations picked up over recent weeks.

House of Victory is a non-profit organization but will continue to evaluate its strategy as rules evolve.

NIL has been a major topic of discussion and a large source of angst among USC’s fan base in recent years. The school’s slow embrace of collectives resulted in low buy-in from fans when USC started its own in-house operation. The collective has had to climb out of that hole since.

The football program often goes head-to-head with Oregon on the recruiting trail and the Ducks have one of the more cohesive and aggressive NIL arms — Division Street — in the country. So when USC loses out on recruits, the first thing many fans point to is NIL.

When asked Friday about the state of House of Victory, USC coach Lincoln Riley offered effusive praise: “I’m thrilled with it. The percentage gains and the momentum it has created and the job House of Victory has done, the job that our people who work there, the people here, the Trojan family that support it, it’s incredible gains. It’s honestly — you hope for it. … We’re talking about substantial, substantial gains, momentum. Not just in the dollar figure but how we operate and the confidence in our team, our program in it, our recruits, it couldn’t be higher.

“They’ve done a phenomenal job. It’s going to continue to get better like we expect from all parts of it but I cannot say enough about the job that House of Victory and everybody who has supported it has done. And obviously we need people to continue to do it; it makes a difference here.”

USC is not in the same tier as Oregon, Texas A&M or Miami regarding its NIL operations. Those involved with the collective say there are still steps that need to be taken but real progress has been made, especially since Cohen’s arrival.

USC’s 2025 recruiting class ranks 19th in the country, per the 247Sports Composite. That is below the program’s historical standard.

A more aligned NIL outfit should help, but the Trojans’ staff also needs to recruit better and the program needs to win more games on the field. So while NIL efforts have improved and need to continue to do so, other aspects of the program must also take steps forward.

(Photo: Jerome Miron / USA Today)