“It was written.” How USC center Jonah Monheim became the leader of the Trojans

USC’s final three centers were swimming in the Whitefish River last July, hiking through the mountains of Montana, when suddenly Brett Neylon and his canoe came ashore.

The pipe couldn’t be saved. What was once a lazy river became a rescue mission for Justin Dedich and Jonah Monheim, the two centers who followed Nylon to USC. When they finally rescued Nylon — and had a good laugh about it — they put him on a spare float that was otherwise destined for a beer cooler.

He didn’t mind. It was the perfect way for the trio to tell the kind of story they would tell years later over a cold beer. They already had plenty of stories, and a fourth trip to Montana would add more moments, from late-night bonfires where the sun sets at midnight to shared karaoke in Fleetwood Mac’s car. But finding time for such an excursion was becoming increasingly difficult, as their lives now took different directions.

Nealon, who started 43 games at center for USC, was on to his next chapter, working in business development with Rex Seaside Steakhouse in Redondo Beach. Dedic signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent and is still pursuing his NFL dream. And Monheim soon started at center for USC, eventually settling into the position everyone always agreed suited him best.

The three centers became especially close during their three years together on the USC offensive line, a lifelong friendship forged out of a horrendous 4-8 season. They understood each other. Until Nylon’s final season in 2022, they spent most of their free time together.

At the time, they discussed the succession plan and together created a scenario in which each took the reins from the other. Dedic was in first place. But Monheim had never played that position. His journey began as an offensive struggle during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Three years later, he was still filling in at the spot where he was needed most.

But the friends were surprised by his plan. Even as the offensive line coach tackled Monheim one after another, the other two centers in the trio knew where he was going. They knew his mind as well as they did, it seemed so obvious. As for Neylon and Dedic, Monheim would be the better center between them.

“It’s already written,” Neylon said.

Monheim could go to the NFL after last season and throw a wrench into the succession plan. He could be a mid-round pick, learning the position on the fly during NFL practices and preseason training camp. He gave a serious opinion on the matter. But instead of returning to USC, he followed in the footsteps of his two friends and finished what he started.

“I only get one shot to get to the next level,” Monheim said. “So I wanted to be as perfect as possible to make that happen.”

This week marks a milestone on the road, as Monheim takes the Trojans and their unproven offensive line to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to face one of the best defensive lines in college football. Monheim will have to clear the way for the reigning national champions.

“He’s our backbone,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “There’s no doubt about it.”

When Ryan Huisenga first promoted Monheim to Moorpark’s left back role, his first instinct was to protect him.

I didn’t know how Monheim would fit in. He was a quiet kid. He mostly kept to himself around older players. But when it came to physical tools, Monheim had everything a coach could ask for in a young lineman.

Monheim was faster than any 15-year-old lineman Huisenga had ever coached, and that calmed Huisenga down. By the end of Monheim’s second season, he was setting up Moorpark’s defense in the middle of the game. Soon, Huisenga said, “it was like I was talking to one of my assistant coaches.”

This meant Monheim would be under center, a position that required a more cerebral approach. Even after he grew to 6-foot-5 and school after school lined up to check him out, he was still undersized compared to other top tackle prospects. When Oregon State’s staff told Huisenga that Monheim was too small to be a big lineman, Huisenga could only roll his eyes.

Longtime Oklahoma offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh was one of the first to show serious interest. He saw Monheim’s future on the interior and shared that enthusiasm with Riley, who was then coaching at Oklahoma.

It was mutual. Huisenga said Monheim was near Oklahoma when his father was looking at real estate in Norman, Oklahoma.

At that point, it was clear that with the right team and coach, Monheim could make it to the league as an infielder. So he was rushed into center over the summer to prepare him for the position his coaches thought he would play in college.

But at USC, the center position was well stocked. Naylon had a full season under his belt and Dedich surprisingly stepped up as a redshirt freshman backup. Then Monheim began to struggle, where the Trojans were thin. Three years later he was still there.

“He’s a very smart guy and technically so solid that it’s easy to handle him and try to solve other problems that you have,” Huisenga said.

It didn’t seem that easy for Monheim. At least not right away. As a freshman, he felt like he’d barely splashed water. The pandemic only made matters worse.

“Everything was so new,” Monheim said. “You’re just learning at a very fast pace, which is all you’re doing.”

Just like in Moorpark, it took him a while to get comfortable. He didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes.

“We knew Yunus, but not really,” Dedic said. “He was reticent and trying to understand his role. But that second year we thought, ‘This guy is really smart.’ That’s when we realized how special he was.”

Monheim won the starting job at right tackle before that season. And in turn, he was around other players on the offensive line more. To Neylon, he became the “little brother” of the group. The more comfortable they get, the more Nylon burns with him.

Riley’s arrival in Monheim in 2022 felt like divine intervention. With a new head coach he always wanted to play for, he made a huge leap as a redshirt sophomore. Paired with Neylon and Dedic on the right side of the line, their connection became almost telekinetic.

“We just winked at each other and knew what was going on,” Dedic said.

Off the field, the group was inseparable. Many nights they sang karaoke at Jacks N’ Joe, an all-day breakfast spot on campus that didn’t advertise itself as a karaoke night, but the owner, a huge USC fan, had a karaoke machine. “It was a blast,” Neylon said. Most of the time, Dedich jokes, it’s Nylon who “reads the mic.”

Monheim was happy to be the youngest of the five. But that season, the rest of the line concluded that he might be the best of them all.

“We all knew he was bad,” Neylon said. “But he let us lead.”

Neylon, who tore his ACL in the Pac-12 title game, left after that season and Dedic took the reins at center while Monheim moved to left tackle. With three new transfers at his side, the chemistry was never the same. Amid a turbulent season ahead, Monheim has emerged as a steady force. Even while still playing from his preferred position.

Dedic said: “He never complained. On paper, he has all the weak points of the solution. But you watch the film and it’s like he’s always hitting the ball.”

USC offensive line coach Josh Henson has always been honest with Monheim about his chances of moving to the next level. So when the 2023 campaign ended and the NFL became a serious consideration, he talked to Monheim about moving to center.

“Probably one of the smartest players I’ve ever had the opportunity to coach,” Henson said. “And really that conversation was, where’s your future? Because you’re talking about a guy who’s been unfathomable the last two years, who’s second only to (Chargers rookie tackle) Joe Alt in the entire country.”

Dedic and Neylon tried to give him space to make a decision. But they both knew him well enough to guess.

“He really likes USC,” Neylon said. “I think he probably felt a responsibility too because the older man is now in that room. So I think it would have been tough for him to go and resign. This is his time, his time in the succession plan. And he’s in charge of the O-Line and, honestly, the whole team.”

Nealon was in the crowd at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas when Monheim lined up at center in USC’s season opener against Louisiana State. The noise in the building was deafening — a nightmare for any new center leading a new line — but here Monheim was, calmly directing the huddle and keeping LSU’s defensive linemen off the ball.

Last summer, the two friends helped each other train as Neylon prepared for his pro day and Monheim learned the finer points of the core game. During the game, Neilon discovered how much his friend had grown since he met him. He beamed like a proud older brother.

“He will always be a little brother to all of us with that baby face and that baby fat,” Neylon said. “But now you look at him, he has a beard and you say, ‘This is a leader. This is a grown man.’”

In Montana, as they wandered through Glacier National Park or belted out “Landage” in the car, they were back to their normal flow. But at USC, it’s Monheim’s show now, a chance to take the lead in the position he’s supposed to play.

The last step of his plan that Neylon could see was finally coming to fruition.

“We knew for a long time that this was going to happen,” Neylon said.

But Dedich said: “It’s fantastic to see the plan come together.”