Former USC defensive lineman Bear Alexander decided to forgo the remainder of his junior season to preserve an additional year of college football eligibility. He will utilize a one-time redshirt with plans to seek new opportunity at his third different program in four years.
The former four-star recruit finally broke his silence on the unprecedented move over the weekend.
Alexander was ranked as the No. 15-ranked player at his position in the college football recruiting Class of 2022 and initially committed to Georgia. The Trojans were able to lure him out of the Peach State through the transfer portal that following offseason. A sweet new apartment in downtown Los Angeles likely helped to sway his decision.
Although there was a lot of hype about the 6-foot-3, 315-pound tackle’s ability to boost USC’s defense, Alexander was just good — not great — during the 2023 season. He made 47 total tackles with 1.5 sacks.
Emotions ran high throughout the year.
Bear Alexander is emotional after being called for targeting pic.twitter.com/erv9b0rWCk
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 22, 2023
There was a lot of chatter back in April about Alexander and whether he might re-enter the transfer portal. That did not happen then. It is (probably) going to happen now.
Alexander recorded only one tackle in wins over LSU and Utah State in Weeks 1 and 2. He made three tackles in a loss to Michigan. His snap count was pretty minimal, which led to a telling (and targeted) post on Instagram.
As a result of the playing time concerns, Alexander will not finish out the season. The Trojans played Saturday without him and will continue to do so over the next seven weeks.
Bear Alexander is leaving.
Every player in college football has the opportunity to use one redshirt season per four years of eligibility with no questions ask. Typically, the coaching staff makes that decision in an effort to preserve a player who has a lot of potential but isn’t quite ready for a significant role come game day.
Not anymore!
In the era of NIL and the transfer portal, the athletes are choosing to redshirt themselves. Alexander announced last week that he will sit out the rest of the year with plans to transfer in December.
It will mark his eighth different school in nine years.
- 2018 – Terrell High School (TX)
- 2019 – Skyline High School (TX)
- 2020 – Denton High School (TX)
- 2021 – IMG Academy (FL)
- 2022 – Georgia
- 2023 – USC
- 2024 – Three games at USC, self-redshirt
- 2025 – ???
Alexander finally broke his silence on the decision during an interview with TMZ Sports.
As could be expected, an opportunity to be on the field seems to be the primary reason for the unprecedented move. Alexander wants to play. USC was not giving him enough snaps.
Missing the spring, but coming back, taking reps over the course of practice and evaluating it as a whole. We felt like once we got to Michigan, it was pretty much figured out from there.
— Bear Alexander via TMZ
His father played a big role in the decision to redshirt, which is always concerning.
We talked about it. [Lincoln Riley] and my dad just worked through it. In terms of what he said, we just wanted to make it clear. We the guy, we’ve been wanted to be the guy.
— Bear Alexander via TMZ
It is unclear as to what (or where) might be next for Bear Alexander. There have been rumblings about a potential return to the SEC but it is far too early to speculate on his next program.
In the meantime, Alexander will continue to root for his former teammates. He claims that he will “always be a Trojan,” even though he is no longer a Trojan.