USC Was Best Option For Tezeno

USC Was Best Option For Tezeno

BOBBY ARDOIN

St. Landry Now.com Editor

Roderick Tezeno certainly had other attractive options, but after weighing impressive offers from other schools, the Opelousas Catholic standout stuck by his original commitment and ultimately chose the University of Southern California to launch his college football career.

“I had other options,” Tezeno said on Wednesday, following his early signing date ceremony held in the school gymnasium as teammates, classmates and underclassmen cheered and applauded the moment.

The list of potential Division 1 programs that Tezeno said showed interest included Georgia, Mississippi State, Virginia Tech, Tulane, Kentucky, Arkansas and Oklahoma State.

Not a bad group to choose from.

There might have been others involved in the recruiting process of Tezeno, whose two-years of pass receiving numbers speak for themselves.

However,Tezeno said after considering all the possibilities and offenses potentially available, USC at this point presents him with the offense that best suits his skill set that includes the versatility to play a number of different roles at the line of scrimmage.

“It’s just a great school that I thought treated me well when I went there and will give me the best opportunity to do well. It’s a neat environment and I think that will take care of me there,” said Tezeno.

Tezeno and OCS head football coach Cullen Matherne both think Tezeno has an attractive adaptability factor that will enable the 6-foot-2, 175-pound receiver to play a variety of roles in the Trojans’ passing game.

Matherne said Tezeno has enough speed to challenge a secondary, but what makes Tezeno lucrative as a receiver is the ability to play multiple roles in the passing game.

“(Tezeno) can be used down the sideline or a rail or he can work the middle of the field. He knows how to run a route and how to be patient. He is not the fastest in top-line speed, but he has what we call football speed, which allows him to compete,” said Matherne.

What becomes obvious as a passing play develops, Matherne said, is the rhythm that Tezeno shows, especially on timing routes.

The 2025 season saw Tezeno catch nine touchdown passes and accumulate 725 yards. Tezeno also missed four games with injuries this season, a factor that Matherne said hurt the overall receiving numbers.

Prior to this past regular season, Tezeno had well over a 1,000 receiving yards during his OCS career.

Southern Cal, Matherne said, researched Tezeno quite thoroughly and evidently approved what they saw.

“Lincoln Riley (USC head football coach) flew down here when we did our run through at Donald Gardner Stadium for Vermilion Catholic. He told me then that he loves the different things that (Tezeno) brings and that Rod has the speed and height that he wants,” Matherne added.

Now Tezeno admitted that it’s up to him to complete the proper preparations for college football.

“What I have to do now is study the system and learn how I will fit into their program. I’ll get busy with what I have to do with the weights, work on running routes, doing my running and then what I need to do at the dinner table,” Tezeno said.