USC football expected to elevate Conor McQuiston to new director of AI role: Source

LOS ANGELES — USC will elevate Conor McQuiston to director of Artificial Intelligence, a program source confirmed Wednesday.

McQuiston joined the program last year and served as the director of football analytics. USA Today Sports first reported the news.

Over the last year, McQuiston has worked on projects focused on opponent scouting, tendencies and similar matters. The program source said USC will hire more people to help with analytics as a result of this move.

It’s unclear what McQuiston’s focus will be as the director of AI, but that’s understandable because this is the first hire of its type in college football. We’re still in the infancy stages in terms of learning how AI is utilized across the college football landscape.

It has made its way into recruiting, though. A Power 4 front office staffer told The Athletic this spring that they’ve worked with an AI company that’s developed and formed an agent who watches recruiting film for them and acts as the first set of eyes on some prospects. There’s also been talk of utilizing AI to filter recruits, and it’s already being used to help with graphics.

It’s widely unknown how a football program utilizes it in day-to-day operations, though it seems like it could be beneficial as a research tool.

USC trustee Mark Stevens and his wife, Mary Stevens, gave the university $200 million to bolster AI research last month. The program is on the front line of AI in college football with this role, but there is surely still plenty of ground for USC and other programs to cover in that space. USC also has a director of game management, Connor Killian, so the program has clearly been considering ways to gain advantages in the margins.