USC announced Monday night that inside wideouts coach Dave Nichol has stepped away from the team to “focus on a private medical matter.”

Luke Huard, who joined the USC football staff in February as an offensive analyst, will serve in an interim capacity as the team’s inside wideout coach until Nichol returns.

As the team’s associate head coach for offense, Nichol was going to have a serious role within the team as it opens a new era. He was hired by Lincoln Riley in December after spending the previous two seasons with Mike Leach at Mississippi State.

Huard spent the past three seasons (2019-21) as an offensive analyst at Texas A&M.  Before that, he coached at Sacramento State (co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2017 and 2018), Georgia State (offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2013 to 2016), and Illinois State (quarterbacks coach in 2009, then offensive coordinator from 2010 to 2012).   

USC begins spring ball Tuesday. The spring game is set for April 23.