If you ever find yourself inside USC’s Heritage Hall, you’ll be immersed in a tribute to the school’s rich history in collegiate sports, including an iconic statue that sits in the center of the room.
However, the tall bronze figure, surrounded by multiple championships, autographed jerseys and a record-number of Heisman trophies, isn’t an athlete.
Instead, with its Trojan outfit and sword, the statue represents the USC Drum Major, the leader of the school’s award-winning marching band.
“Coach [Ed] Orgeron said that this marching band is like the heartbeat of the institution, says Sam Perez, the band’s current drum major.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
In many ways, Sam was destined to be a USC student and play in the marching band.
We sat down with the grad student ahead of his travel to USC Football’s matchup against the University of Minnesota’s Golden Gophers.
"My dad has ten siblings, so there's 11 of them, and out of the 11 of them, six of them came to USC,” he explains. “And five of them were in the marching band here."
It only made sense that Sam, who grew up going to band practice and football games, would follow in his family’s footsteps, but his path to the top of the band was anything but a straight line.
Sam was rejected by USC multiple times.
“It was devastating,” he says. “I applied here coming out of high school, didn't get in, appealed, didn't get in and then attempted to transfer twice from Cal State Long Beach and got rejected both times.”
The spirit of Troy
USC’s marching band stands out from most marching bands across the country.
The band plays at every USC football game, including on the road, and they’re the only college marching band to claim two platinum records, in addition to live performances around the world with some of music’s biggest names.
In that light, the band is known as the “Spirit of Troy,” known for their song, “Fight On.”
To get to where he is today, Sam had to embody that spirit and fight.
“I thought the the dream was kind of said and done,” he says. “And I sat down with the director, Dr. Jacob Vogel, and I was like, ‘I want to be a student here.’ And he says, ‘Well, let's make that dream happen.’”
Now a grad student, on his fifth attempt, Sam finally became a Trojan.
“The fifth time was the charm, not the third,” he says laughing. “I started crying. I don't think I've ever wanted something so much in my life.”
Sam was accepted into a music master’s program and into the marching band.
This year, Sam’s bandmates voted him in as the band’s newest drum major, capping off an ascent he thought might never happen.
“Being a leader to me, like, I’m not above them, you know? We’re one altogether,” he says about his relatively new position. “I might get to wear a different uniform on a Saturday, but they're putting in just as much hard work as I am, if not more.”
A little too excited
Now in his new dream position, Sam always knew his first football game might be a big one.
With USC ranked in the top-25, the Trojans were set to open their 2024-25 season against the LSU Tigers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
In front of a national audience, like so many drum majors before him, Sam walked out onto the field and marched his way to the 50 yard line and proceeded to stab the field with his sword.
But as Trojan fans in the crowd roared with excitement, Sam seemingly had trouble pulling the sword back out, in a moment that quickly went viral.
“I’d been dreaming of that moment that like first moment to stab the field,” he says. “And so I went for it, you know, all of it. And I went through the field, through the rubber, and then I hit the concrete. So and I pulled up. I had realized like, ‘Uh oh.’”
While his newest accessory required a visit to the blacksmith after the game, Sam took it all in stride.
It was a moment a lifetime in the making, not only for him, but his community.
“I want to make an impact and I want to leave a legacy that outlasts me,” Sam says. “Especially in a band that the majority is Latinos too. We’re one third Latinos within the marching band, which has never been that big before.”
For the Lancaster native and longtime trumpet player, the position of drum major is one he says he’ll never take for granted.
“I think every game day, like every day I get to put on like the super suit,” he explains, “I have that moment of like, ‘Wow, like, this is my life right now.”
