Two years ago, things looked really promising for the USC Trojans. With Lincoln Riley as head coach, the Trojans had an 11-3 record in 2022, and quarterback Caleb Williams had won the Heisman Trophy. USC saw its run lead to the Pac-12 Championship. Puzzle pieces were seemingly perfect for the program for the first time in a long time. But now things have gone back to the way they were before Riley’s hire.
Paul Finebaum on Trojans Head Coach Lincoln Riley’s Production
Riley was hired as USC’s head coach on a $110 million deal over 10 years. In his first year, he turned the team around from a four-win season in 2021 to an 11-win campaign. The Trojans accumulated 579 points, compared to 344 the year before.
After leaving the Oklahoma Sooners, where Riley had a 55-10 record and led the program to four Big 12 titles and three College Football Playoff berths, Riley hasn’t been able to match that showing at USC in his second and third years.
His record is 26-14 over his tenure, and it’s been going downhill steadily. After his first year of success, the following campaigns saw his records go to 8-5 and then 7-6.
MORE: Urban Meyer Claims Lincoln Riley Has Lost His Rebuild of USC
Talking about the coach’s performance this past year, analyst Paul Finebaum, on the latest episode of his eponymous show, said:
“They went out and hired Lincoln Riley expecting that to turn the program around. Caleb Williams transferred from Oklahoma. Outside of one good year, Lincoln Riley has been a bust at USC. I think that’s the problem. He can’t seem to get it turned around.”
USC’s passing game only clicked in the last game of the regular season, when the team was already out of the playoff picture. For most of the Trojans’ run, they struggled in high-scoring games.
Earlier in the year, when USC was 4-5, Finebaum had said that Riley would be the last coach he’d want to play for. Even before that, on “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning” during the offseason, the analyst had predicted that this would be the last season the coach and USC would stay together:
“If you look at their reality, the number of players bailing on Lincoln Riley in Southern California is startling. I always thought he was a really good coach. Especially on the offensive side. But I don’t think anyone today views him in that same realm. Quite frankly, I think he’ll be out of Southern California at the end of the season.”
With so many questions about the coach’s future, it’s unclear how long he’ll be with the SoCal-based program.
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