Lincoln Riley is entering his fourth season as head coach at USC, and it’s fair to say the pressure is on. Over his three seasons, the Trojans have progressively finished with a worse record than the season before, and USC hasn’t finished a season ranked since 2022.
As he heads into 2025, Riley has put together an impressive recruiting class with 27 total commits, including two five-star and 13 four-star players.
Lincoln Riley’s No. 1 USC Class Draws Mixed Reaction Despite Dominant 2026 Haul
This class of four-star and five-star players brings a ton of talent at key positions like tackle, cornerback, wide receiver, and defensive line. The diamond of the group is a five-star quarterback, Husan Longstreet, out of Corona, Calif.
No matter where you look, this class is considered a top-15 one at worst, and some publications even rank it No. 1 overall.
USC’s 2026 Recruiting Class is INSANE:
• #1 Recruiting Class 🏆
• 27 Commits 🤯 (Most Commits by 12 players!)• 2 5-Stars
• 13 4-Stars
• 11 3-StarsLincoln Riley is LOCKED IN ✌️ pic.twitter.com/WwKzNOPuY0
— College Football Report (@CFBRep) May 3, 2025
On the surface, you would think this would have fans excited or at least impressed with what Riley and his team have added this offseason. However, the downward trend of the program over the past few seasons has caught up to him.
While offensive fireworks have been a staple, defensive struggles and marquee losses have left a sense of unfulfilled potential. Last season, USC was toward the bottom third of the league in yards allowed on the defensive side, and fans are still not letting that go.
One fan on X chimed in that not a single one of these recruits could tackle.
Other fans kept it to more broad-ranging criticism about the program failing to win big games and likely to finish with an underwhelming win total again.
The disappointment isn’t a direct indictment of this recruitment class itself. For the most part, fans aren’t disputing the quality of the talent Riley is bringing in. However, there is a broader concern about the overall trajectory of the program under his leadership.
His arrival in Los Angeles brought a lot of hope and expectations, and as he enters year four, those haven’t been met yet.
In some regards, the overall criticism of Riley and the USC program is fair. As noted earlier, he’s gone from 11-3 to 8-5 to 7-6 since taking over. Still, fans on X are overstating how bad Riley has been.
Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley holds the championship trophy after the game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Allegiant Stadium.
Some have commented that he’ll still finish with just eight wins again, when in fact, he has surpassed that win total in every year of his collegiate career before the past two.
Riley is 81-24 in his career, which is good for a 77.1% win percentage. Yes, it’s true that USC has struggled over the past two seasons, but the strength of its schedule has increased in each season, going from 3.49 to 7.98.
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Look, it’s not that fans are wrong to be critical of Riley and to expect more. However, building a program takes time, and this recruiting class should be a good step in the right direction. Regardless, Riley and USC will have much to prove on Saturdays in 2025.
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