According to USA Today’s database, Lincoln Riley is the fourth highest-paid college football coach. It’s a pretty safe bet to assume that USC will be in the top 10 for assistant coach salaries, probably closer to the top 5.
In theory, the return for that kind of salary should be a top 10 result. This is the third year of Riley’s tenure. His list. his staff. his program. his vision. This probably sounds like a broken record, but Riley is not delivering on the investment USC made in him.
That much has been clear for weeks, but it should be clear to everyone after the Trojans suffered a crushing 29-28 loss to Maryland on Saturday night.
USC (3-4, 1-4 Big Ten) is good enough to play in every game. The Trojans lead in losses in each of the fourth quarters. Those games were all winnable.
But USC continues to falter. This time, Maryland blocked Michael Lantz’s 41-yard field goal attempt with two minutes left. The Trojans didn’t do a good job stopping up front, and instead of leading 31-22 in the final stages of the game, USC was forced to send the defense back down the field. Less than a minute later, Maryland scored the go-ahead touchdown. The offense had success across midfield but could not get into field goal range.
critical. pic.twitter.com/FV5InVZSg2
— USC Football ✌️ (@uscfb) October 19, 2024
Afterwards, Riley was asked why USC was having trouble closing out games.
“I don’t know,” he said.
It doesn’t really matter what Riley says. The important thing is to find solutions to whatever the team is failing to achieve on the field. So far he hasn’t done that.
And there’s a problem. Week after week, USC’s defense failed to produce a fourth down even when it was absolutely needed. The offense falters at key moments when it has a chance to dominate the game. It’s special teams that make big mistakes at key moments.
This team just finds ways to lose games.
“We were a good enough team to have a chance to win every game, but we weren’t a good enough team to break away,” Riley told reporters after the loss. You have to make plays to beat someone. Especially on the road. You’ll have to make a field goal, make a fourth down tackle, catch, throw, block, whatever. Because it will not be handed over to you.”
We know what hiring rankings mean. I know where USC ranks in the 247Sports Team Talent Composite. And I know the Trojans have more talent than Minnesota or Maryland. But I also know that USC isn’t talented enough to stand out from its opponents. Not a critical place (in the trenches). Nor is it the way Riley describes it above. And even if this team is more talented than the Golden Gophers or Terrapins, it’s not a big enough difference to make a sloppy mistake and get away with it.
It took Riley three years to make this list. If the Trojans don’t have enough talent right now, it’s up to him. I think we should stop talking about how he can’t wave a magic wand. There isn’t much reason to believe USC will have dramatically more talent in Year 4. The Trojans’ 2025 recruiting class ranks in the top 10 nationally, but it would be foolish to expect a true freshman.
Keep in mind that next year’s schedule includes road games at Notre Dame and Oregon and a home game against Michigan.
Even if USC succeeds in upgrading its roster in a significant way, it still needs to address the issue of attention to detail. It was lacking throughout Riley’s tenure. Whether it was Mario Williams failing to make a fair catch on a crucial kickoff against Tulane in the Cotton Bowl two years ago, or whether it was John Humphrey and Kamari Ramsey failing to tackle Michigan running back Kalel Mullings — who turned a 15-yard gain into a 63-yard score. . Set up the Wolverines’ game-winning score in September or miss a block on Lantz’s field goal attempt Saturday night.
Coaches often say, “You are either coaching or allowing it to happen.” These types of mistakes are a reflection of the manager, as are all of these close losses. USC has blown 14-point leads in each of the last two weeks. Riley lost 12 games as the Trojans coach. His team has blown 14-point leads in five of those games.
Of course, each can be explained in a vacuum, but these losses have become a pattern. One of those things that can’t be explained.
“We do a lot of the hard work to win games against good teams, but not being able to close out the game eats away at you,” Riley said.
At 3-4, USC fell below .500 for the first time in Riley’s tenure. He needs to change something structurally in the way he runs the program. Naturally, some will call for his firing, but unless that demand includes about $80 million, that’s not realistic.
So Riley and USC will likely be in this together for some time. The Trojans coach can’t double down on how he’s running the program. He is 11-11 in the 2022 regular season. Whatever he does doesn’t work. I think that kind of reflection will happen once the offseason is over. But why didn’t they do that last offseason after a disastrous 7-5 regular season?
The culture looks better than last season but will be tested in the coming weeks.
The Trojans no longer looked disinterested in their rivalry with UCLA last season. So Riley will have to prove that he can motivate this team.
It’s late October and USC already has nothing to boast about other than pride. Third grade is not where that should happen.
(Photo: Greg Fiume / Getty Images)
