CHICAGO – Since his latest letdown of a season ended, Lincoln Riley has gone from football coach to campaign manager.
His pitch, given to anyone who will listen, is that this is his best team since he’s arrived at USC, that the window to win big is open.
The spin cycle revved up again Tuesday at Big Ten media days, Riley bringing his stump speech to an elevated platform inside a hotel ballroom.
The besieged coach broke out a few more buzzwords, telling reporters about “alignment” and “momentum” that reminded him of the way he was able to get things rolling at Oklahoma.
For the first time, Riley said, he feels those same factors are in place at USC now that his program has completed the transition to a new conference with a new athletic director and new university president.
“It’s been fun to see our program grow in all the areas,” Riley said, “that you need to be a championship-level program.”
Well, here’s something else to consider that may not be as enjoyable: Your future here can be thrown out of the open window – massive buyout be damned – unless 2026 is the start of something special.
Reaching the College Football Playoff once in five seasons – now a best-case scenario for one of the game’s highest-paid coaches – should not fly at a place where the baseline for success going forward must be to qualify in four out of five seasons.
Remember, making the expanded CFP now means that you’re only one of the best 12 teams in the country. Soon, that number could double.
There’s no excuse for the Trojans not to be part of that group nearly every season.
Otherwise, USC football really has lost its luster.
A program that’s piled up 11 national championships and eight Heisman Trophy winners hasn’t accomplished much since Pete Carroll bolted after the 2009 season, taking the fun vibes and wild success with him to the NFL.
Every coach since has been a dud. Lane Kiffin met his demise on the tarmac. Steve Sarkisian required a trip to rehab. Clay Helton never built upon the promise of a first full season that ended in the Rose Bowl.
When he arrived at USC prior to the 2022 season, Riley was hailed as the surprise hire of the coaching carousel. It was perceived that he was someone who could take the Trojans back to the heights of a Carroll era that included seven top-five finishes and two national titles.
Four years later, what has Riley wrought?
A 35-18 record that barely beats Helton’s 31-17 mark through the same point? Appearances in the Holiday, Las Vegas and Alamo bowls?
Riley’s Trojans have posted one good season – his first, propped up by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams – and even that ended in a deflating Cotton Bowl loss to Tulane. Everything since has devolved into a hodgepodge of crummy defenses, mediocre bowl games and excuses.
His greatest feat so far might be keeping the pitchforks and torches from reducing him into a ball of unfulfilled promise.
It seems like a lifetime ago that Riley led his teams to three appearances in the four-team CFP in five seasons at Oklahoma.
Once he got to USC?
Nada. Zilch. Nothing.
Since last season concluded with another flameout in the Alamo Bowl, Riley has gone on a media blitz to say things are different now, that his Trojans can finally achieve what he came here to do.
On Tuesday, he acknowledged that his team needs to win the big games on the road that it’s dropped in recent seasons. Think at Oregon at 2025, at Michigan in 2024 and at Oregon again in 2023.
“Once you can do that consistently,” Riley said of winning those games, “you can beat anybody.”
It’s long past time Riley showed tangible results. Barely beating Iowa at home, perhaps the high point of last season, is not worthy of a fist pump that made it seem like you had just won a national title.
In case Riley didn’t notice, Curt Cignetti won a national championship in Year 2 – at Indiana, which had negligible history and meager resources before Mark Cuban’s recent involvement.
Compounding Riley’s failures, he’s gotten everything one could ask for at USC.
Besides his eight-figure salary, Riley has enjoyed nearly unlimited resources, a $200-million performance center that just opened and an athletic department that’s given him the benefit of so many doubts.
That must end now if this team can’t erase them.
The schedule sets up favorably enough, with showdown games against Oregon and Ohio State at the Coliseum, not to mention a bye week for extra preparation before facing Indiana in Bloomington.
The Trojans can lose two games and probably make the CFP with room to spare. Riley absolutely needs to lead this team – with a veteran quarterback in Jayden Maiava, every starting offensive lineman back and a universally respected defensive coordinator in Gary Patterson – to the CFP.
Just as important, he must continue to do so regularly in seasons to come.
Anything less, and he’s gotta go.
Athletic director Jennifer Cohen’s department can’t withstand another massive failure with the brand that’s the face of the place.
The window’s open?
Slam it shut – with Riley outside – if 2026 isn’t his long overdue breakthrough.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
