Lincoln Riley, the fourth highest-paid coach in college football according to USA Today, continues struggling to deliver successful results despite heavy investment by the University of Southern California (USC). Now in his third year as coach and a program designed entirely by him, USC still posts lacklustre results, such as a recent 29-28 loss to Maryland. With a season-tally at 3-4, this emphasizes the waste of a talented roster that persistently almost wins then falters near the very end.
This pattern is reflected in several games where the Trojans led in the last quarter but ultimately failed to win. For example, with only two minutes remaining, Maryland blocked Michael Lantz’s field goal attempt. The defensive offensive slip-up saw the Trojans producing sub-par performance, and just under a minute later, Maryland scored the winning touchdown. Post-game, Riley queried why they can’t finalize matches when asked by reporters. He added the need for a team to be functional at critical moments, regardless of its talent or capability.
This ongoing problem lies in the Trojans’ frequent failure in key situations – whether inability to halt the opponent on fourth down or faltering offence when they can finalize the game. Even when an edge is given to them, they always manage to flip the situation and lose. Riley admitted to press post-game, “We’ve been a good team to have a chance to win but have not been good enough to make the separation.”
Riley has had three years to fine-tune his squad, and if it lacks talent, the blame falls squarely on his shoulders. While there is potential for an upgrade in talent with the 2025 recruitment drive, solely relying on freshmen is risky. Besides, Riley’s tenure has been marked by a lack of attention to detail, which needs to be addressed urgently. Such errors not only cost matches but are indicative of the head coach’s performance too.
Riley’s track record isn’t encouraging. USC has squandered 14-point leads in the past two weeks while Riley has dropped 12 games as the head coach. Such losses have taken on a recurring pattern and beg for a solution. Having fallen below .500, Riley needs to restructure his approach to improve the team’s performance. While some might call for his dismissal, that option seems unlikely given the enormous financial implications.
It appears that USC and Riley will have to remain committed going ahead. As the team stands at 11-11 since the regular 11-1 season of 2022, something in Riley’s approach is clearly not delivering. This requires critical introspection probably once the offseason commence. But the question remains why wasn’t it done during the last offseason? As USC currently has nothing but pride to play for, Riley needs to motivate his team to break out of the slump as the season enters its closing stages.
