USC is the first FBS team in the clubhouse for the 2023 regular season, having completed their second round under Lincoln Riley with last week's loss to UCLA. After carding an unexpected 65 in the 2022 regular season, the Trojans shot a 90 in 2023. And while the course was undoubtedly more difficult this time around -- USC faced Arizona, Notre Dame, Utah, Washington, Oregon and UCLA among their final seven opponents -- the Trojans didn't help themselves, slicing and duck hooking their way to every sand trap, water hazard and cart path in their way.
With no game for another month-plus, Lincoln Riley granted a lengthy interview to The Athletic in which he confirmed he'll be back at USC next season.
"Hell no. No," Riley said when asked if he'd be interested in a hypothetical NFL opening. "I’m coaching at SC. Period. I didn’t come here for some short-term thing and as long as SC continues to give us the support and the things we need to continue to build this, this was not a two-year rebuild. No. I’m going to be the coach at SC. Period. End of discussion. I’m so committed to this place because I know what it can be. And if that commitment continues to get matched around us, we’re going to do what we’ve got to do in here and make the adjustments, make the tough decisions, push on the good, own the bad, fix the bad. We’re in it through all the twists and turns and I wanted to make sure people knew that and the more people we have with that same attitude, the faster this thing’s going to get back to normal."
Riley granted another interview this season in which he didn't sound like a man who planned to be in coaching for the long haul. And while it remains to be seen if the 40-year-old will still be in coaching when he's 60, that answer made clear he'll be at USC when he turns 41.
As for the hypothetical NFL opening: it's an unlikely any teams looking to jump-start their offense would even look his way this winter. After starting 11-1 in Los Angeles, Riley is 7-7 since. The Trojans allowed 40 points or more five times in those 14 games, and they surrendered at least 34 points more times (eight) than not (six).
Riley is taking this opportunity to evaluate every aspect of the program, starting with the defensive coordinator hire.
"I think it starts with we have to get the right coordinator in. We’ve got to surround him with the right staff," Riley said. "We’ve got to continue to build the talent base and we’ve got to really look at … what are we doing defensively to put our guys in the best position possible to go play well? That’s a schematic question. It’s a mentality question. It’s a fundamental question. It’s how we practice. It’s how we train them. I don’t think there’s any part of it where you’re like this is good enough."
Riley also indicated he would give-up play-calling if he felt that was in the best interest of the program.
"There’s nothing I would say, 'Well, I’m just not going to do that because I don’t want to do that.' Everything for me is like, 'What’s going to make USC better?' If I ever felt like that was, I’d do it in a heartbeat."
Obviously, the fact that Riley has not done that yet indicates that, in his opinion, there's no better play-caller for USC than Lincoln Riley. And he had Kliff Kingsbury on staff all season.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.