USA TODAY Sports published its annual list of college football head coaching salaries on Wednesday. The top five coaches on the list and seven of the top eight have all made the College Football Playoff. The top two coaches on the list have won multiple national championships. In that group of highly-paid coaches is Lincoln Riley. The USC head coach did have a superb season in 2022, but the trajectory of the program is, at best, stuck in neutral right now before recruiting reinforcements arrive in 2025. A coach being paid a top-five national salary is supposed to do more with the investment USC has made in his talent and reputation.
It’s impossible to say that the USC program is headed upward right now, given the 3-3 start to the season and a poor track record in close games. USC is 1-3 in games decided by a margin of one score (eight points or fewer), the mark of a team which comes close but can’t finish the job.
It is too early to write off Riley at USC. He basically threw away one year, 2023, by retaining Alex Grinch. Now he is playing catch-up. The 2024 season had high hopes, but being realistic, USC was not in an ideal position to contend for championships this season. The Trojans need to stockpile talent, especially on the front lines. They need to land big fish in the transfer portal and bring in an offensive line coach who can recruit better than what Josh Henson has done. The 2024 season won’t be a success unless USC can win each of its next six games, which is highly unlikely. The Trojans have to show something more in 2025. We will see what the state of the program is 13 or 14 months from now. Then Lincoln Riley’s future can be evaluated more fully. Right now, we can simply say that USC isn’t getting anything close to a maximum return on its investment.
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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC is definitely not getting bang for the buck with Lincoln Riley
