The last time Los Angeles saw well Lincoln Rileywas being defeated by his greatest rival.
The last time University of the South Fans spotted Lincoln Riley in his backyard, he was embarrassing himself for A coach who didn’t even want to be there.
The last time the Trojan family surrounded Lincoln Riley with true hope, he was humiliated in his biggest game of the year despite being carried by the The number one pick in the NFL draft.
The last time Lincoln Riley played a game that really mattered, it was… It was UCLA 38, USC 20honeymoon done.
And now that?
Riley is entering the most difficult and defining season of his eight-year coaching career, and how he handles it will ultimately determine the course of his future at a school that has so far received little return on his considerable investment.
Read more: USC football team grateful for ‘tremendous progress’ as Big Ten opens first preseason camp
No, his job is not in jeopardy. Let’s put those rumors to rest. USC didn’t hand him full control of the program and $10 million a year only to fire him after three attempts. Heck, even Kiffin Lane It was given more than three seasons.
This season isn’t about Riley’s job status, but something perhaps equally valuable to the former coaching prodigy.
This season is all about your reputation.
And the seat underneath is very hot.
Will Lincoln Riley be able to coach? That’s the question hanging over the program from the Sept. 1 opener against Louisiana State until the conclusion of USC’s first season in the Big Ten.
After spending two years tutoring Caleb Williams while the rest of the program deteriorated, can Riley put his strategy aside long enough to lead a program and create a culture?
After two years of imitating Helton Clay — has a 19-8 record after last winter Meaningless victory in the Holiday Bowl against a weakened Louisville: can it transform into something more like… Pete Carroll?
For the first time in his head coaching career, he doesn’t have a future star NFL quarterback. Sure, he won with Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts and Caleb Williams… but can he win with Miller’s Moss?
For the first time in his head coaching career, his defensive judgment was so questionable that he was essentially forced to… Fire Coordinator and Friend Alex Grinch Before last season ended, he appeared to make a smart signing. UCLA’s D’Anton Lynn has no experienceBut together can they make it work?
For the first time in his head coaching career, he’ll be switching conferences, moving from the posh Pac-12 to the juggernaut Big Ten. Can he rebuild a program into something bigger and stronger and better equipped to handle the onslaught that awaits him on the other side of the country?
Finally, for the first time in his head coaching career, Riley is coming off a season with fewer than nine wins while leading a team with expectations outside the top 20. The Trojans aren’t supposed to be great, but they pay him enough to buy a $17 million mansion in Palos Verdes, so they better be great. Hence the challenge.
Can Lincoln Riley be a coach? Your guess is as good as anyone else’s.
Read more: USC’s defense vows to step up and help build the Trojans’ new scheme
“It’s a process to get there,” Riley told reporters at the Final days of Big Ten press“Has my patience been tested? Of course it has. Absolutely. Like every day. But my resolve has not been tested, my commitment to being here has not been tested. I know this is the right place. I know what this is going to be like.”
Ah, the process. Is anyone else getting tired of hearing Riley talk about the process? Is anyone else frustrated hearing him promise what this show will be?
This is USC, the process shouldn’t take three years, and whoever the Trojans are, they should be there already.
“What we’re building here is about the bigger picture,” Riley said. “I’m very focused on that and I have complete confidence in what we’re doing and that we’re doing it in the right place.”
This bigger picture he always talks about — at this point he shouldn’t just be building it up, but simply honing it. It’s been exhausting to hear Riley constantly refer to USC’s past as if he adopted a Pop Warner team and now wants credit for teaching guys how to block and tackle. The Trojans were still one of college football’s historically elite programs when he arrived. He was charged with restoring the kind of championship spirit that has existed there for years. Instead, they’ve regressed, and even the most revisionist history doesn’t make that acceptable.
Hopefully this season Riley can demonstrate a better understanding of where he’s working.
Hopefully he can participate more in the The NIL money of the Trojansis more connected to Trojan drivers and may be more aware of Trojan traditions.
As for that last point, just look at his comments last week regarding the game against Notre Dame. By mentioning the need to play an easier non-conference schedule so they can have a smoother path to the 12-team playoffs, he opened the door to the possibility of ending the 98-year rivalry and…
Stop right there. Was I kidding? No, I wasn’t kidding.
Asked about continuing what is arguably USC’s most sentimental rivalry, he told reporters: “I’d love to. I’d love to. I know it means a lot to a lot of people. … Now, if you’re in a position where you have to make a decision about what’s best for SC to help us win a national championship versus keeping it, then you have to look at that.”
No, you don’t. You don’t look at it. You never look at it. Notre Dame is Anthony DavisNotre Dame is the Bush’s pushNotre Dame is the Shillelagh of jewels. The USC-Notre Dame showdown is eternal.
But Riley spoke as if he wanted to get it over with sooner rather than later, citing how Alabama softens its schedule late in the season to prepare his team for a postseason run.
“I think Bama was ahead of everyone else for years with the way they scheduled non-conference games,” he explained, adding: “They didn’t schedule for their fans, they scheduled to win championships. My hope is that we can do the best we can, schedule to win championships and that includes a rivalry game with everything that entails and everything that means. But if you find yourself in those positions, you have to make a decision about what the priority is. It’s not an easy answer.”
Read more: Can USC’s linemen handle Big Ten pressure? Trojans enter preseason training camp with questions
Yes, it is. The easiest answer. The contract with Notre Dame runs through 2026, the game’s centennial. Renew it for another 100 years. There’s no need to act like Alabama when you can act like USC.
There’s a sense that coming from the outside to a program with such high standards and lofty expectations, Lincoln Riley has had a difficult time handling it all.
At some point, he has to figure this out or he’ll be known as nothing more than a quarterback whisperer waiting for his next job.
That time is now.
Can Lincoln Riley train?
We’ll find out soon enough.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.