Lincoln Riley thinks USC's 'championship window' is open, regardless of lack of success heading into his fifth yr

[ad_1] Remarkably, the 2026 college football season would be the fifth yr for Lincoln Riley as head coach of the USC Trojans .

When Riley came visiting from Oklahoma, he introduced an distinctive resume. Over 5 seasons in Norman, he put up a 55-10 report, coached two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks and received 4 consecutive Massive 12 Convention titles.

He had three consecutive Faculty Soccer Playoff appearances, although by no means superior to the Nationwide Championship sport. Thanks largely to a heartbreaking loss to the Georgia Bulldogs within the 2018 Rose Bowl. And therein lies the one factor lacking from Riley’s record of accomplishments: a championship.

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Whereas Oklahoma is a storied program in its personal proper, the transfer to USC introduced with it championship-level expectations. Matching his high-octane offense with SC’s recruiting prowess and site in Southern California was speculated to get the Trojans again to the highest of the faculty soccer world.

Properly, SC has not returned to the highest of the faculty soccer world. Which is why it’s so shocking that Lincoln Riley is telling the media he expects this system to be getting into a "championship window."

Head coach Lincoln Riley of the USC Trojans reacts through the second half in opposition to the UCLA Bruins on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Nov. 29, 2025. USC defeated UCLA 29-10 within the NCAA soccer sport. (Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-Information)

Lincoln Riley has excessive hopes for SC transferring ahead In a brand new interview with On3’s Wilson Alexander, Riley stated he believes that it’s been "plenty of work" to get there, however they’ve now gotten "this window opened."

"USC needed to get actually critical about being nice within the sport once more," he defined. " I give the varsity administration, everyone, credit score. They've."

"Taking this over, you knew you needed to go struggle like hell simply to attempt to get this window opened," Riley said . "And we’re at a degree proper now the place there’s loads to be enthusiastic about and loads in entrance of us. It’s been plenty of work for lots of people, plenty of dedication from lots of people to get there, and it must be plenty of enjoyable these subsequent few years."

"We got here right here to win championships ," he continued. " Lots of us have been lucky sufficient to be part of plenty of championships. We actually didn’t come right here for something much less. We’ve bought to go buckle down and enhance and actually come collectively, however there’s the makings of a championship-level soccer workforce in that constructing proper now."

Head coach Lincoln Riley of the USC Trojans watches from the sidelines earlier than a sport in opposition to the UCLA Bruins at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, Calif., on Nov. 29, 2025. (Harry How/Getty Pictures)

Riley’s critics would level to a number of examples of head coaches taking up applications and instantly turning them round. Curt Cignetti at Indiana, for instance, went 16-0 and received a title in his second season. Kenny Dillingham took ASU to the playoff in his second yr in Phoenix.

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These conditions, although, do have some variations with Riley’s time at SC. Indiana had important monetary backing to herald a prime switch portal class, and Dillingham had the benefit of a "weaker" Massive 12 Convention relative to the Massive Ten or the Pac-12. SC fell behind shortly within the NIL period, solely not too long ago placing its monetary muscle into recruiting and signing prime lessons.

Realistically, although, with a tricky schedule, and the vaunted 2026 recruiting class needing time to develop, 2027 may be a greater alternative for SC to actually compete for a title. However given the disappointing ends in 2023 and 2024, Riley may have to win 9 to 10 video games to even get there.

Ian Miller is a author at OutKick.

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