Lincoln Riley Addresses Rumors He's Leaving USC

Heading into a pivotal November, there are as many big college football head coaching job openings as at any time in recent memory.

Brian Kelly is out at LSU. James Franklin is out at Penn State. Billy Napier is out at Florida. Hugh Freeze was fired by Auburn. Virginia Tech needs a new head coach. Arkansas, UCLA and Oklahoma State are other Power 4 programs searching for replacements. 

Enter…Lincoln Riley?

The 42-year-old has been the head coach of the USC Trojans since before the 2022 season, and started his tenure in LA with a bang. Thanks in part to Caleb Williams and other talented players transferring to join him, Riley started with an 11-1 regular season. That one loss was a 43-42 defeat at Utah in a game that could have gone either way. In the Pac-12 Championship game, where a win would have sent SC to the College Football Playoff, Williams got hurt early, and the Utes coasted.

It's generally been a disaster ever since. 

USC was well behind in the NIL race, didn't have a top-level defensive staff, and it showed up immediately. They went 7-5 in 2023, and 6-6 in 2024. Still, Riley's track record at Oklahoma was extremely impressive, and the Trojans offense has been consistently elite. With this many jobs open, there's immense competition for proven coaches. It's not too surprising then, that rumors have started flying that Riley might not be committed to staying in LA. 

College Football analyst Josh Pate earlier this week dropped a "grenade," saying on the "Bussin With The Boys" podcast to keep an eye on Riley at USC. 

After Saturday's big win over Northwestern, Riley addressed that report. 
 

Oct 11, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA;  USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley (wearing white visor) celebrates along with defensive end coach Shaun Nua after kicker Ryon Sayeri (48) hit a 54-yard field goal in the second half against the Michigan Wolverines at United Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Lincoln Riley Says He's Staying At USC

Connor Morrissette from USCFootball.com posted after the game that Riley was asked about the rumor, and said he's staying in LA. 

"You guys know what I sacrificed to be here," Riley said. "I'm where I need to be."

That's…not exactly the strongest commitment to USC? It's also a bit odd for him to say he "sacrificed" anything. Riley left Norman, Oklahoma for the Palos Verdes hills, got a huge raise in the process, and moved to a program that has as many, if not more, resources as any in the country.

Urban Meyer said much the same thing this week in an appearance with Colin Cowhered on The Herd. 

"That’s one of the places I don’t understand, Colin. That’s got everything," Meyer said. "There’s some places that are hard. I don’t think USC’s hard. My entire career, I recruited out in California. It all comes down to recruiting base, tradition, and you have everything.

"I understand you have plenty of resources in the NIL and they’ve got an excellent coach in Lincoln Riley. I expect Lincoln Riley, when you see the recruiting rankings, what they’ve done recently, I see him not going anywhere and they’re going to have a nice run here coming up in the next couple years. …I refuse to believe that, Colin. I really do. I think he stays and I think they go on a great run."

Pate wouldn't throw that out without there being some rumblings, somewhere. But are any of the available jobs really an improvement over USC? It's a matter of personal preference, what you value most about a program. SC though, has the consensus #1 recruiting class in the country for 2026, a 7-2 record, a legitimate chance at the College Football Playoff, and after some hiccups, a big NIL budget. In the world of college football coaching though, nothing's ever for certain.