One analyst believes Southern Cal made a mistake when it gave head coach Lincoln Riley one other likelihood this offseason.
On a Monday episode of ESPN’s “First Take,” longtime school soccer commentator Paul Finebaum skewered Riley, who’s probably getting into a make-or-break 12 months.
Clearly, Finebaum is not a Riley fan. Final week, he predicted Southern Cal would hearth the 40-year-old coach on the finish of the season on “McElroy and Cubelic within the Morning” on WJOX-FM in Birmingham, Alabama.
Claiming his tenure with the Trojans is a practice wreck looks like an overstatement, however he has fallen in need of expectations in his first two seasons with this system. Riley — whose estimated 2024 wage is $10M, per 247 Sports activities Brad Crawford — hasn’t led the Trojans to the School Soccer Playoff or gained a convention title.
This pales compared to his time at Oklahoma, the place he guided the Sooners to a few CFP journeys and 4 Huge 12 titles in 5 seasons.
In August, Southern Cal will formally transfer from the Pac-12 to the Huge Ten, a way more aggressive convention. This does not bode properly for the Trojans after they backtacked in 2023, ending with a 7-5 report.
In fact, a lot of their issues are tied to a porous protection that allowed 34.4 points per game. To resolve the difficulty, they changed defensive coordinator Alex Grinch with D’Anton Lynn. If this fails, boosters might level the finger at Riley.
In keeping with Crawford, Riley’s estimated buyout is $88M, the second-largest in school soccer. Nonetheless, USC might ignore the value if he retains failing to provide outcomes.
