Woah-that’s interesting! While the 2024 kickoff is on, Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans are making some noise beyond the gridiron, it seems. Going by the reports, they have signed their first-in-nation deal with Cannabis Company Cookies. While it’s a revolutionary act in itself, instead of getting snubbed, Riley’s crew got a stamp of approval from the great Steve Kim.

After all, it’s all part of the big game: NIL! However, even though the Trojans HC is all ready for the “gun fight” as far as NIL is concerned, he refuses to make it the “No.1” priority on USC’s list.

Lincoln Riley and trailblazing partnership with Cookies

Big break for USC athletics! They announced a new partnership with the popular CBD/cannabis and wellness company, Cookies. What makes the deal so special? The Trojans are the first school to crack the deal. As informed by Berner, the co-founder of the company, they chose USC since they are “a premier athletic program, in the oldest private college in the state of California.” However, this deal has been a revolution in itself. As raised by the well-known critic Coach Jason Brown on his podcast, “Now we can just eat a cookie old school get super lit up …back in the day you couldn’t have tobacco, cigarette, alcohol. You could not even talk about it on college campuses.”

However, unlike Coach JB, Kim does not find anything odd with Riley and the squad’s latest breakthrough. Instead, he appreciated their unique effort for oomphing up their NIL game. The HC had already been the center of attention for making changes to the captaincy rule, and now gets a thumbs-up from the podcast guest. “That’s an interesting one. It’s no longer illegal and there’s dispensaries and these schools have to raise money this is now professional sports,” stated Kim. 

However, it’s the players’ task to turn the ship around since it’s a “slippery slope” and they can easily slip into addiction. On the other hand, Riley is all geared up to ace the NIL game.  

Lincoln Riley’s achievements in the NIL funding

When Riley landed with the Trojans in 2022, he had been in a tough spot. He had no back-ups and had to only count on the transfer portal to fill the blank spaced with notable recruits. And there’s no scope to deny the HC’s recruiting talents since he landed some big shots for which USC is known until today. For instance, Riley earned the commitment of the Oklahoma transfer Caleb Williams and former Pittsburgh wideout Jordan Addison. 

But as time passed, he shifted his focus to high school and ticked off the most essential factor: NIL. And his efforts had reaped great results, which Riley himself admits. To trace his journey, he confessed, “You don’t want to go to a gun fight with a knife. In the beginning, we were going to a gun fight with a toy sword.” While he takes pride in this boost, he claimed, “NIL’s gonna be a part of it here and a tremendous opportunity, but it’s not ever going to be No. 1 on the priority list.”

Switching from Pac-12 to the Big Ten made NIL even more essential. But not to worry. Lincoln Riley and squad will be moving ahead with $10 to $12 million in NIL funds, which the HC himself admitted to being “the most improved collective in the country.” Going by the big numbers, something big is brewing in Los Angeles! Let’s wait till the big reveal.