Lincoln Riley and USC have garnered significant attention, albeit for entirely wrong reasons. The stakeholders of the program were in a sweet delusion that Riley’s 10-year contract extension might be a strategic development move for the program until he stood still in front of a wasted 7-6 season, winning the Las Vegas Bowl 35-31 as a solace to their major woes. Trouble after trouble: USC had 21 outgoing transfers and just 11 incoming in the winter window of the transfer portal. Riley’s significance as a 6th-year head coach in South California has again been under serious scrutiny.

However, Riley wants to make things look a little less bleak by promising a high-standard goal (close to a national championship). Is there any shortcut to his rebounding effort? Well, he can adapt a smooth move from the national title-winning coach, which visibly bore out the result.

Will Lincoln Riley give up on the controversial play-calling duties?

Ryan Day received tons of flak for not being able to stand tall against the arch nemesis, Michigan Wolverines, for the fourth consecutive year. How did he respond? By winning the natty. Ohio State has done everything right, picking up lessons from their 13-10 nightmare at Columbus in ‘The Game’. But it’s not just the instant changes and philosophies that worked in their favor. To some extent, it’s Ryan Day’s far-sighted decision that came a year back and played its role. Ohio State’s head coach gave up the play-calling duties. Brian Hartline’s talents at the OC position allowed the head coach to manage the overall operation of the team better. Is it time for another beleaguered coach to follow suit?

“He probably should have done this by now if he were going to do it, but I’m still going to challenge and say maybe he should be doing this,’‘ Big 10 insider Jeff McMichael chimed in,  ”You know, Locked on USC is one I think is pretty good. That guy is adamant that the biggest issue with USC is play calling and game management. And he’s the biggest advocate for Lincoln Riley to give up play-calling responsibilities… Yeah, and I think he might be right. Being a head coach in college, you have way more to manage than, I would argue than an NFL head coach.”

This makes a pretty valid argument, but Riley shared a conversation with former Florida Gators national champion head coach Steve Spurrier after he took the job as the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. And the prodigy asked him not to give up on the play-calling duties ever.

A huge part of the Sooners and Trojans’ success has hinged directly on the elite offensive game planning and play calling of Riley. I mean, there’s some reason that Riley is renowned for being a ‘QB-whisperer.’ His one QB (Jalen Hurts) at the Sooners just won the Super Bowl. Another (Caleb Williams) was drafted with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

However, the 2024 season was a mixed bag when it comes to play-calling. At various points, it seemed like Lincoln Riley and Trojans’ QB1 Miller Moss were not at all in sync. We may be getting a wrong impression from the outside, and the offensive failures could be because of other reasons. For instance, a weak O-line or Moss’ inability to execute the plays. Caleb Williams looked great when Riley was calling plays for him. That being said, a change is needed, and after years of calling the plays, this change may be a refresher that Riley needs as he looks to put USC at the top of the Big 10.

Lincoln Riley makes a big move toward separating the coaching and recruiting roles 

USCJ, who runs a major USC fan analysis channel on YouTube, recently weighed in on another big issue in USC’s locker room, which is the faulty execution of the recruiting roles. The backstory? Trojans lacked a general manager who could step up in the recruiting game and swoop in a lot of heavyweights from the portal, ensuring a better output throughout the season.

The lack of exposure to the recruiting staff was clearly reflected in their portal result in the past year. Ohio State’s 2024 class was undoubtedly stupendous and ranked 1st in the Big 10 (4th nationally). On the other hand, USC‘s 2024 class ranked 20th overall and ranked 19th in transfers. Clearly, Lincoln Riley had to make some changes, and guess what? He did.

This week, Riley brought Chad Bowman from Notre Dame as the new general manager of the Trojans and set a clear expectation for him going forward. Riley wants to lift some pressure from the coaches and wants Bowman to take care of the recruiting saga with minute care. Now, it remains to be seen if the fellow Northern Kentuckian can do the job (winning a Natty) for the Trojans or not, but the idea of Riley giving up the play-calling duties still looks far-fetched, to put it up straight.