It’s fair to say that Lincoln Riley didn’t have the best of times in 2024. A 7-6 season is, of course, an obvious answer, but more than that, the QB whisperer lost his touch with the QBs. Miller Moss didn’t work after Caleb Williams hit the NFL. Adding to the woes, USC suffered a mass exodus, losing more than 19 players in the portal. Fingers have been raised toward coach Riley with veteran analysts, like Paul Finebaum, directly putting the question out there: why couldn’t USC move on from a good-for-nothing coach till now? What were they waiting for? Is it a whopping $90 million buyout or any other moral obligation?

The answer remains up in the air, but a national analyst comes up with a pointed solution for Riley to save his job.

Lincoln Riley received an ultimatum for a USC turnaround 

Riley has never been a Robinhood for USC and the Trojans. But he is also not the villain he is being tagged as right now. The beleaguered head coach has never lost more than five games in a year before 2024. But destiny really treated him worse this time. USC managed to clinch bowl eligibility but mounted six unforgivable losses. There have been a lot of issues that need to be addressed. You may call the faulty game calling a problem, or you may blame the line of scrimmage or a lack of depth chart for the misery, but largely, it lies on an incapable O-line and D-line as a whole.