The beaches of southern California are transpiring into quicksand for USC Trojans’ head coach, Lincoln Riley. As hard as he tries to escape, he seems to be hauled further in. Cast your minds back to when coach Riley first earned the moniker of being a “quarterback whisperer” in Norman. Deservedly, too. 4 of his quarterbacks are NFL starters today, and 3 have won the Heisman. This translated over to USC for a while, with Caleb Williams, whom he brought along with him from OU. Well, it’s difficult to let go of your highs. Lincoln Riley’s persistent efforts to rehash his tethering offensive wizardry are perhaps getting in his own way.

Being an assistant coach on offense in Lincoln Riley’s staff is a bit of a poisoned chalice. He himself calls the plays, and he develops the quarterbacks. Whether for good or for bad is up for discourse. You don’t really get to stamp your authority, and hence, it’s difficult to showcase your own proficiency. Yet, you’re open to criticism. The offensive coordinator role especially doesn’t entail all the responsibilities you’d expect. Coach Riley’s new OC hire, Luke Huard, is as inexperienced as any OC you’ll find across the country. Huard will work on the role in conjunction with his previous capacity as QB coach. In reality, Lincoln Riley is a pseudo-OC and QB coach anyway. One person believes a lack of delegation from Lincoln Riley means things are headed for potential disaster.

Speaking over The Big Ten Huddle Podcast, host JR relayed his top 5 most concerning coordinator hires for 2025. Luke Huard made the list. Which he acknowledged is largely down to Riley’s own interference more than anything. “Huard doesn’t have a Wikipedia page. That’s like red flag number 1. Kind of a joke there,” he said. “His lack of experience coordinating an offense at a major program is very concerning.”

JR implied that this inexperience is not perceived as a factor because Lincoln Riley will undertake most responsibilities anyway. Which he discerns is the crux of the issue. “My distaste with this hire is less with Luke Huard and more about Lincoln Riley,” he stated, before proceeding to lay forth his concerns.

JR reiterated the aforementioned point of how Coach Riley is juggling 3 duties as HC, OC, and QB coach. “At some point, Riley is going to need to give this up. It worked for a while at Oklahoma when he had the leftover players and the culture of Bob Stoops. Things were a little bit different with NIL when he was over there.”

JR gave a direct example of Ryan Day and Eli Drinkwitz, who could focus more on recruitment and overall team duties as HC after “getting an offensive coordinator who they can trust and give up play call and quarterback responsibilities.” 

He proceeded to say, “Still now at USC, [Riley] continues to not learn his lessons…Unfortunately, this tells me that the offense doesn’t look like it will change all that much. It doesn’t look like it will get all that much better.” Sigh. USC fans just contended with a 7-6 season, and another year hovering around .500 could spell the end for Lincoln Riley’s stint. ESPN’s senior CFB analyst Paul Finebaum has also laid an indictment on Riley which won’t fall on deaf ears.

Paul Finebaum piles onto the Lincoln Riley criticism in light of Jalen Hurts’ triumph

One of the plethora of QBs Riley has helped develop for the next level is Jalen Hurts. The Super Bowl winner played the last year of his college career at Oklahoma while coach Riley was in Norman. Hurts came in as damaged goods in some ways, having been displaced at Alabama by Tua Tagovailoa. It’s evident that the one year with the Sooners went a long way in getting Hurts, a second-round pick not expected to be a franchise QB, to this juncture.

Paul Finebaum was asked if Lincoln Riley deserves credit for Hurts’ success in the aftermath of the Super Bowl. He acknowledged Riley’s role but supplemented it with a scathing take. Speaking over his namesake ESPN show, Finebaum said, “Lincoln Riley was a great quarterbacks coach…[but] I think he’s been a very average head coach in recent years.” Ouch.

It appears that Lincoln Riley remains safe in his capacity for now. However, the sheen from his stint in Oklahoma dissipates the further along we get from it. He’s losing built-up credit in his reserve. Not just with the program, but with the fanbase and media. Riley will have to turn things around now that he’s received help on the recruitment front with a new GM. He’s made his bed with Luke Huard, though, and will have to lie in it. It remains to be seen if coach Riley can rein in this spiraling ship that’s won fewer games each passing year under him.