Paul Finebaum is a man who brings in the most random and outrageous opinions and he is doing it yet again. On his talk show, he lashed out at Lincoln Riley and stated that Deion Sanders might be a better option for USC to consider as a replacement for Lincoln. Well, he is a man with confused thoughts because after he said this, he touted Deion Sanders separately by calling him ”irrelevant”. 

The word in itself is so huge and outrageous on so many levels. Speaking statistically what Paul said, is it even something to rely on, as Riley is anytime a better option when it comes to O-line strategies? Keeping in mind the kind of performance that everyone witnessed last year, especially the bad work back there on the offensive line of Colorado. Let us figure out who outshined the other without going round and round on the allegations!

Can Deion coach the offensive line of USC?

During a talk on July 22nd posted on the YouTube channel Locked On College Football, Paul Finebaum critiqued Lincoln Riley by calling him a ”terrible’‘ coach. Okay, we can agree that Riley has not yet justified the $20 million salary that he receives from USC as there is not a single big win of USC that we have seen in the last 2 years but then going to this level and calling him a ”terrible” coach also makes no sense. Indeed, USC had a rough 2022 and 2023 seasons with Riley as a coach, but let us not forget how he took the team to 11-3 and made Caleb Williams a Heisman winner in the year 2022. Then, in the year 2023, there was a decline in their performance with 8 games won with 3 that they lost. Still, with all that, a very high show of a great offensive line throughout the season, much better than what Colorado had, just one win out of the 12 games that they played in the year 2022.

Speaking of Riley’s ‘one strong side’ that has outshined Deion’s team is his offensive line. It is a well-known fact that Riley is an offensive genius; he transformed USC from a four-win team to 11 wins in his first year, whereas Deion Sanders’ team’s O-line struggled in their initial season. Colorado’s exceptionally bad O-line resulted in Shedeur being tackled in almost every game. A nationwide record was set last year, with a total of 52 times QB Shedeur being sacked, the most improper offensive line one could have witnessed. Dashing all of it and claiming that Deion can come and fill Riley’s spot has no relevance. The narrative around Lincoln Riley’s program is very negative in some media circles. Are things as dire as he makes them out to be in Los Angeles to the point where Riley has to win big in 2024 to avoid serious hot-seat talk? Well, not everyone thinks like Paul, and people have started realizing that he is just a man with a big mouth. 

Doug Gottlieb stands up to Paul Finebaum over his comments about Riley

The basketball coach of Green Bay Phoenix, Doug Gottlieb came in support of Lincoln Riley as he did not hold it back and asked Paul Finebaum to “Go back to stroking the SEC” and even called him a ”clown”, in his Tweet posted on July 2022. This was during one of his conversations with Smith on First Take, which he retweeted and showed full support for Riley and his team. He added to the tweet, saying, “Lincoln isn’t going anywhere and they will win.” Riley is not alone!

USC is just not the right place for Deion, as he is not doing any better in Colorado, anyway. Though he has made some major changes in his team this year, we are yet to see what the new players can bring in for the whole team and what new favorable stats they can put up. With 5-star Jordan Seaton as a new left tackle, and Trent Brown returning at left guard with many others, the tables might turn for Colorado this season. It is their time to prove that they will not fumble big-time like last year. With all the speculations and claims going around, let us just get ready to witness what both the teams have to offer and how well they perform this year proving that they are worth it all.