Former USC Heisman winner claims Lincoln Riley is on the hot seat

Matt Leinart is not sugarcoating things about Lincoln Riley ahead of the 2025 college football season.

Leinart was interviewed by “The Escapist” for a story published on Tuesday. In the interview, Leinart said that Riley is on the hot seat.

“I know Lincoln very well, and he is on the hot seat,” Leinart said. “I think he would tell you that, because you have to win there — especially when you win 10 games or 11 games out the gate.”

Leinart is referring to Riley’s first season at USC. Riley went 11-3 in 2022, including an 8-1 performance in Pac-12 play. Quarterback Caleb Williams had a huge season that year, and the hire of Riley looked like a home run. But things fell apart after that. The Trojans slipped to 8-5 in Williams’ junior season, and they went just 7-6 last year in their first season in the Big Ten.

Riley has gone 26-14 in his three seasons at USC and is just 15-11 over his last two years, which isn’t good enough for the Trojans’ standard.

Leinart feels that the play of quarterback Jayden Maiava will be the key for the season. Maiava appeared in seven games for the Trojans last season and passed for 1,201 yards, 11 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He is a transfer from UNLV and took over the starting job from Miller Moss late last year. Moss has since transferred to Louisville.

USC is still a ways away from where they were from 2003-2005 when Leinart started at quarterback for them and won the Heisman Trophy. They need to show improvement in 2025, and they will open their season against Missouri State on Aug. 30.