Paul Finebaum Labels USC's Lincoln Riley as Coach 'Under the Most Pressure' in 2025

This year could be a make-or-break season for Riley as he enters 2025 with a chip on his shoulder.

After serving as Oklahoma's head coach for five seasons from 2017 to 2021, Riley emerged as one of the most dominant in college football.

While compiling an overall record of 55-10 with the Sooners, helping lead them to three straight College Football Playoff bids, as well as being the coach of two different Heisman Trophy winners in Baker Mayfield (2017) and Kyler Murray (2018), Riley decided to move on to his current USC job.

ESPN's Paul Finebaum was asked what head coach is under the most pressure in 2025 on Get Up.

"Lincoln Riley. And you asked the question, why? Because he has simply underperformed. He had a pretty decent first year, but since then, it has been very rocky. And quite frankly, I think he would already be gone if it wasn’t for about an $80 million buyout. Even for Southern Cal, that might be too much money," Finebaum answered.

Riley's first three seasons at USC have been highlighted with just one year finishing as a Top 25 team that was led by Heisman standout Caleb Williams in 2022. Besides that, the success has been hard to come by.

There isn't many answers to what can be expected from the USC Trojans in 2025 as they enter their second season in the Big Ten conference, and coach Riley's future can be in jeopardy.