USC Trojans’ Lincoln Riley Reveals Reason for Canceling Spring Game

It’s a fair reason to not broadcast your team in front of the country, but USC coach Lincoln Riley provided a different explanation for the Trojans not playing a game following the conclusion of spring practice in late April. 

“The portal thing really didn’t factor into that for us, I just don’t put that much stock into that,” Riley said. “The spring game is for the fans and the spring game is I think a chance to get guys out in front of a stadium. The negative to the spring game is now you got broadcast all over the place so nobody wants to do anything schematically that they’re going to do."

“And so you end up spending a day or two days just to get ready for the spring game and then a spring where you’re going to be limited on what all you can do. And to us it was like as oppose to having to prep and do that and dedicate practices out of our 15 to it, we felt like we could continue to progress and not have to maybe worry about that a little bit and we thought it would be best for our football team," Riley continued.

Last season for their spring game, USC played two quarters, which featured almost exclusively no-tackling to prevent injuries. Only the final possession by the second team units was live. 

Riley believes the Trojans will be best served maximizing the 15 practices they are allowed to focus on player development. USC has 16 recruits from their 2025 class and 12 transfers from the winter window on campus. 

Riley can use the extra time to continue working with redshirt junior quarterback Jayden Maiava and five-star early enrollee Husan Longstreet. Maiava took over as the Trojans starting quarterback for the final four games of the 2024 season. The Hawaii native transferred to USC a year ago and Riley has already seen massive growth from Maiava in his second season in the system. 

“He’s more confident in himself as a player, ability to execute our offense," Riley said. He’s more confident I think in just relationships that he’s developed with his teammates."

Riley said Longstreet is, “further ahead than most freshmen at this time.” The highly touted local prospect is incredibly talented and will be making his case over the next few weeks to be the Trojans starting quarterback in the fall. 

USC has several other position battles to monitor this spring, including running back, right tackle, defensive line and cornerback. They have several young players at those positions that will be challenging veterans for playing time in the fall. 

Next to receivers Ja’Kobi Lane and Makai Lemon, there is a big question mark as to who will step up as the Trojans third target. The Trojans are incredibly thin at linebacker this spring and can invest a ton of reps into that group under Rob Ryan. 

Riley provided few details on what the Trojans will do instead of a spring game to engage the fans but understands how important interaction is for the program.

“We’re still going to do some things to create an experience for our fans because obviously creating that interaction is important,” Riley said. “The atmosphere here at the Coliseum the last several years I think has elevated in a lot of ways, but we know that’s gotta continue to grow, so we want to continue to have that interaction with the fans, but we also want to do what’s best for our football team.”