USC Trojans' Lincoln Riley Snubbed? Best Coaches Ranked

ESPN released their rankings for top 10 college football coaches for 2025 over the weekend. 

No. 1: Kirby Smart, Georgia Bulldogs

No. 2: Ryan Day, Ohio State Buckeyes

No. 3: Dabo Swinney, Clemson Tigers

No. 4: Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame Fighting Irish

No. 5: Steve Sarkisian, Texas Longhorns

No. 6: Dan Lanning, Oregon Ducks

No. 7: Kalen DeBoer, Alabama Crimson Tide

No. 8: James Franklin, Penn State Nittany Lions

No. 9: Kyle Whittingham, Utah Utes

No. 10: Matt Campbell, Iowa State Cyclones

Something that stands out about the top 10 and the top six in particular is all of them had their team in the College Football Playoff a season ago. 

Other coaches that received the most votes but just missed out were LSU Tigers coach Brian Kelly, North Carolina Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick, and Indiana Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti.

Lincoln Riley did not receive a single vote and is out of the top 23 according to this list. 

The Lincoln Riley Era At USC

Lincoln Riley has had an up and down tenure since taking over as coach of the USC Trojans prior to the 2022 season. Riley took the USC job after a successful run as Oklahoma Sooners coach from 2017 through 2021. He is now among one of the highest paid coaches in the entire country.

Riley took over a USC program in desperate need for a spark, as they were coming off of a 4-8 season in 2021. Riley and transfer quarterback for Oklahoma, Caleb Williams, immediately turned things around in year one. USC was in the College Football Playoff race up until conference championship weekend and the finished with a record of 11-3. Williams won the 2022 Heisman Trophy.

From there, people expected Riley and the Trojans to take another step forward in 2023. Williams was returning for one more season and it was thought that USC’s defense could make slight improvements from the year prior. That was not the case. The defense got much worse. Even Williams and his heroics couldn’t bail them out. USC finished the season with a record of 8-5.

USC took yet another step back in 2024, finishing with a record of 7-6. Except this year, the defense wasn’t just to blame. The Trojans defense was drastically improved from the previous few seasons under new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn. USC’s biggest issue was closing games they were leading in the fourth quarter. 

It’s a big year for Riley in 2025, and he will look to get the Trojans back to their winning ways of the past.