Why Lincoln Riley is the Most Overrated Head College Football Coach

Lincoln Riley is being paid as an elite college football coach

When Riley bolted from Norman to revive a USC program that has struggled to get back to the relevance it had when Pete Carroll was coaching the Trojans and Reggie Bush was electrifying the entire nation, Riley appeared to be the next great young savior.  

So the USC brass ponied up. 

Riley inked a 10-year deal worth $110 million. It was a big move then but where does Riley’s contract rank now? 

According to Front Office Sports, Riley’s annual salary of $11 million falls only behind Smart ($13 million) and Swinney ($11.5 million). 

He makes more than Steve Sarkisian, Kalen DeBoer, Brian Kelly, and Ryan Day. Riley’s salary is significantly higher than Lane Kiffin and Josh Heupel, who each make $9 million a year at their respective ascending SEC programs.

All of the coaches above have 2 or less losses this season and still have their teams in the playoff conversation at the very least. 

Even more eye-popping is the gap between Riley and Dan Lanning. 

Lanning has led Oregon to an impressive 7-0 record during the Ducks’ first season in the Big Ten and is coming off a massive win over Ohio State. Still, he makes $4 million less than Riley, who bolted Oklahoma to escape the SEC. Lanning has also taken it to Riley and USC on the recruiting trail.

At that time, the USC head coach didn’t know the program would move to the Big Ten and this season, the transition is proving to be a challenging one for him. 

As it stands, Riley’s Trojans have struggled to adjust to the hard-nosed brand the Big Ten is known for. USC has losses against a struggling Michigan team that hasn’t found its identity, No. 3 Penn State, a below-average Minnesota squad, and Maryland, the most recent stunner that happened over the weekend. 

Lincoln Riley getting exposed in the Big Ten 

Riley has always been known as an offensive mastermind. That fact can’t be debated. 

He has been a head coach for seven seasons and has developed three of the last seven Heisman Trophy winners. Riley is the only head coach to coach three Heisman-winning quarterbacks, as well as the only coach to have three players selected No. 1 overall in the NFL’s common draft era. 

Much like during his time at Oklahoma, the USC offense has thrived with Riley as head coach. The Trojans finished with the No. 3 total offense in the country in 2022 and ranked 10th in total offense last season. 

However, there are three main knocks when it comes to Lincoln Riley as a head coach. 

• His defenses are typically abysmal

• His teams frequently play down to less-talented opponents and blow late leads 

• He has yet to win a massive game of significance, with a (0-3) record in the College Football Playoff. 

Even after making an effort to hire a new defensive coordinator this offseason and recruiting high-level players on that side of the ball, the Trojans currently have the 69th-ranked defense in the country. They are allowing 361 yards per game in a schedule that has included losses to Michigan, Minnesota, and Maryland. 

These aren’t offensive juggernauts to say the least. 

USC gave up 518 yards to Penn State last week and was on the field for 107 plays against Maryland as the Terrapins had 429 total yards. 

But even more disturbing is the trend of blowing leads in games they should win. USC was up 28-14 with 13:31 to go against Maryland but found a way to lose. 

A week ago at home vs. Penn State, USC led the Nittany Lions 30-23 with 5:56 to go before losing 33-30 in overtime. The game before that, USC took a 17-10 lead in the third quarter at Minnesota before giving up two TDs in the final eight minutes to lose 24-17.  

I’m not saying Lincoln Riley is a bad football coach. He just hasn’t proven to be paid like one of the most elite coaches in the sport, and right now, ranks behind at least 10-15 coaches in college football at the very least.  

USC is locked into Riley as their man for a while barring a crazy move, but at this point, are the Trojans ascending or descending under his leadership?