USC Hires Lincoln Riley as Next Head Football Coach
The USC Trojans have hired Oklahoma's Lincoln Riley to be their next head coach. Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel first reported the move.
USC has had a terrible season, sitting with. a 4-7, 3-5 Pac-12 record ahead of their final game against Cal next week.
The Trojans haven't won the Pac-12 title since 2017 and went 2-5 at home this se and often found themselves playing in front of underwhelming crowds.
This hiring all stems from USC's decision to fire former head coach Clay Helton following the Trojans' 42-28 loss to Stanford at home in early September.
Riley comes to Los Angeles after spending the past seven seasons in Oklahoma, serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach between 2015 and 2016, before being promoted to head coach in 2017.
During his time with the Sooners, Riley led his team to three appearances in the college football playoffs, losing each of those games. He's also made a name for himself recruiting and developing the top quarterbacks in college football, with former Sooners Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray both winning the Heisman Trophy before being selected with the first overall pick in their respective drafts.
USC has one of the most successful histories of any program in college football but hasn't been the dominant team many have known it to be since the days of domination under Pete Carroll.
The hire of Lincoln Riley gives USC a proven winner that can recruit and develop top talent. What's more, it's almost sure to give the Trojans some more firepower in recruiting battles against Mario Cristobal and the Ducks, who have made a habit of recruiting the top talent in Southern California.
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