College Football Insider Warns $110 Million Coach Could Move onto Hot Seat This Week

It’s been a solid 20-plus years since one of college football’s blue blood programs has looked like one, and it’s that long stretch of winning no national championships that they invested some nine figures into their new head coach to finally bring to an end.

But end it he hasn’t, leaving USC facing a potentially very expensive decision around head coach Lincoln Riley in the near future if events don’t take the proper course against Big Ten rival Oregon this weekend at the Coliseum. That’s the opinion of one of the country’s veteran insiders.

Insider Reveals Where USC Stands With Its Head Coach

“If they lose Saturday, it’s reasonable to say Lincoln Riley is on the hot seat,” ESPN college football reporter Pete Thamel revealed entering the weekend.

“If they lose Saturday, it is reasonable to say Lincoln Riley is on the hot seat.”

—@PeteThamel on how important it is for the Trojans to beat Oregon 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6A6yRCblhP
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 25, 2026

“He’s obviously been good, but he’s not been great and hasn’t been to the playoff. Simply put, [USC] did not hire him to be just good. The number to fire Lincoln Riley is $72 million… That is an extreme amount of money.”

Trojans Face a Critical Test on Saturday

Every game in Big Ten play is important, especially when Riley is just 12-7 in them, but Saturday’s matchup against ranked Oregon is weighed down by about a metric ton of playoff implications, in addition to the ongoing narrative around the coach’s ability to win marquee games.

Riley is a meager 5-14 against ranked opponents at USC, which has routinely had its postseason ambitions derailed by one disastrous defensive performance after another since his arrival.

Now on his third defensive coordinator, Gary Patterson, the unit has fared somewhat better, albeit against subpar competition, but it still struggled to put away winless Rutgers a week ago, allowing four touchdown drives of 75 yards and another of 95 yards.

Another effort like that against an Oregon offense stacked with considerably more firepower led by quarterback Dante Moore, and the talk around Riley will take a decisively negative turn very fast.

Dropping Riley Would Be Historic

College Football Insider Warns $110 Million Head Coach’s Job Could Be on the Line This Week — IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

While putting up some $72 million in buyout cash to get rid of their head coach, who is working under a contract that USC is reportedly paying $110 million of total value for, would be a massive number, but it still wouldn’t be the biggest in college football history.

That dishonor still falls on Texas A&M, which has to shell out $76.8 million to Jimbo Fisher to not coach its football team, while LSU sits in second place, handing over some $54 million to Brian Kelly after telling him to get out last season.

Lincoln Riley obviously isn’t going anywhere this weekend, regardless of what happens on the field against Oregon. But what does transpire on Saturday should ultimately prove to be a major chapter of the story of his tenure at USC, good or bad.

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