Major College Football Coach Facing Intense Pressure Heading into 2026 Season

USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley watches game action against the Iowa Hawkeyes | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Lincoln Riley was once considered one of the best coaches in the sport, and it was just a matter of time before he broke through and won a national championship.

Riley first served as the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, replacing his mentor and Hall of Famer Bob Stoops. The offensive guru spent five seasons in Norman, winning four Big 12 championships and making three College Football Playoff appearances.

However, he was never able to lead Oklahoma to a playoff win.

He then surprisingly decided to leave Oklahoma following the 2021 regular season and head to Los Angeles to take over the USC Trojans. In his first year, the Trojans went 11-3, Caleb Williams won the Heisman Trophy, and USC was close to making the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.

Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley talks to an official during the first half. | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

Vibes were high, and it looked like the Trojans made a home run hire. However, since then, Riley has gone 24-15 and hasn't come close to making the playoffs. Then this offseason, he made some interesting comments about the Trojans' championship window.

"I really believe a window here has opened up," Riley previously said after the bowl game. 

"It’s taken a lot of effort, by a lot of people, a lot of commitment by a lot of people for four fun but challenging years to get it open, and it’s open now. We all feel that all of us who are fortunate enough to come back here, because working at USC is not anybody's right, it's a privilege, know what our job is."

So, since Riley himself is saying the championship window is open, Brooks Austin elected to rank USC at No. 9 on his teams facing the most pressure.

"I think friend of the show, Josh Pate, said 9-3 gets him fired," Austin said on 'The Film Guy Network.' "I think I saw that on social media. I've got four losses booked. "When you're the head coach of the USC Trojans, and you're like, 'Whoa, it's me, man. I was out here walking through the desert for 5 years. Thank God I pried the window open now. It's open. We can win now.' Okay. Well, you better go freaking win, Bubba."

The issue is that No. 9 might be too low. When you have a coach already facing a win-or-get-fired type of season, and he says the championship window is open, you can't go 9-3 or worse. Nothing is acceptable except for making the College Football Playoff and putting yourself in contention for winning.

That is also the standard of USC as a program. So, it's no longer okay to go 9-4, 7-6 or 8-5, like the last three seasons. It's time to win and win now.