It has been a blended bag for Lincoln Riley in two seasons as USC’s head coach.
He went 11-3 in his first season in Southern California with a Cotton Bowl loss and adopted that up with an uninspiring 8-5 season in 2023 with a Vacation Bowl win.
Sure, he introduced the Trojans a Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Caleb Williams and usually has raised the profile of this system again up on a nationwide degree. Nonetheless, we’re not at prime Pete Carroll-era ranges, but, and (truthful or not) it is not even shut.
With that mentioned, the newly launched AP preseason top 25 checked USC in at simply No. 23 and critics appear to be sensing that troubled waters may very well be on the horizon for the Trojans — particularly with Williams now within the NFL.
A kind of critics is ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, who recommended on “First Take” that USC’s opening matchup in opposition to No. 13 LSU may spell bother.
“I believe that’s the place it begins to unravel for Lincoln. You possibly can’t get extra of a outstanding shining second of the primary faculty soccer weekend than whenever you’re on that Sunday night time with the complete world watching you. … And I absolutely count on Lincoln Riley to point out what a median coach he’s in opposition to to me a coach who will be elite at instances in Brian Kelly of LSU,” Finebaum mentioned (h/t On3).