USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley arrived in Indianapolis last week with the threads, charisma, and poise becoming of a $10M per year coach leading one of the country’s most iconic college football programs.
While nobody wins games, accrues stats, or garners trophies from press conferences, verbal cues and body language are noticed by fans as they dial up their enthusiasm and calibrate their expectation for the upcoming season.
Riley was extremely gracious with the press last week, spending nearly 90 minutes in the media scrum after his 15-minute opening remarks. Here’s the signal from the noise.
Five Takeaways From Lincoln Riley’s Media Day
For Lincoln Riley, It’s About “Nattys” Not Nostalgia
Riley talked about the importance of strategic scheduling – pointing out how the great Alabama dynasty of the past 15 years was very intentional about when their big games would be. As Riley articulated, they scheduled for trophies, not for their fans, alluding to an often more relaxed non-conference schedule, including a non-conference game in mid-November before the consecutive gauntlets of Iron Bowl, SEC Championship Game, and College Football Playoff.
Translation: Now that USC is in a top-heavy conference with ultimate name recognition, scheduling Notre Dame as a de-facto non-conference game won’t make much sense. Particularly if USC doesn’t make the playoff in the next couple of years and looks for ways to improve its chances.
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USC Trojans Blue Blood Expectations
Riley did not shy away from embracing lofty expectations, building upon his “Mecca of college football” statement from the spring of 2022. He spoke about the goal at USC being obsessively and constantly about winning championships, albeit now with a different conference logo.
Going into last week, much was made about the off-color and seemingly erratic comments from SEC analyst Paul Finebaum on Riley’s performance in 2023, and its implications moving forward. Riley seemed to handle that like a seasoned campaigner navigating political landmines, using that circumstance as an opportunity to share that given the reach of the USC football brand, it’s a topic everywhere in the country, and rightfully so given its stature as a blue blood.
It was also interesting to hear from the beat writers and local media of other BIG-10 opponents. Clearly a sense that USC will be a threat to conference supremacy – immediately and annually.
Selflessness
This was a common theme in Riley’s remarks, particularly when speaking about starting quarterback and team leader, Miller Moss. Riley spoke about how Moss’ selflessness over the course of his career in waiting his turn, sticking with a program he loved since childhood, and translating all of the constructive critiques of his game to reality, have been infectious in redefining the culture of the locker room.
This is telling given there was no questioning 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams’ transcendent talent, but there was always an uncertain air around unified team chemistry with #13 as the signal caller the past two years. Moss seems to have infused the Trojans with a WE mindset.
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“We’re Coming” From Rebuilding
This is where Riley’s remarks seemed to contradict itself and lose alignment. He spoke about the team he inherited winning a mere four games and has since won 19 games over the past two years. All true statements, but he also alluded to the fact that USC was significantly behind the likes of Oregon and Ohio State in NIL and facilities, so to compare the Trojans’ recent results to those two teams wasn’t appropriate given their relative starting points 24 months ago.
A bit puzzling how a blue blood program should be embracing championship expectations, while simultaneously undergoing a “rebuild” in Riley’s words. He emphasized that the Trojans are coming, but ultimate national success can never happen soon enough for fans liking. Riley took a page from John Calipari here, emphasizing titles on one hand but also toeing the line with rebuilding on the other – creating the ultimate hedge scenario.
Strength & Conditioning
While this wasn’t a direct outcome of Riley’s statements, during his time in Indianapolis, a number of defensive player photos were released on social media. The one constant theme was how much bigger and more chiseled they looked than this time last year – most notably the likes of Anthony Lucas and Jide Abasiri.
It’s evident that Bennie Wylie, USC’s Director of Football Sports Performance, has instituted a plan that’s being executed by the players in a tangible way. In fact, USC now has one of the heaviest defensive line rooms in the conference – a testament to understanding that BIG Ten games are won and lost in the trenches.
Leaving Indianapolis, Lincoln Riley said a lot of the right things – we’ll soon discover if the Trojans do the right things on the field.