Lincoln Riley arrived at USC in 2021 with the kind of reputation that made him look like one of college football’s elite coaches. His first season in Los Angeles backed that up, with the Trojans reaching the Pac-12 Championship Game and a New Year’s Six bowl. Since then, though, the shine has worn off fast.
USC has stumbled through three straight failed seasons from 2023 through 2025, and that slide has pushed Riley down the pecking order in the Big Ten. USA TODAY Sports left him outside its top five conference coaches, a placement that makes sense based on what has happened lately.
"Riley might’ve been near the top of the list among all coaches nationally as recently as 2020, when he wrapped up his fourth playoff appearance in as many years at Oklahoma," Paul Myerberg wrote. "Things have been much rockier at USC, which hit a high with an 11-win 2022 season in Riley’s debut but has since gone 24-15 with just one ranked finish. But things are starting to look up after USC went 7-2 in the Big Ten last year and then inked one of the nation’s top recruiting classes."
The top of the Big Ten hierarchy is easy to sort out. Indiana’s Curt Cignetti is the clear No.
- Ohio State’s Ryan Day and Oregon’s Dan Lanning belong in the top four without much debate.
After that, the picture gets murkier.
Kirk Ferentz has built a long, productive run at Iowa, spending nearly 30 years as the Hawkeyes’ head coach and consistently getting more out of less. Kyle Whittingham, now at Michigan, also has a strong case over Riley; the source notes he was the better coach when Utah and USC were both in the Pac-12.
Ferentz may be the toughest call in the group, but the bottom line is simple: Riley has not yet done enough at USC to lock down a top-five spot in the Big Ten. He’ll have to prove it this season.
In Other News...
USC May Have Found The Linebacker Answer It Has Been Missing
USCs linebacker room has spent the past few seasons looking for the kind of steadying veteran who can help pull everything together, and Deven Bryant looks like the latest attempt to solve that problem. The Washington transfer arrives with the kind of experience the Trojans wanted to pair with homegrown pieces Desman Stephens II and Jadyn Walker, giving the defense a more established voice in a room that has needed one.
Bryants value goes beyond simply being an extra body in the mix. After moving from WILL to MIKE linebacker last season, he settled into a role that better fit his game, and USC is betting that growth carries over into 2026 under Gary Patterson and Mike Ekeler. He is already being viewed as a potential starter and a leader, which is why he lands so high on the Trojans list of most important players for next season. [Read more 🡒]
Dan Lanning Just Got Pushed Back In A Massive 5-Star Battle
Oregons 2027 recruiting board still has some real star power, with five-star wide receiver Dakota Guerrant and edge rusher Rashad Streets already in the fold, and the Ducks keep working other top targets to round out the class. But the bigger swing for this cycle has centered on Honor Faalave-Johnson, the five-star wide receiver-defensive back whose recruitment has become one of the more closely watched battles on the West Coast.
For Oregon, the challenge is no longer just making a pitch, but trying to stay in the race as the picture around Faalave-Johnson keeps shifting. The Ducks are still in pursuit, yet the momentum has tilted enough to make this one feel like a long-haul fight rather than a simple flip attempt, and the next few moves will say a lot about how hard Oregon can press before the window starts closing. [Read more 🡒]