Lincoln Riley is the fourth-highest-paid coach in school soccer, in keeping with USA In the present day’s database. It’s a reasonably protected guess to imagine USC is within the prime 10 — and possibly nearer to the highest 5 — in assistant coach salaries.
Theoretically, the return for that kind of pay needs to be top-10 outcomes. It’s 12 months 3 of Riley’s tenure. His roster. His employees. His program. His imaginative and prescient. This in all probability appears like a damaged document, however Riley is solely not delivering on the funding USC made in him.
That a lot has been clear for just a few weeks, nevertheless it needs to be crystalized for everybody now after the Trojans suffered a catastrophic 29-28 loss to Maryland on Saturday night time.
USC (3-4, 1-4 Massive Ten) is nice sufficient to have been in each recreation. The Trojans have led within the fourth quarter in every of their losses. All of these video games have been winnable.
However USC retains faltering repeatedly. This time, with two minutes left, Maryland blocked Michael Lantz’s 41-yard area objective try. The Trojans didn’t block appropriately up entrance and as an alternative of main 31-22 within the recreation’s remaining phases, USC was pressured to ship its protection again on the sector. Lower than a minute later, Maryland scored the go-ahead landing. The offense made it throughout midfield however couldn’t march into area objective vary.
Ultimate. pic.twitter.com/FV5InVZSg2
— USC Soccer ✌️ (@uscfb) October 19, 2024
Afterward, Riley was requested why USC has struggled to shut out video games.
“I don’t know,” he mentioned.
It doesn’t actually matter what Riley says. What issues is that he finds options to no matter his group is failing to perform on the sector. Thus far, he hasn’t achieved that.
And there lies the issue. Week after week, it’s USC’s protection failing to give you a fourth-down cease when it completely has to. It’s the offense faltering in a essential second when it has a possibility to salt the sport away. It’s the particular groups making an enormous mistake at a vital juncture.
This group simply finds methods to lose video games.
“We’ve been a adequate group to have an opportunity to win each recreation however we haven’t been fairly adequate to separate,” Riley informed reporters after the loss, “and if you put your self in these moments you’ll must make some performs to beat any individual. Particularly on the highway. You’re going to must make that area objective or make that fourth-down sort out or make that catch or throw or block or no matter it’s as a result of it’s not going to be handed to you.”
I do know what the recruiting rankings recommend. I do know the place USC is ranked in the 247Sports Staff Expertise Composite. And I do know the Trojans have extra expertise than Minnesota and Maryland. However I additionally know USC just isn’t proficient sufficient to separate from its opponents. Not the place it issues — within the trenches — and never in the way in which Riley described above. And even when this group is extra proficient than the Golden Gophers or Terrapins, it’s not by a decisive sufficient margin that it might make sloppy errors and get away with it.
Riley’s had three years to construct this roster. It’s on him if the Trojans aren’t proficient sufficient proper now. The discuss how he can’t wave a magic wand ought to in all probability cease. There will not be a whole lot of causes to consider USC shall be dramatically extra proficient in 12 months 4. The Trojans’ 2025 recruiting class is ranked within the prime 10 nationally, however relying on true freshmen is a idiot’s errand.
Bear in mind subsequent 12 months’s schedule options highway video games at Notre Dame and Oregon and a house recreation with Michigan.
If USC does handle to improve its roster in a major manner, it’ll nonetheless have to handle its attention-to-detail drawback. It’s been missing all through Riley’s tenure. Whether or not it’s Mario Williams failing to honest catch a essential kickoff in opposition to Tulane within the Cotton Bowl two years in the past, John Humphrey and Kamari Ramsey failing to sort out Michigan operating again Kalel Mullings — which turned a 15-yard acquire right into a 63-yard run that arrange the Wolverines’ game-winning rating — in September or the missed block on Lantz’s area objective try Saturday night time.
Coaches typically say, “You’re both teaching it or permitting it to occur.” These kinds of errors are a mirrored image of the pinnacle coach, similar to all these shut losses are. USC has blown 14-point leads in every of the previous two weeks. Riley has misplaced 12 video games because the Trojans coach. His groups have blown a 14-point lead in 5 of them.
Certain, each might be defined away in a vacuum, however these losses have grow to be a sample. One that may’t be defined away.
“We’re doing a whole lot of the heavy lifting, which is put your self to win video games in opposition to good groups,” Riley mentioned, “however the lack of ability to complete them off — it eats at you.”
At 3-4, USC has fallen beneath .500 for the primary time in Riley’s tenure. He has to vary one thing structurally with the way in which he runs this system. There’ll naturally be some who will name for his firing, however until these calls include about $80 million, that’s not practical.
So Riley and USC are doubtless on this collectively for some time. The Trojans coach can’t double down on how he’s operating this system. He’s 11-11 for the reason that 11-1 common season in 2022. No matter he’s doing just isn’t working. That kind of reflection will doubtless happen as soon as the offseason rolls round. However why wasn’t that achieved final offseason, after a disastrous 7-5 common season?
The tradition appears higher than final season, however that’ll be examined over these subsequent few weeks.
The Trojans couldn’t look any extra disinterested final season within the rivalry recreation in opposition to UCLA. So Riley has to show he can preserve this group motivated.
It’s late October and USC already has nothing to play for however delight. That’s simply not the place issues are speculated to be in 12 months 3.
(Photograph: Greg Fiume / Getty Photographs)
