USC's Lincoln Riley Makes Startling Admission About Program, Says They Are 'Playing Catch Up'

In a candid and eye-opening moment at the Big Ten Media Days, USC head coach Lincoln Riley openly acknowledged the uphill battle his program faces as it transitions into the Big Ten conference this season.

Riley, who left Oklahoma to take the helm at USC with a reported $100 million contract over 10 years, painted a picture of a program striving to catch up in multiple areas despite its storied history and recent investments.

"We are playing catch up," Riley said, according to CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd . "We're playing catch up in facilities. We're playing catch up in NIL. We're playing catch up in resources within the program. We've been playing catch up in d*** near every way you can think."

Riley's frank admission sheds light on the challenges that even the most celebrated coaches face when stepping into new environments. When he took over USC, expectations were sky-high. The Trojans, a program with a rich history and a reputation for producing NFL talent, seemed poised for a rapid resurgence under his leadership. However, the road has been far from smooth.

In his two seasons at USC, Riley has managed to secure a 19-8 record, largely thanks to the performances of quarterback Caleb Williams, the No. 1 pick in this year's NFL draft. Despite this, the team has not met the lofty expectations set by Riley’s past success at Oklahoma, where he won four Big 12 titles in five years. He and the Trojans lost to Utah in the 2023 Pac-12 Championship Game and finished sixth in the conference last year, going 8-5 overall.

This year, USC enters the expanded Big Ten conference without being one of the favorites to win the league—a first in Riley's head coaching career.

"There’s a bigger picture to what we’re building here," Riley said. "We’re building to be in the national championship game every single year. We didn’t take over one that was a national champion and just walk into it. This has been a rebuild from a roster standpoint."

It's not just defensive woes and maintaining a recruiting level of acquiring four and five-star talent yearly that the Trojans are struggling with. USC is grappling with modern realities like manufacturing NIL deals and state-of-the-art facilities that other top programs have mastered.

USC begins their season in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium against LSU on Sunday, Sept. 1.