Paul Finebaum Calls Out Prominent Head Coach For Being Afraid Of Competition

Some believe when head coach Lincoln Riley departed Oklahoma for USC it was because he wanted to avoid playing in arguably the toughest conference in college football with the school’s impending move to the SEC.

If that accusation is true, things didn’t work out so well for Riley in that regard with USC now playing in a now-loaded Big Ten conference with the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Penn State Wisconsin, Oregon, UCLA and Washington.

The Trojans are under immense pressure to perform in their first year in their new conference, and noted college football analyst Paul Fineabum believes 2024 is the year for Riley to prove he’s, in fact, not afraid of a step up in competition.

“[USC is] coming off of a…disappointing season — how about a terrible season — and [Lincoln Riley] has to do something about it,” Finebaum said Wednesday on ESPN’s “Get Up.” “He can’t just show up today and talk about, ‘Well, we made mistakes last year, we lost a couple of close games,’ — he has to lay out a blueprint.

“…He has to put his stamp on this new league because this is the same man, in my opinion, that ran away from the SEC. Now, he ends up in a league of the same ilk and he’s not dealing with it from a position of strength having lost Caleb Williams after last year.”

Riley went just 19-8 in two seasons as USC head coach when the school was in the Pac-12, including a disappointing 8-5 year in 2023 with 2024 No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams as his QB.

Now, not only will Riley have a tougher strength of schedule but he’ll have to stay afloat while breaking in a new QB, Miller Moss, who’s attempted just 93 career passes in three seasons with the Trojans.

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