Experts agree that Lincoln Riley is no longer a top-10 football coach

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When Lincoln Riley came to USC in November of 2021, he was clearly a top-five head coach in college football. Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney were the two best coaches in the sport at the time. Kirby Smart was in the process of establishing himself as a top-tier coach as well. Riley was pretty clearly the fourth or fifth-best coach in the sport. Brian Kelly of Notre Dame was in the mix. Now, here we are in 2026. Riley is definitely not a top-five coach. He is clearly not even a top-10 coach. The Sporting News released its full FBS coaching rankings. Riley is 15th, and that feels entirely reasonable, even generous:

"Riley owns the 10th-best career winning percentage among FBS coaches. He should be a top-10 coach – but the Trojans have averaged five losses each of the last three years and are still making the adjustment to the Big Ten. There are flashes of brilliance – but this is a prove-it-or-lose-it year of sorts with the addition of defensive coordinator Gary Patterson," The Sporting News wrote.

Riley is 35-18 at USC. He won 11 games in Year 1, so you can do the quick math and realize that Riley has won a grand total of 24 games over the past three seasons. That's well below expectations at USC. The 2026 season has a simple goal: making the College Football Playoff. That's the expectation. It's an expectation USC hasn't been able to fulfill in the first 12 years of the playoff's existence.

If Lincoln Riley wants to be a top-10 coach again, he just has to make the CFP. He will return to the top tier of his profession.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Sporting News ranks Lincoln Riley 15th among FBS football coaches

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