Lincoln Riley Shows His True Colors In Criticism Of Notre Dame
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Leave it to Lincoln Riley to wait until the Notre Dame vs USC rivalry was over to start talking tough about the Irish. It's typical of how Riley has always operated, which is avoiding the tough fights, looking for an easier path and then speaking untruths about why we are where we are.
A week after it was announced the rivalry was over, or at least paused until at least 2030, Riley felt the need to talk tough about why the rivalry had come to an end. USC and Riley continue to change their stories, which makes sense since every excuse they come up with makes them look worse.
But that didn't stop Riley from talking tough now that he knows his team doesn't have to square off against Notre Dame in the near future. Riley is that guy who likes to talk tough while 20 people are standing between him and the guy that wants to fight him, screaming "don't hold me back" as he retreats.
“We took Notre Dame at their word that they would play us anytime, anywhere,” Riley said during a recent Alamo Bowl press conference. “That proposal was rejected. Not only was it rejected, but five minutes after we got the call, it was announced they scheduled another opponent, which I’ll give them credit, that might be the fastest scheduling act in college football history.”
Riley continued, insinuating that it was Notre Dame the backed out of a previously scheduled agreement.
“Had Notre Dame lived up to their word and played us anytime, anywhere, we would be playing in the next two years, and looking ahead after that, hopefully continuing the series," Riley said. "They did not follow through on it, thus we are not playing them the next couple years.”
That's interesting, and it's also obvious spin that much of the national media will refuse to call him out on. It was hilarious reading Los Angeles Times writer and USC mouthpiece Ryan Kartje try and spin this. Riley says Notre Dame failed to live up to its word, but if we assume Kartje isn't a liar and doesn't make things up, just a week ago he told us – after talking with USC sources – that Notre Dame and USC had agreed to a deal, but it was USC that backed out.
"USC and Notre Dame were close to announcing a continuation of their rivalry earlier this season, a source told @latimes," Kartje wrote in a tweet dated December 22nd. "USC was ready to compromise and play the ’26 game in November
But then USC learned of ND’s agreement w/ the CFP to have a guaranteed spot if in the top 12."
Later that day Kartje tweeted this:
"USC and Notre Dame were close to a deal to continue their rivalry series. Then, Selection Sunday happened, and a new reality came into focus for USC. One where it made no sense to schedule the Irish at any time other than Week Zero. Notre Dame declined."
So wait, Notre Dame failed to keep its word? Yeah, that's false. Even USC's mouthpiece at the LA Times made it clear that it was USC that had agreed to a deal that would extend the series for two years before making a last minute request that Notre Dame rejected. The week zero request is one that USC knows would be very difficult for Notre Dame to do, and not even something that was guaranteed to be granted by the NCAA. You can't just choose to play in week 0 because you want to, you must be granted permission.
But as this particular USC writer made very clear the day the initial announcement was made, BOTH SCHOOLS agreed to a deal, USC got spooked by a Notre Dame MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) for the College Football Playoff that had been known by everyone in the sport – except for USC, apparently. That, combined with some decisions by the playoff committee, caused USC to attempt to change the terms of the agreement once again.
Notre Dame saying no to that is now being spun into USC was willing to play the game whenever, wherever, but it's the Irish who backed out? Even USC's own mouth piece said that it was USC that backed out of the original agreement.
Ummmmm, I'm sorry, if USC was willing to play Notre Dame any place and any time, then why not continue the way things have been scheduled for over 60 years? Or heck, I don't know, maybe go back to the way things used to be where the game was played in November – or even December – every year. You know, like the other big rivalries like Ohio State vs Michigan, Alabama vs Auburn, or non-conference rivalries like Florida vs Florida State, Clemson vs South Carolina, Louisville vs Kentucky or Georgia vs Georgia Tech.
Let's be honest, this isn't about the challenge of scheduling a game during conference play. Plenty of teams do that, and if USC wanted this game to continue it would be easy to tell the Big Ten – who has yet to set the dates for the 2026 schedules and beyond – that you are going to play Notre Dame every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
But that's not really what USC wanted. Riley has been talking out of both sides of his mouth since he arrived at USC. In one breath he talks about how special the rivalry is and how he wants it to continue, and then in the next breath he whines about how tough it will be, and how hard the Big Ten is, and how there are new realities in college football.
Soft.
That's what Lincoln Riley is and what he's always been. Of course Riley waits until after the rivalry has ended to talk tough. He doesn't have to worry about Notre Dame running the ball down his team's throat yet again, and doesn't have to worry about suffering a fourth straight double digit defeat at the hands of the Irish program, who has defeated USC in eight of the last 10 matchups.
Let's do a quick refresher. Riley was cruising at Oklahoma, having led the Sooners to a 55-10 record in five seasons that included four straight trips to the College Football Playoff. Following the 2021 season, Riley bailed and took the job at USC.
"The best, and most honest, answer is that the opportunity at USC was simply the right job at the right time for me and for my family," Riley said after his departure.
Right time you say? Remember, Riley was beating up on a mostly weak Big 12 schedule every season. Oklahoma had gone 37-7 in conference play during his tenure.
I'm sure it's just a coincidence that the "right time" was just three months after Oklahoma announced it was leaving the Big 12 to join the SEC. I'm sure it made total sense for a Texas native to head to Los Angeles instead of Baton Rouge, Louisiana to take the LSU job, which was also offered to him. I'm sure it had nothing to do with him wanting to coach in the Pac 12 instead of the SEC.
Then months after taking the USC job it was announced that USC was leaving to join the Big Ten, another league that is tougher than the one he is in.
Let's consider what USC has done since that decision was made.
USC tried to get out of its 2024 season opening game against LSU.
USC backs out of a home-and-home series against Ole Miss that was slated for 2025 and 2026.
USC backs out of a 100-year rivalry with Notre Dame.
There were always excuses for each one, but there's been one school that has backed out of playing teams in recent seasons, and it's not Notre Dame. We're now supposed to believe that it was Notre Dame that backed out of the series, only to replace USC with BYU, who has been a significantly better team than the Trojans the last two seasons?
No, the pattern of ducking tough schedules doesn't exist in South Bend, who in the last seven months has scheduled a 12-year series with Clemson, a home-and-home with Auburn and now a home-and-home with BYU. The pattern of backing down from a fight is housed in Los Angeles.
Make no mistake, this is not a USC problem. One only has to listen to the vast number of alums and media people who actually get why this rivalry matters to know that the majority of USC alums and boosters absolutely wanted this rivalry to continue. They aren't afraid of playing Notre Dame and still having a tough conference schedule, as we saw throughout the Pete Carroll era.
This is a Lincoln Riley problem. This is a coach who never saw a fight he didn't want to back down from. Whether it was avoiding the SEC, avoiding LSU, avoiding Ole Miss or now avoiding Notre Dame, Riley has always looked for the path of least resistance. It's why he doesn't belong in charge of a program with the history of USC, who truly understands what it means to play anyone, anywhere and anytime.
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