One way to explain why USC football and men's hoops are failing

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USC football and men’s basketball have clearly fallen short in recent years. Lincoln Riley and Eric Musselman have not done the jobs they were paid to do. We can sit here and note how unlucky Musselman was with injuries this past season, and that’s entirely true, but it remains that USC still did blow leads in games it should have won. The Trojans cratered down the stretch and threw away their shot at the NCAA Tournament. Lincoln Riley was crushed by the Eric Gentry injury in 2024 and the Prophet Brown injury in 2025, but still: Five seasons without a playoff berth is not what he came to USC to do. One article by College Sports Wire deals with one small but interesting part of Riley and Musselman.

Very simply, they do not inspire the fear or hatred they once did.

The article states that “Neither coach is widely loved, and both can be prickly at times, but to be honest, with both USC football and basketball failing, the hate generated by these coaches has decreased over time. This is not an LSU lightning rod — not now, at least.”

The comment is made in reference to LSU having two very polarizing and controversial coaches, Will Wade in men’s basketball and Lane Kiffin in football. Part of the equation connected to hatred is the perception — and reality — of how successful coaches are, or are expected to be. Right now, expectations at LSU (and toward LSU from national observers) are higher than they are at USC.

It might be cosmetic and superficial, but it is nevertheless an interesting way of expressing the idea that USC’s revenue sports just aren’t performing at the level they are expected to.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC football, men’s basketball coaches no longer inspire fear

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