Veteran LA sports columnist believes Lincoln Riley is on the hot seat
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On Tuesday night, USC closed out its 2025 season with a heartbreaking 30-27 overtime loss to TCU in the Alamo Bowl. With the defeat, the Trojans finished their 2025 campaign with a record of 9-4.
9-4 is by no means a horrible season. However, it was not what head coach Lincoln Riley was hire to do when the Trojans paid over $100 million to hire him away from Oklahoma for years ago. In four seasons at USC, Riley has yet to make the College Football Playoff or win a conference championship. By USC’s standards, that is simply not good enough.
So is Riley actually on the hot seat heading into 2026? One veteran Los Angeles sports columnist certainly thinks so.
“The truth is, Riley hasn’t been much different than his predecessors,” Arash Markazi of The Sporting Tribunewrote following the game. “After the Alamo Bowl loss, he has a 35-18 record through four seasons at USC.
“Lane Kiffin’s record through four USC seasons from 2010 to 2013 (including games coached by interim replacements after he was fired) was 35-17.
“Clay Helton’s record through five seasons from 2016 to 2020, during a tenure defined by hot-seat speculation and eventual dismissal, was 39-19.
“Riley reportedly signed a 10-year, $100 million contract in 2022 as the hottest name in college football. Since then, he has morphed into an overpriced version of Kiffin and Helton, proof that money can buy hype, but it can’t guarantee results.
“As one booster texted me Tuesday night, ‘There are cheaper ways to go 35-18 with far fewer headaches.’
“USC’s goal, of course, is not to go 35-18. But at some point, the Trojans have to look in the mirror and ask why Riley, Kiffin, [Steve] Sarkisian, and [Ed] Orgeron all reached the College Football Playoff before or after their time at USC, yet none could get there while coaching USC.
“As USC enters 2026 following its Alamo Bowl collapse, Riley is on the hot seat for the first time since arriving in Los Angeles. His contract and looming buyout once shielded him from any real danger. But heading into his fifth season, those concerns are gone.
“If Riley doesn’t lead USC to the playoff next season, he will be gone. He has been given a longer rope than any USC coach since 2009. That rope will tighten quickly if the results don’t change.”
Riley reportedly signed a 10-year, $100 million contract in 2022 as the hottest name in college football. Since then, he has morphed into an overpriced version of Kiffin and Helton, proof that money can buy hype, but it can’t guarantee results.
The good news for Riley is that USC has the No. 1 recruiting class in the country arriving for the 2026 cycle. Expect the Trojans to be heavily active in the transfer portal this offseason as well. However, with a schedule that includes Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, and Washington, making the playoff next season—a task that Markazi believes Riley needs to do in order to keep his job—will be no easy task. One thing of for certain: USC’s head coach certainly has his work cut out for him in the coming months.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Veteran columnist believes USC football’s Lincoln Riley is on hot seat
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