Lincoln Riley is the fourth-highest-paid coach in school soccer, in response to USA Right now’s database. It’s a fairly protected wager to imagine USC is within the high 10 — and possibly nearer to the highest 5 — in assistant coach salaries.
Theoretically, the return for that kind of pay must be top-10 outcomes. It’s 12 months 3 of Riley’s tenure. His roster. His employees. His program. His imaginative and prescient. This most likely appears like a damaged report, however Riley is just not delivering on the funding USC made in him.
That a lot has been clear for a couple of weeks, but it surely must be crystalized for everybody now after the Trojans suffered a catastrophic 29-28 loss to Maryland on Saturday evening.
USC (3-4, 1-4 Huge Ten) is sweet sufficient to have been in each sport. The Trojans have led within the fourth quarter in every of their losses. All of these video games have been winnable.
However USC retains faltering many times. This time, with two minutes left, Maryland blocked Michael Lantz’s 41-yard discipline objective try. The Trojans didn’t block accurately up entrance and as a substitute of main 31-22 within the sport’s closing phases, USC was compelled to ship its protection again on the sphere. Lower than a minute later, Maryland scored the go-ahead landing. The offense made it throughout midfield however couldn’t march into discipline objective vary.
Remaining. pic.twitter.com/FV5InVZSg2
— USC Soccer ✌️ (@uscfb) October 19, 2024
Afterward, Riley was requested why USC has struggled to shut out video games.
“I don’t know,” he stated.
It doesn’t actually matter what Riley says. What issues is that he finds options to no matter his workforce is failing to perform on the sphere. So far, he hasn’t achieved that.
And there lies the issue. Week after week, it’s USC’s protection failing to give you a fourth-down cease when it completely has to. It’s the offense faltering in a crucial second when it has a chance to salt the sport away. It’s the particular groups making an enormous mistake at an important juncture.
This workforce simply finds methods to lose video games.
“We’ve been a adequate workforce to have an opportunity to win each sport however we haven’t been fairly adequate to separate,” Riley informed reporters after the loss, “and if you put your self in these moments you will must make some performs to beat any person. Particularly on the highway. You’re going to must make that discipline objective or make that fourth-down deal with or make that catch or throw or block or no matter it’s as a result of it’s not going to be handed to you.”
I do know what the recruiting rankings counsel. I do know the place USC is ranked within the 247Sports Group Expertise Composite. And I do know the Trojans have extra expertise than Minnesota and Maryland. However I additionally know USC is just not gifted sufficient to separate from its opponents. Not the place it issues — within the trenches — and never in the best way Riley described above. And even when this workforce is extra gifted than the Golden Gophers or Terrapins, it’s not by a decisive sufficient margin that it will probably make sloppy errors and get away with it.
Riley’s had three years to construct this roster. It’s on him if the Trojans aren’t gifted sufficient proper now. The speak about how he can’t wave a magic wand ought to most likely cease. There will not be plenty of causes to imagine USC might be dramatically extra gifted in 12 months 4. The Trojans’ 2025 recruiting class is ranked within the high 10 nationally, however relying on true freshmen is a idiot’s errand.
Have in mind subsequent yr’s schedule options highway video games at Notre Dame and Oregon and a house sport with Michigan.
If USC does handle to improve its roster in a major method, it’ll nonetheless have to handle its attention-to-detail downside. It’s been missing all through Riley’s tenure. Whether or not it’s Mario Williams failing to honest catch a crucial kickoff in opposition to Tulane within the Cotton Bowl two years in the past, John Humphrey and Kamari Ramsey failing to deal with Michigan working again Kalel Mullings — which turned a 15-yard acquire right into a 63-yard run that arrange the Wolverines’ game-winning rating — in September or the missed block on Lantz’s discipline objective try Saturday evening.
Coaches typically say, “You’re both teaching it or permitting it to occur.” These types of errors are a mirrored image of the top coach, identical to all these shut losses are. USC has blown 14-point leads in every of the previous two weeks. Riley has misplaced 12 video games because the Trojans coach. His groups have blown a 14-point lead in 5 of them.
Positive, each will be defined away in a vacuum, however these losses have turn into a sample. One that may’t be defined away.
“We’re doing plenty of the heavy lifting, which is put your self to win video games in opposition to good groups,” Riley stated, “however the incapacity to complete them off — it eats at you.”
At 3-4, USC has fallen under .500 for the primary time in Riley’s tenure. He has to vary one thing structurally with the best way he runs this system. There’ll naturally be some who will name for his firing, however until these calls include about $80 million, that isn’t life like.
So Riley and USC are seemingly on this collectively for some time. The Trojans coach can’t double down on how he’s working this system. He’s 11-11 for the reason that 11-1 common season in 2022. No matter he’s doing is just not working. That kind of reflection will seemingly happen as soon as the offseason rolls round. However why wasn’t that achieved final offseason, after a disastrous 7-5 common season?
The tradition appears higher than final season, however that’ll be examined over these subsequent few weeks.
The Trojans couldn’t look any extra disinterested final season within the rivalry sport in opposition to UCLA. So Riley has to show he can maintain this workforce motivated.
It’s late October and USC already has nothing to play for however delight. That’s simply not the place issues are presupposed to be in 12 months 3.
(Picture: Greg Fiume / Getty Photos)
