Lincoln Riley is the fourth-highest-paid coach in faculty soccer, in response to USA At present’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 type of pay must be top-10 outcomes. It’s Yr 3 of Riley’s tenure. His roster. His employees. His program. His imaginative and prescient. This most likely feels like a damaged file, however Riley is solely not delivering on the funding USC made in him.
That a lot has been clear for just a few 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 purpose try. The Trojans didn’t block accurately up entrance and as a substitute of main 31-22 within the sport’s closing levels, 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 purpose 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 crew is failing to perform on the sphere. Thus 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 essential second when it has a chance to salt the sport away. It’s the particular groups making an enormous mistake at a vital juncture.
This crew simply finds methods to lose video games.
“We’ve been a ok crew to have an opportunity to win each sport however we haven’t been fairly ok to separate,” Riley instructed reporters after the loss, “and while you put your self in these moments you will must make some performs to beat any person. Particularly on the street. You’re going to must make that discipline purpose 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 Staff Expertise Composite. And I do know the Trojans have extra expertise than Minnesota and Maryland. However I additionally know USC isn’t 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 crew is extra gifted than the Golden Gophers or Terrapins, it’s not by a decisive sufficient margin that it could 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 usually are not a variety of causes to consider USC might be dramatically extra gifted in Yr 4. The Trojans’ 2025 recruiting class is ranked within the high 10 nationally, however relying on true freshmen is a idiot’s errand.
Remember subsequent 12 months’s schedule options street video games at Notre Dame and Oregon and a house sport with Michigan.
If USC does handle to improve its roster in a big method, it’ll nonetheless have to deal with its attention-to-detail drawback. It’s been missing all through Riley’s tenure. Whether or not it’s Mario Williams failing to honest catch a essential kickoff towards 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 purpose try Saturday evening.
Coaches usually say, “You’re both teaching it or permitting it to occur.” These kinds of errors are a mirrored image of the pinnacle coach, similar 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.
Certain, every one 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 a variety of the heavy lifting, which is put your self to win video games towards good groups,” Riley stated, “however the lack of ability 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’s not reasonable.
So Riley and USC are probably on this collectively for some time. The Trojans coach can’t double down on how he’s working this system. He’s 11-11 because the 11-1 common season in 2022. No matter he’s doing isn’t working. That type of reflection will probably 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 towards UCLA. So Riley has to show he can preserve this crew motivated.
It’s late October and USC already has nothing to play for however satisfaction. That’s simply not the place issues are speculated to be in Yr 3.
(Photograph: Greg Fiume / Getty Photos)
