Lincoln Riley’s first season at USC has been profitable by all accounts. The No. 7 Trojans (9-1) have already doubled their win whole from a season in the past (4) and enter Saturday’s rivalry matchup with No. 16 UCLA a win away from clinching a Pac-12 Championship sport berth. However, regardless of his early successes in Los Angeles, Riley regrets how his five-year tenure at Oklahoma ended a 12 months in the past.
On Nov. 28, 2021, barely twelve hours after he disavowed any notion that he would take the vacant LSU job, Riley knowledgeable his employees that he was heading west to take the job at USC.
“I know I hurt people there,” Riley mentioned Saturday on College GameDay. “I live with that, and I have got to own that. There are things I would change. I absolutely did not handle the situation perfectly. I let my emotions get ahold of me at times too. At times I felt some of the backlash and got out of character. I’m disappointed about that because I did not do a good job with that. I wish I could get it back, but I can’t. It will never change my opinion of the place.”
USC’s fast turnaround below Riley has been aided by a 20-man 2022 switch portal class that featured quarterback Caleb Williams (Oklahoma) and extensive receivers Jordan Addison (Pittsburgh) and Mario Williams (Oklahoma).
“The turnaround has been very drastic and sudden,” Riley mentioned. “It has taken a lot of work and a lot of buy-in. I felt like we would have a chance to turn things around, but you never know how that is going to play out. I think we will be more proud of it when this season ends. Right now, we are riding the wave.”
Caleb Williams has been spectacular by means of his first 10 video games in a Trojan uniform. The former five-star recruit has accomplished 63.7% of his passes for 3,010 yards and ranks second within the Pac-12 with 37 whole touchdowns.
“What (Williams) has done has been phenomenal,” Riley mentioned. “His transition and how much he has improved in one year, especially this early in his career — he’s been on a stretch of some really good football. I’ve been through enough (Heisman campaigns) to realize that they don’t hand out the trophy right now. It will be decided within the next 2-4 weeks. This is when you’ve got to be at your best.”
Though Week 7’s loss to Utah drastically compromised USC’s postseason resume, Riley says this system nonetheless has a combating probability of constructing its first College Football Playoff look.
“Absolutely (we are CFP quality),” Riley mentioned. “We’ve got our shot. We’ve put ourselves in position at the end of the year, and now it is time to capitalize. I’m glad we are one of the group that has a shot. We got to go win these last few, and I think we will be in great shape.”
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