Lincoln Riley has been under a microscope since he arrived at USC with a &110M chip on his shoulder. And after Riley’s promising start with the Trojans (an 11-win campaign and a Heisman trophy for Caleb Williams), the wheels seem to have come off a bit . Over the past two years, USC has struggled. They compiled only a 15-11 combined record, stumbling through their early Big Ten days. And also failing to crack the Top 25 rankings as the 2025 college football season kicks off. The buzz around Lincoln Riley has shifted significantly, with voices like former USC quarterback Matt Leinart openly saying, “I know Lincoln very well, and he is on the hot seat.”

What’s adding fuel to the fire is that USC is projected to finish ninth in the Big Ten in 2025. And that is behind teams like Nebraska

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