The USC Trojans have historically been one of the best college football programs. They’ve won 39 conference championships and nine national championships.
USC Hasn’t Been The Same Since Pete Carroll
However, they haven’t had a ton of success since Pete Carroll left after the 2009 season. Carroll coached USC from 2001-09, and won two national championships during that time span. He planted USC as a perennial powerhouse in the sport.
However, after some off-the-field struggles that led to punishment from the NCAA, Carroll elected to leave for the NFL.
Meanwhile, since his departure, the Trojans haven’t been able to muster up the same success. They’ve won double-digit games just five times since 2010. When the program hired Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma, that looked like a major win. It was also perceived as the move to get USC back on track.
Riley Still Searching For a Breakthrough
In his first year in 2022, that looked to be the case. USC went 11-3 and was one win away from likely making its first College Football Playoff appearance. In 2023, the team started the year ranked No. 6, with tons of expectations.
They had the No. 8 most talented roster in college football, according to 247Sports. That is their highest ranking in the Riley era. Despite that, they finished 8-5. They then went 7-6 and 9-4 in the next two seasons.
But Riley has said he believes USC’s championship window is now open. He feels it’s the best roster he’s had, even better than the 2023 roster. Which means it’s time for them to compete, and do it at a high level.
On “Josh Pate’s College Football Show,” the college football analyst did a segment on bold predictions. This prediction was about USC making the national championship game, something Pate doesn’t foresee.
“This is really hard to see for USC,” Pate said. “Even though this is Lincoln’s best roster that he’s had there so far.”
Riley Just Raised the Stakes
The reality is, Riley has lived on being “close.” Go back to his time at Oklahoma and now his time at USC. He has constantly stated that he feels they are “close.” It’s become something people have mocked him over, and for good reason.
While Riley has preached they are “close,” his teams have never shown on the field that they are that close.
Now, in one of the most pressurized seasons already due to his lack of success, he’s added pressure on himself by saying that he feels he has a championship team. If that’s the case, donors and administrators will want to see big-time results and show why Riley was perceived as a home run hire.
Because as for now, it’s looking much more like a strikeout.
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