Lincoln Riley wants to shut down any talk of him leaving USC for another job

The Torch flame had barely faded inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum when head coach Lincoln Riley stepped to the podium following USC’s emphatic 38 –17 win over Northwestern. The Trojans have now matched their win total from last season of seven with three games still left to play.

Yet, despite the convincing victory, Riley found himself fielding questions about his future in Los Angeles. Earlier this week, college football analyst Josh Pate sparked conversation by suggesting that Riley could be a name to watch in this year’s coaching carousel. You can find the video that stirred up Troy this week linked below.

The comment was just cryptic enough to spark uncertainty, and with a coaching cycle featuring several premier job openings, it’s no surprise that one of college football’s brightest offensive minds would surface in coaching search conversations. Still, Lincoln Riley and USC remain firmly focused on the present.

The Trojans boast the nation’s top-ranked 2026 recruiting class, have secured their seventh win of the season, and sit near the top of the Big Ten standings and are very much in the thick of the playoff race. However, those facts alone were not enough to deter the kind of coaching chatter that comes with being an elite coach at an elite institution. So Lincoln Riley was short and direct when asked about it after the Northwestern game. His response was simple. "You know what I sacrificed to be here. I am where I need to be."

For Riley, all signs point to a strong mutual commitment between him and USC. While his first four years in Los Angeles have come with their share of ups and downs, it’s evident that he’s building his program one brick at a time. With a state-of-the-art football facility set to open next year and the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class arriving to usher in that new era, the future looks increasingly bright for both Riley and the Trojans.