Steady improvements at USC are beginning to pay off

Coach Lincoln Riley has had an up-and-down tenure as the HC for USC so far. The first season in Los Angeles went extraordinarily well. Since then, the record has not been where it needs to be.

By his own admission, coach Riley went all-in early on, making moves that aimed to capitalize on the team at the time. This approach, however, made it so that sustainability quickly came into question.

There was a sense within the program that change was needed. While a lot of the differences are being highlighted now, in practice a lot of the beginnings of the transition that can be seen began to fully take root in 2024.

Now, with a lot of the pieces in place in their second year within their respective roles for the team, there is an increased aid of continuity that makes it so that the Trojans can have a decent amount of success in 2025. There will, of course, still need to be room for mistakes and for growth to take place. This is true of all programs. In many ways, however, the past season in question was one of rebuilding. When looking at what has taken place and how coach Riley has molded this team, a lot of promising aspects are beginning to simmer to the top and are ready to unveil themselves in the form of wins.

Aspects that are taking place at USC

It is an exciting outlook when discussing Jayden Maiava's first full year in the system, after having taken over last year. Coach D'Anton Lynn is also now fully immersed as the defensive coordinator. The staff that focuses more on the behind-the-scenes aspects, too, is starting to really see their efforts bear fruit.

Anything can happen during a season. What is taking place at USC, though, shows a program that is becoming increasingly buttoned up, ready to show that it has learned from its past mistakes.