USC HC Lincoln Riley speaks on past regret that is helping to shape the program now

Being a head coach, particularly at a top national brand such as USC, comes with a lot of pressure. The expectation is to win the big games and take care of business with style points against the smaller programs. Even so, on a day-to-day basis, there are countless decisions that are made that ultimately impact the program. And that's only during the buildup; during the game itself, every judgment decision is then open to Sunday morning quarterbacking pushback.

That is part of the job, however. Achieve victory, and a coach can be called a genius. If the same choice leads to a defeat, the temperature on a hot seat can go up significantly.

Rather than second-guessing a run or pass call on a certain third-down play, evaluating the overall direction and focus of the program can often prove to be more beneficial. While sitting down with Y-Option Podcast's host Yogi Roth, the Trojan HC discussed an earlier mistake in his Los Angeles tenure that he would do differently but has since learned from.

Coach Riley's first year with USC started off encouraging enough following his arrival from Oklahoma. Their final Cotton Bowl loss resulted in an 11-3 record, but that also came with a narrow defeat on the road at Utah and a Pac-12 Championship letdown to the same Utes during the postseason.

Reflection from USC head coach

This is where coach Riley then expressed a form of wishing he had done things differently during the interview with Roth. The head coach elaborated:

"If I had any regrets about our path up to this, I would have started that after the first year instead of after the second year."

When referring to what he would have started at that moment, he is speaking of the focused push on recruiting at the high school levels. In his estimation, the Trojans took something of an all-in approach following his initial double-digit win year.

Now, particularly epitomized by the efforts of GM Chad Bowden and the position coaches on the staff, USC looks to make ground in the high school ranks, especially among the local talents.

It's a debate among college football analysts as to how much a school should divide their energy into high school recruiting and how far out in the class cycle. Listening to coach Riley speak, however, this interview and his consistent message throughout spring show which side the Trojans will lean in terms of that aspect. For him, there may have been an earlier miscalculation, but he will move forward, looking to avoid the same mistake twice, and so far, it is already working out for the program.