 Riley in 2023 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | USC |
| Conference | Big Ten |
| Record | 35–18 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (1983-09-05)September 5, 1983 (age 42) Muleshoe, Texas, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 2002 | Texas Tech |
| Position | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2003–2005 | Texas Tech (SA) |
| 2006 | Texas Tech (GA) |
| 2007 | Texas Tech (WR) |
| 2008–2009 | Texas Tech (IWR) |
| 2010–2013 | East Carolina (OC/QB) |
| 2014 | East Carolina (AHC/OC/QB) |
| 2015–2016 | Oklahoma (OC/QB) |
| 2017–2021 | Oklahoma |
| 2022–present | USC |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 90–28 |
| Bowls | 3–5 |
| Tournaments | 0–3 (CFP) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 4Big 12 (2017–2020) | |
| Awards | |
| Broyles Award (2015) Big 12 Coach of the Year (2018) AP Big 12 Coach of the Year (2018) | |
Lincoln Michael Riley (born September 5, 1983)[1] is an Americancollege football coach and former player who is thehead football coach at theUniversity of Southern California. Riley previously served as the head coach at theUniversity of Oklahoma for five seasons from 2017 to 2021, where he won four consecutiveBig 12 Championship Games.
Playingquarterback himself as a walk-on player atTexas Tech and known for his "Air Raid" offensive scheme, Riley has mentored threeHeisman Trophy winners at quarterback (Baker Mayfield,Kyler Murray, andCaleb Williams) as well as another starting NFL quarterback and Super Bowl MVP inJalen Hurts.[2]
Riley ran track atMuleshoe High School inMuleshoe, a small town of roughly 5,000 inWest Texas. He began his high school career at defensive end and made the move to quarterback for his junior and senior seasons.[3] Riley playedquarterback atTexas Tech University as awalk-on in 2002,[4] behind senior starter and future Texas Tech coachKliff Kingsbury and back-upB. J. Symons.
In 2003, Riley became a student assistant toMike Leach,[4] gradually progressing to graduate assistant and then to receivers coach.
Riley went on to serve five seasons as offensive coordinator atEast Carolina University[5] underRuffin McNeill.
Riley was hired byBob Stoops to be theoffensive coordinator for theOklahoma Sooners on January 12, 2015.[6][7] In his first season at Oklahoma, Riley led the Sooners to the 7th ranked offense in the country while Bob Stoops led the Sooners to theCollege Football Playoff. He also won theBroyles Award, awarded the nation's top assistant coach. On June 7, 2017, Bob Stoops retired as head coach and Riley was named his successor.[8] In the 2017 season, Riley, anchored by Heisman winnerBaker Mayfield, led his team to the Big 12 conference championship, a No. 2 ranking in theCollege Football Playoff ranking, and a berth in one of the CFP semifinal games at the Rose Bowl. Oklahoma went on to lose the2018 Rose Bowl toGeorgia, in double overtime, 54–48.[9] It was the first of three consecutive 12–2 seasons for the Sooners under Riley. Moreover, OU won the2017,2018,2019, and2020 Big 12 Championship Games during Riley's tenure there. As of the day he had left, Oklahoma (and Riley) had won all four of the revived Big XII Championship Games since the conference resumed them. However, the Sooners had already been eliminated from contention for the Big XII Championship Gamefor the 2021 season and would soon tomove to a new conference.
Riley finished his tenure at Oklahoma with a 55–10 record and the highest winning percentage in thehistory of coaches at the OU program. In his relatively brief time there, he mentored two quarterbacks who won theHeisman Trophy:Baker Mayfield andKyler Murray in consecutive seasons - both quarterbacks who were transfers and had already progressed under other staffs. Another who did not win the trophy,Jalen Hurts, went on to an NFL career as a starting pro quarterback for thePhiladelphia Eagles.
Fox Sports Radio and other sources reported that Riley was unhappy with Oklahoma's decision to move to theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) from their traditional home in theBig 12 Conference.[10][11] OU's Athletic Director Joe Castiglione countered that Riley had been "on board" with Oklahoma's shift to the SEC.[12]
On November 28, 2021, Riley was named the 30th head coach of theUSC Trojans football program representing theUniversity of Southern California, replacingClay Helton. The move was widely praised inLos Angeles area media, with theLos Angeles Daily News calling it awalk-off home run hire for the Trojans after Riley's "brilliant" five years at Oklahoma, predicting that Riley would revive and transform not only USC football, but alsoPac-12 football in general and all of "football in the western third of the country."[13] TheLos Angeles Times pointed out that Riley "still has an itch to scratch when it comes to winning at the highest level of the sport" and must feel he can "reach the summit more easily from USC."[14] Riley himself cited, in an interview given toSportsCenter two days later, the "history and tradition of one of the greatest college football programs of all time, the city, theMecca of sports right here in Los Angeles" were what had lured him over to USC.[15] Riley stated it was "tough" to leave Oklahoma but he "knew it was the right thing."[16]
Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans started the season off hot going 6-0 but fell to the #20Utes 43–42 on October 15, 2022.[17] The Trojans won the rest of their regular season games, finishing the season ranked #4. In the Pac-12 Championship Game they lost to the Utes again, 47–24, and were knocked out of contention for theCollege Football Playoff.[18] USC faced theTulane Green Wave in theCotton Bowl, losing in the last few seconds, 46–45.[19] USC's win probability stood at 99.8% after holding a 15-point lead with 4:30 remaining in the game.[20]
Riley graduated fromTexas Tech in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in exercise and sports science.[21] He has a wife and two daughters.[22] His younger brother,Garrett Riley, previously served as the offensive coordinator atClemson University and before that as running backs coach forAppalachian State.[23]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma Sooners(Big 12 Conference)(2017–2021) | |||||||||
| 2017 | Oklahoma | 12–2 | 8–1 | 1st | LRose† | 3 | 3 | ||
| 2018 | Oklahoma | 12–2 | 8–1 | 1st | LOrange† | 4 | 4 | ||
| 2019 | Oklahoma | 12–2 | 8–1 | 1st | LPeach† | 6 | 7 | ||
| 2020 | Oklahoma | 9–2 | 6–2 | 2nd | WCotton† | 6 | 6 | ||
| 2021 | Oklahoma | 10–2 | 7–2 | 3rd | Alamo[a] | 13 | 14 | ||
| Oklahoma: | 55–10 | 37–7 | |||||||
| USC Trojans(Pac-12 Conference)(2022–2023) | |||||||||
| 2022 | USC | 11–3 | 8–1 | 1st | LCotton† | 13 | 12 | ||
| 2023 | USC | 8–5 | 5–4 | T–4th | WHoliday | ||||
| USC Trojans(Big Ten Conference)(2024–present) | |||||||||
| 2024 | USC | 7–6 | 4–5 | T–9th | WLas Vegas | ||||
| 2025 | USC | 9–4 | 7–2 | T–4th | LAlamo | 21 | 20 | ||
| USC: | 35–18 | 24–12 | |||||||
| Total: | 90–28 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
