USC Is Reportedly Hiring Lincoln Riley as Its Next Head Coach

Holy shit.

After rampant rumors that Lincoln Riley would be the next coach at LSU, it turns out the Tigers may have been a smoke screen the whole time for his move to Los Angeles, as multiple outlets have reported Riley will become the next head coach at USC. Riley compiled a record of 55-10 and went to the College Football Playoff three times in his five years at Oklahoma, but will now head to the Pac-12 in an attempt to revive a struggling Trojans program.

There are no details on financials yet, but Riley made just shy of $8 million a year at Oklahoma, so you'd assume it would have to be a fairly sizable upgrade from that to head to California. Also, while not outright confirmed, there were several reports that LSU had offered Riley a contract in excess of $12 million per season.

This is a massive coup for USC. If Riley was going to go anywhere, I would have guessed LSU or Florida long before heading to the West Coast — though he does seem like a guy who wouldn't hate living in Southern California. This was a grand slam for the Trojans.

Advertisement

And now we're just getting started. USC and Florida have now filled their vacancies, but now Oklahoma is open in addition to the still-vacant LSU job. Where do the Sooners turn for their next coach?

This may end up being the wildest coaching carousel we've ever seen. Hold on to your butts.