Lincoln Riley Lowers Expectations For USC: ‘I'm Not A Magician'

It wouldn't be accurate to say that expectations for the 2024 USC Trojans football team are high. USC finished 7-5 in the 2023 regular season, then lost Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams to the NFL. 

USC also enters the season with one of the hardest schedules in the country. A season opener in Las Vegas against the LSU Tigers, a road matchup against the defending champion Michigan Wolverines, and another road game at the loser of the title game, the Washington Huskies. Then there are home games against Penn State, Notre Dame and Wisconsin. Not to mention a tough road trip to Maryland, the always feisty UCLA rivalry and a home game against an improving Nebraska team.

That said, it's still USC, and the expectations at USC are always to compete for national relevance. Conference championships, Rose Bowl game appearances and potentially more. Head coach Lincoln Riley acknowledged those expectations at Big Ten media day, and says he believes the Trojans can be at the top of the conference, but with an important caveat.

"We are at the top of the Big Ten conference," Riley said. "We're at the top of any conference. I don't ever look at ourselves as below anybody, and I never will. Look where Ohio State and Oregon were two years ago. Look at what they took over and look at what we took over. It takes time. I'm not a magician. I can't wave a magic wand and have everything be perfect right away. Find one area where we haven't made progress. This thing's got momentum. It's coming. Nothing is going to stop it. That's fine, they [Ohio State and Oregon] started at a different point. We'll see where it ends up."

That doesn't exactly sound like someone confident of being at the top of the Big Ten. 

Los Angeles - Head coach Lincoln Riley of the USC Trojans during USC football spring practice at Howard Jones Field on the campus of the University of Southern California on April 4, 2024. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)

Riley, USC, Have Lots To Prove In 2024

To some extent, Riley's right about the time it takes to rebuild a program. But that time frame has never been more compressed than it is now. The transfer portal makes adding players easier than it's ever been; Riley's 11-3 season in 2023 was only possible because Caleb Williams was able to move from Oklahoma.

It's now year three of the Riley era at USC, and while the schedule this year makes a 11-1 or 10-2 record unlikely, it's not unreasonable for USC fans to expect some substantial improvement. There's an entirely new defensive coaching staff, and Riley's had several years to put recruiting classes together.

An elite team may only go 9-3 against the schedule USC has to play. But USC is, in theory at least, supposed to be an elite team. The program has aspirations of being at the level of Ohio State, Michigan and SEC powers like Georgia or Alabama. Consistently competing for playoff berths, being the name on the schedule that other teams fear. 

At some point though, you may actually have to be a "magician" and get your teams to play like it.