UCF Reportedly Making A Play To Poach Lincoln Riley From USC

Lincoln Riley has been the USC head coach for just three seasons, and two of them have been overwhelming disappointments. 

But at least one program is trying to find out if he's ready or willing to give up on his time in Los Angeles. 

The Athletic and Bruce Feldman reported Wednesday morning that the UCF athletic department had reached out to Riley, through his agent, over the last week to see if he'd be interested in its vacancy. Per Feldman's report, his sources said "Any discussions about adjusting the terms of Riley's contract would be between him and USC."

Riley is three years into a 10-year contract with USC, that reportedly pays him $10 million per season. There's also been reports that he has a massive buyout, though it's unclear what specific terms would be if he decided to leave for another job. But is he willing to leave?

Lincoln Riley. (Credit: Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports)

Would Lincoln Riley Leave For UCF?

Feldman also reported that there's no word whether Riley would be interested in leaving USC, let alone for the UCF job. 

"The first source added that UCF has not received any word from Riley’s camp that he is interested in leaving USC, and the school is still looking at multiple candidates to fill its head coaching vacancy," the article reads.

OutKick's Trey Wallace though, says that there's essentially no chance Riley would leave for UCF. There's no doubt that the job in Central Florida would be a massive step down from USC, both in program prestige, location, and recruiting opportunities with NIL support. 

Riley's pedigree has certainly dropped after a disastrous tenure in LA, but not that far. There's an old adage that you never know unless you ask, and it's certainly worth asking for UCF. But despite widespread disappointment with a 7-5, 6-6 run in the last two seasons, Riley seems like an overwhelming favorite to start the 2025 season on the Coliusem sidelines.