USC’s embattled Lincoln Riley has resolute response to mounting criticism

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USC’s second loss in a make-or-break year for Lincoln Riley has knocked the Trojans from the Associated Press rankings and put them on the cusp of being out of the running for the College Football Playoff.

It also sparked speculation about Riley’s fit at a place where he wasn’t hired by athletic director Jen Cohen as well as his possible desire to go somewhere else that might offer an easier path to the CFP.

Riley’s rebuttal?

He’s exactly where he wants to be.

“Listen, if I didn’t wanna be at this place, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place,” Riley, who is still seeking his first CFP appearance in his fifth season at USC, said Tuesday evening. “If I didn’t wanna be at this place, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to leave.

“This is where I wanna be. This is the right place for me. I’m the right person to be here. And that’s just as honest and transparent as I can be with you guys.”

Criticism has mounted since the Trojans (6-2 overall, 3-2 Big Ten) were mauled by Wisconsin last weekend, getting physically manhandled during a 24-7 setback in which they produced the worst offensive performance in Riley’s decade as a head coach.

Facing No. 2 Ohio State (6-1, 4-0) on Saturday at the Coliseum could deepen the discontent or provide a major plot twist for a coach in need of salvation.

Riley deflected to the game against the Buckeyes when asked why he was still the right coach for USC.

“We got a huge home game coming up here in the Coliseum,” Riley said, “and if my focus is anywhere outside of that, then it’s in the wrong place.”

As far as his alignment with Cohen and the rest of the USC administration, Riley suggested there were no issues.

“Fantastic relationship,” Riley said of working with Cohen, who started at USC before Riley’s second season. “She’s been a huge part of all the progress that we’ve made and has been incredibly supportive. So we’ve got an incredible working relationship.”

What about all the chatter connecting the Texas native to other job openings, including at Baylor?

“I love it here,” Riley said. “I mean, like I told you guys, a lot of times, there’s not many people in college football history that gave up what I gave up [at Oklahoma] to come here. I don’t care if it’s 15 years down the line, that never should be taken lightly – it’s certainly not taken lightly by me. So I came here because this is where I wanted to be, I came here because I believe in this place and none of that has changed whatsoever.”

Asked about mounting pressure, Riley said he goes into every season with championship expectations, mentioning the fallout from his first loss at Oklahoma in 2017.

“I didn’t even think I was gonna be able to get out of bed the next morning,” Riley said. “But on top of that, there were people who wanted to run me out of town right away. And I learned a lesson pretty quick, that the highs and lows of this thing in my position, if you let those get to you, then you’re the wrong person for the job.

“By the end of the year, we went on a run and everybody was saying all this and that, which was making me look way better than I certainly was at the time by any stretch. But that was kind of my christening, right, as a head coach and a head coach of a blue-blood school. And when you’re the head coach of a blue-blood school, you have to be ready to weather the storms, the overly positive or the overly negative.”

The latest storm has been the latter kind, though his players appear to be sticking by him.

“I believe there’s not a better leader in the country,” offensive lineman Elijah Paige said. “I love going to work with coach Riley and I believe that everybody in the locker room and this entire building feels the same thing.

“There’s nobody in the world who wants USC to win more than coach Riley, and I think he shows that day in and day out with the confidence he instills in us.”

Of course, unless the trajectory of the Trojans’ season changes, Riley’s future may not be entirely in the hands of the coach and his players.