Lincoln Riley keeping his job after this season is one storyline a lot of people are monitoring. Some analysts are projecting him as the coach under the most pressure this season in college football. While It hasn’t been all dark and gloomy for Lincoln Riley during his time at USC, in fact the future looks really bright.
One thing Riley can hold his hat on is his ability to recruit. Riley and his staff in 2026 have brought home the No. 1 recruiting class in the country (No. 2 according to some rankings, but not all). College Sports Wire writer Matt Zemek highlights the recruiting class for 2026 as a reason Lincoln Riley could hold onto his job even after a rough 2025 season.
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“This circles back to Chad Bowden’s place in USC football’s plans. Bowden has instantly transformed USC’s NIL operation and has caused the 2026 recruiting class to take off like a rocket ship. USC has consistently had a top-two class for the past several months. To use a familiar turn of phrase in the football industry, USC has given Lincoln Riley high-quality groceries. Now the coach is in position to cook.
“Legendary NFL coach Bill Parcells talked about how an NFL front office asked him to cook the dinner. Parcells wanted a say in how to run a team, which he likened to shopping for the groceries themselves. USC has changed its system to have Lincoln Riley focus more on cooking while other people shop for the groceries. Now that some high-end groceries are arriving, it just wouldn’t make sense to not give Riley at least one season with superior talent in 2026.”
USC is bringing in some of the best players in the country in 2026. Lincoln Riley has shown he can have success with talented rosters, due to some successful seasons with Oklahoma where he fielded teams filled with NFL talent. The more talent Riley has to work with, the more successful he can be. In the Big Ten, the amount of competitive teams is larger than it was in the Pac-12, directly resulting in why USC had a disappointing season last year.
Riley has made adjustments to field a better team than last year. With the talent that is coming in the following year, cutting Riley right before USC can reap the benefits would be a huge mistake.
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Lincoln Riley has brought NFL-caliber coaching to his staff, and he knows how develop college players into high first-round draft picks especially at the quarterback position. This recruiting class will be a key factor in USC ultimately deciding to keep Riley.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC 2026 recruiting class could affect Lincoln Riley’s job safety
