AP Photo/Alonzo Adams
USC is looking to reestablish itself among college football's elite programs and has reportedly found its next head coach.
Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports says that the USC will hire Lincoln Riley as their new head coach in the next 24 hours. The Oklahoma Sooners have been coached by Riley since the beginning of the year.
Matt Zenitz added more context.
Matt Zenitz is the person.
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A source tells On3sports that Lincoln Riley just told his staff at Oklahoma that he was going to USC.
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The position became open after USC fired Clay Helton. His departure came after the USC lost 42-28 in their opening game of the conference season and didn't look like the conference championship contender fans were hoping to see.
He said he was forever indebted to the players he led.
The USC interim head coach was Clay Helton, who led the team to a.500 record in his first season. The USC made him the full-time head coach during that time, and it appeared to be the correct move when they finished the 2016 campaign with nine straight wins.
A Rose Bowl win over Penn State was included in that stretch.
The program's last bowl win was that one. It lost to Oregon in the Pac-12 title game during the shortened 2020 campaign. USC was unable to return to the consistent excellence it once enjoyed due to Helton's 45-24 record since 2015.
There were reports of potential candidates.
James Franklin, Bob Stoops, Chris Petersen, Matt Campbell, Bill O'Brien, Bill Fickell, Mario Cristobal, Greg Schiano and Tony Elliott were all reported to be potential hires.
USC is going to be under pressure as it tries to rediscover the glory days of Pete Carroll. The USC won double-digit games seven years in a row from 2002 to 2008 under his watch.
They have struggled to compete with the likes of Alabama, Ohio State, and other national powerhouses.
It is up to Riley to change that, and he did a good job with the Sooners.
The Oklahoma team went 55-10) and reached double-digit wins in every season except for the 2020 campaign. The Big 12 powerhouse went to the College Football Playoff in three of the previous four years and was in position to possibly battle for a spot this year until Saturday's loss to Oklahoma State.
This is something of a surprise since there was some speculation that Riley could go to LSU.
Oklahoma is poised to join the SEC in the near future and is one of the best programs in the country. USC has struggled to rediscover its glory days while competing in a conference that does not get the same level of attention as the SEC. The school dropped to 4-7 after the loss to BYU.
Riley will look to bring the USC back to the top of college football and perhaps do something he was unable to do with the Sooners, win a national title.
