On3 college football analyst Ari Wasserman released his list of the top 10 coaches facing the most pressure this upcoming season. One Big Ten coach broke the top five.
Lincoln Riley came in at No. 4 overall after leading USC to a 7-6 (4-5 Big Ten) finish in the Trojans’ first season in the Big Ten. Wasserman expects Riley to face the most pressure among Big Ten coaches.
“USC may not have to make the CFP this year, but there are plenty of questions in regards to whether Riley is equipped to have his job. That’s an incredible statement given it looked like USC hit a grand slam in hiring him.”
Riley came to USC from Oklahoma, where he served as head coach from 2017-2021. He led the Sooners to four straight conference championships and playoff appearances.
He went 10-2 in his final season at Oklahoma.
When USC hired him, expectations were high. So was his salary.
“This isn’t a hot seat list. This is a pressure list. So Lincoln Riley, though too expensive to fire at the moment, enters a critical season at USC. The Trojans almost made the College Football Playoff in Riley’s first season, but they have gotten incrementally worse in each of the two years since.”
In 2022, Riley’s first season with the Trojans, the program’s seven wins tied USC and Pac-12 records for most victories by a first-year head coach. John Robinson set the previous mark in 1976.
USC has declined since then. The Trojans finished fifth in the Pac-12 in 2023 with an 8-5 record (5-4 conference). They continued to struggle last season in their new conference.
“Now you can make the case that USC is entering the season and doesn’t even have a top-10 quarterback in the Big Ten, which isn’t what you’d expect from Riley, given his extensive resume coaching that position.”
USC will rely on rising junior quarterback Jayden Maiava. He went unranked on On3’s preseason top-10 Big Ten quarterback list.
The 6-foot-4 Hawaii native posted a 6-1 record as USC’s starter. The Trojans’ only loss with Maiava came against Notre Dame in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl, 49-35.
The Trojans face a manageable 2025 schedule. They’ll host Michigan in a tough home game and face road challenges from Notre Dame and Oregon.
USC will avoid games with Ohio State and Penn State.
If Maiava can run the offense effectively and USC can reverse their one-score game results, the Trojans could have a fighting chance. They went 1-5 in one-score games last season.
