USC, Lincoln Riley have a hunger to win, but accountability is a mystery

Jul 24, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley speaks to the media during the Big 10 football media day at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

It is a theme for us here at Trojans Wire, as we cover the USC Trojans in the 2024 college football season: Lincoln Riley and his assistant coaches, plus his players, can say they have changed, but the skeptics will simply say, “Prove it.” We could just stop there, but it really is the basic overarching theme of the year for the Trojans as they move to the Big Ten. Yes, we do think Lincoln Riley has changed. We do think the national media isn’t giving him nearly enough credit for beginning to truly take defense seriously. We do think Riley has changed. We think he had his “come to Jesus” moment with Alex Grinch hijacking his efforts to make USC a national championship contender. Riley saw the light. He found religion. He realized he needed competent, professional teachers on his defensive staff. We’re sold on this defensive coaching group. We think USC will be better this year … but until we see the improvement on the field when it really matters, we can’t know for sure that USC and Lincoln Riley have really changed.

Let’s share with you what Riley has said and how the attitude inside the USC program appears to be changing … but without yet knowing what the product is going to look like versus LSU on Sept. 1 in Las Vegas:

IMPATIENT LINCOLN RILEY

Riley – Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Lincoln Riley recently told 247Sports, “There’s no patience. It’s just an understanding of it is what it is. Our patience is we want it to happen yesterday. That’s been our mentality from the day we walked in here. Despite all the things we knew we had to build, but the day I got hired I said championships are going to be…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/usc-lincoln-riley-hunger-win-172758862.html

Author : Trojans Wire

Publish date : 2024-08-08 17:27:58

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