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    • Is USC firing Lincoln Riley? NCAA sanctions allow escape from contract
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    Is USC firing Lincoln Riley? NCAA sanctions allow escape from contract

    Online Niel Posted on

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    The NCAA sheriff laid down the law in Southern California on Wednesday, and the next three weeks have become extremely important for coach Lincoln Riley.

    In the simplest terms, the NCAA gave USC a get out of jail free card to fire Riley and get away with it. mega contract.

    The NCAA placed the school during the trial period for a year and fined $50,000 for on- and off-field coaching by non-coaching staff analysts.

    More potentially damning for Riley, whose teams have lost nine of their last 12 games: Southern California agreed with the NCAA that Riley violated “head coach liability” rules. That means the school could fire Riley with cause and not have to pay tens of millions in contractual obligations.

    That’s right, fire Riley and don’t owe him any money.

    I don’t want to get into the semantics of why the charge of “head coach responsibility” isn’t as damaging because the rule was given more teeth in 2023 (two years after TROJAN hired Riley). All you need to know is that there is now an exit ramp for USC in this growing mess.

    No more ex-players ripping Riley off and the program on social networks. No more Big Ten for a long time punching bags stealing USC’s conference thunder.

    Gone are the days of a top-five program in college football floundering and losing to the Minnesotas and Marylands of the world.

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    “You see the level of penalties that have been meted out,” Riley said. “If it’s something serious, they’ll suspend the head coach.”

    This, everyone, is the crux of the matter with Riley in Southern California. Every problem is not as big as it seems. Or it’s not his fault.

    Can’t stop anyone on defense? No big deal, we’ll hire one the new coordinator.

    Can’t win games with one possession? It’s not a big deal, we’re just a a handful of plays far from undefeated.

    Can’t win games consistently in the Big Ten? I knew this would be one hard transition.

    I can’t recruit Southern California’s fertile geographic footprint? Shortages since I arrived required recruiting the transfer portal (which was also disastrous).

    There is always an excuse, always a way out. The latest: QB Miller Moss keeps throwing the ball to the other team.

    So now UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava takes over (probably should have played earlier) to make good in what has become an unbearable situation.

    Not only is the season over for the Trojans, but the remaining three games are against teams that need it more.

    Nebraska hasn’t played in a bowl game since 2016, and this week they changed their offensive coordinator. The Huskers need a win to reach bowl eligibility.

    Crosstown rival UCLA, which beat USC by 18 points last season, has won its last three games after finding its footing under first-year coach DeShaun Foster.

    Rival Notre Dame can’t afford another loss if they expect to make the College Football Playoff.

    Riley is 23-13 at USC without a conference championship, and the coach he replaced (Clay Helton) was 26-10 in his first 36 games — with a Pac-12 championship and a Rose Bowl victory and an appearance at the Cotton Bowl.

    Riley high: 11 wins in 2021 and a loss to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl.

    Southern California is a private school, and details of Riley’s reported $110 million deal from 2021 have not been released. But every coaching contract has a clause in it that specifically describes dismissal for cause if the program is placed on NCAA probation.

    A sports agent familiar with college coaching contracts who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue said USC would have been crazy not to include the NCAA-specific clause. Without it, Riley would be free to violate NCAA rules without repercussions.

    This wouldn’t be the first time a university has used NCAA violations to get out of a contract. Tennessee in 2020 nearly invited the NCAA to investigate its program under former coach Jeremy Pruitt, who was accused of giving recruits money in paper bags. Among other things.

    Tennessee didn’t want to pay Pruitt $12 million in severance money (a move by today’s standards) and used the NCAA clause in his contract to fire him for cause — then accepted an $8 million fine,

    Paying the NCAA $8 million in one go. Paying a coach $12 million to not coach is where you draw the line.

    Which brings us back to Riley, who had just one College Football Playoff win in Year 1, dropped to eight wins in Year 2 despite having the best player in college football (Caleb Williams), and this season they have lost five out of seven league games. in USC’s first season in the Big Ten.

    Southern California did not suspend Riley after the NCAA violations. But that doesn’t mean the Trojans can’t fire Riley if another disappointing season ends badly.

    Especially now that he has a get out of jail free card.

    Matt Hayes is the senior college football writer for the USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow X at @MattHayesCFB.

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