Lincoln Riley doesn’t have a complicated checklist at USC. The brass in Los Angeles has a bottom-line expectation: deliver a national championship, or the experiment is a failure.
In a season where Riley will be bombarded with hot seat talks through and through, and more ferociously than he was last season, Cohen’s remarks become a benchmark for Riley.
“The expectation has always been the same,” Cohen told the Los Angeles Times’ Ryan Kartje. “That’s the thing; that’s the reason why I came here, is that the standard is high. We do expect to make the playoffs. We do expect to have a championship run. We do expect to be competing for championships every single year.”
“I think that’s what’s awesome about USC, is that that’s what we all expect of it. And I know that I’m not the only one that expects that. I know our fans expect that. I know that he expects that.”
Lincoln Riley on Hot Seat?
When USC put pen to paper with Riley back in 2021, it was as if they landed a goldmine. Part of that proved to be true when he went 11-3 in his first season with the Trojans. Ever since, the expectations have been the National Title.
Things haven’t gone as planned, though. He went 8-5 in 2023, bottomed out at 7-6 during USC’s Big Ten debut in 2024, and only managed a modest rebound to 9-4 last season, not giving one double-digit win season.
“There’s no doubt that this last year’s been frustrating, and that’s because we tried to fly a plane and build a plane at the same time. So it’s certainly not going swimmingly, right?” Cohen told The Times last week.
Last season, USC lost five of it’s final 6 regular season games. And that was when they had geenrational No.1 overall talent like Caleb Williams and an offense that scored that at will.
Why Riley Has a Serious Shot At Winning in 2026
2026 is even better for Riley, though, since USC clinched the No. 1 overall high school recruiting class in 2026. The massive, 35-man class, stacked with 22 blue-chip recruits is the first non-SEC program to finish on top of the 247Sports Composite rankings since 2008. So enough talkent for Riley to win the National Championship twice.
“And so I really like this team. I really like the kids that we brought in. I love the returners. I love the leadership of this team,” Cohen added.
USC AD Reveals Expectations From Lincoln Riley in 2026 Amid Hot Seat Talks