Lincoln Riley's tenure at USC beginning to spiral; Texas A&M football can hurry things along with decisive bowl win
For as many complaints as Texas A&M football fans have had about the way the season ended up in College Station, there's still a lot of hope to be had for the Aggies after Mike Elko's first year. Especially if they end up with a win in the Las Vegas bowl here in one week, they're progressing apace after a down three-year stretch.
Things are quite different, however, out in Los Angeles. Lincoln Riley, who was a complete coup of a hire for the Trojans from Oklahoma, has not exactly covered himself in glory in his first season without Caleb Williams.
After a promising start to the year with a win over LSU, the Trojans lost to a bad Michigan team, fell to Minnesota, Maryland, and Washington, and barely squeaked by Nebraska and UCLA. They ended up being blown out by Notre Dame, as well.
Now, there's a veritable exodus happening from the USC program, and it's hard to know how Riley is going to replace all this talent. Most of his high-profile signings from his tenure thus far have already departed, and it's looking like SC is falling further and further behind the curve in the arms race that college football has become.
With all that in mind— and considering the massive amount that Riley is no doubt being paid every year— the decision makers in LA have to be getting a little impatient. Now, the reported buyout is also massive, but if this trend continues, it could be even more deleterious to the program to keep him on.
Enter Texas A&M football. The Aggies have a chance to speed things along here with this bowl game. USC is a proud program, and if the Ags can come in and humiliate them in Las Vegas, that could leave a bad taste in Trojan fans' mouths for the remainder of the offseason, starting Riley off on the hot seat for next year.
Things don't look rosy for USC right now. Pending their bowl performance— as unimportant, in one sense, as these bowls have become— they could get even worse.