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
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 the deal from the beginning and everybody looked at me like I was crazy. And nobody thought it was possible, and we put ourselves right there. So yeah, no limitations on what we can do. There’s definitely no patience.”
LIVING WITH \u002d\u002d BUT NOT LOVING \u002d\u002d REALITY
Riley also acknowledged limitations and frustrations, but he tried to couch his remarks in a context of knowing that success doesn’t come easily.
Riley told 247Sports, “There’s an incredible sense of urgency, but you also understand that the key is everybody involved, we can’t ever get down when one thing doesn’t go perfect. The path, it’s not going to be perfect. I think it’s more of an understanding of that.”
OHIO STATE AND OREGON
Lincoln Riley had this to say about Ohio State and Oregon:
“Look where Ohio State and Oregon were two years ago. Look at what they took over and look at what we took over. It takes time. I’m not a magician. I can’t wave a magic wand and have everything be perfect right away. Find one area where we haven’t made progress. This thing’s got momentum. It’s coming. Nothing is going to stop it. That’s fine, [Ohio State and Oregon] started at a different point. We’ll see where it ends up.”
This does raise the point that USC was in a far worse position than either Oregon or Ohio State in 2021, when Riley came to Los Angeles to replace Clay Helton. It also, however, shows that Oregon and Ohio State have failed to win championships under Dan Lanning and Ryan Day in recent years. USC has been less successful than UO and OSU, but not by as large a margin as one might first think.
D’ANTON LYNN AND THE SLOW METHOD
One of the paradoxes of USC’s impatience is that even while being extremely hungry to win, that appetite can’t mean devouring every piece of information like a starving orphan. Food tastes better and is more nourishing when eaten slowly, consciously, and in a relaxed state. Wolfing it down isn’t good for the body. So it is with D’Anton Lynn slowly and patiently installing the defensive scheme and laying down his defensive concepts. Being impatient in the pursuit of victory must coexist with being patient enough to absorb crucial pieces of information and make sure that retention of knowledge exists. Trying to cram information into the brain won’t help anyone. Master the fundamentals and slowly grow in absorbing more football ideas. USC has to walk that fine line between competitive hunger and a wise awareness of knowing that the whole process of becoming great doesn’t happen all at once. D’Anton Lynn seems to grasp this better than most.
STARTING OVER
Matt Entz and the rest of USC’s new defensive coaches are big on accountability, but the simple fact that they talk about changing the culture and establishing good habits — which were missing under Alex Grinch — isn’t itself proof that USC’s problems have been solved.
What is being said and reported on in practice certainly seems more encouraging than not. However, we need to see concrete proof that knowledge has been absorbed, concepts have been retained, and awareness is fluid, natural, and instinctive in these USC players. We’re now just over three weeks until we all find out where this team truly stands against LSU in Vegas.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC, Lincoln Riley have a hunger to win, but accountability is a mystery
