Lincoln Riley Clarifies Stance on Transfer Portal

After coming under fire for his comments on the portal, the new USC coach clarified his stance on Tuesday.

New USC coach Lincoln Riley came under fire for comments he made regarding the transfer portal on National Signing Day last week.

“Obviously [the portal] has changed really the way that college football operates,” Riley told ESPN on National Signing Day. “I think at some point we'll have to put in some guardrails. Some ways to ensure when this can happen, when this can't happen so that players, staffs, all that are a little bit more on the same page. Right now, it's so open ended that it's I think it's difficult for players, difficult for coaches, difficult to build rosters.”

Critics of his comments claimed that Riley was not in favor of the transfer portal, which empowers athletes to seek a situation that's better for themselves outside of the school in which they are currently enrolled.

Riley was interviewed by Jim Rome on Tuesday and clarified the comments he made on the portal.

“One, the possibility of them leaving goes back on your culture,” Riley said. “You want to create a place that's so good that why would these guys want to leave? They get the best of the education, the best opportunities on the field, the coaching, all of those things, so you try to make it as good as you possibly can.” 

Riley continued with his praise of the transfer portal, stating that it’s beneficial for the players but that some regulations should be in place to make it better for the entire sport.

“I think it's good for the players to have an opportunity to move on and find better opportunities,” Riley said. “I don't like completely restricting a player where they just they can't leave, they can't move, they have no real opinion or no flexibility in the matter. But can we find a way to do it where maybe it's certain times of the year, everybody knows it's going to happen. I think if you do that, it maybe makes the game better as a whole. It gives you some parameters for everyone to work with and then everyone is on the same page.”

Riley's USC program added one of the nation's top transfers last week in former Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams, who played for Riley when he was the head coach of the Sooners last season.