USC's Lincoln Riley says Deion Sanders did a great job with Colorado's roster

Trojans coach soaks up start of final year in the Pac-12

Lincoln Riley believes Deion Sanders was right for his aggressive roster flip with over 70 new players coming to Boulder.

The USC head football coach addressed many questions including his thoughts on Coach Prime's overhaul at Pac-12 Media Day on Friday. He provided an honest assessment of what Colorado had to endure and is excited for them.

"I give (Sanders) credit," Riley said. "We all know what the rules are. We all know what the parameters are. And our job is to build the best teams that we can for the universities that give us the opportunity to do it. No excuses."

The former Oklahoma coach feels his replacement, Brent Venables, was wrong about Sanders not giving inherited CU players a shot. Riley, who was faced with a similar situation but not as severe, thinks Sanders did what he needed to do to compete.

"There obviously needed to be a roster transformation there in coach Sanders' opinion, and he went about it aggressively," Riley said. "Obviously, the success of that for us or anybody else will be determined on the field as time goes on."

He went on to say, "From the outside looking in, they've done a great job transforming that roster and bringing in some really good players."

Riley admitted he has yet to meet Coach Prime, but said they have a lot of mutual friends. He's also excited to face him in the fall. Riley noted the introduction of Sanders to the Pac-12 was great for the league and college football as a whole.

Colorado welcomes USC into Folsom Field on Sept. 30. It's likely the last meeting for a while between the Buffs and Trojans. A lopsided affair with CU winless going back to 1927. Riley and USC head to the Big Ten starting next year.