REPORT: Expert Gets Extremely Critical of Coach of UCLA's Bitter Rival

UCLA's rival, USC's coach, Lincoln Riley, received heavy criticism recently.

Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley reacts against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the second half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

UCLA'a greatest rival, USC, is in a tough position right now.

While the Trojans had an impressive National Signing Day, the team has been on a steady decline since Coach Lincoln Riley took over. The Bruins finished the regular season 6-6 in what was Riley's third year at the helm.

In his first year as the Trojans' head coach, Riley led USC to an 11-3 record that included a trip to the Cotton Bowl. Last year, the program narrowly made a bowl game with a 7-5 record before finishing the season 8-5 with a victory in the Holiday Bowl.

Now, USC comes off an embarrassing loss to, albeit, a very good Notre Dame team, but was also at risk of not even making a bowl game had it not won the week prior against UCLA, a game it came very close to losing.

During his appearance on Monday's episode of the "Dan Patrick Show," ESPN college football expert Paul Finebaum was quite critical of Riley and questioned why he is still the head coach at USC.

"Would someone in California explain to me why Lincoln Riley, as of almost noon Eastern Time [on Monday], is still the head coach at Southern Cal? What has he done?' Findebaum said. "He had the one season, Dan, with Caleb Williams, last year was, I thought that was a disaster. But then again, I forgot about this season, and considering their record is .500 -- that includes a win over LSU in the opening game -- I don't know when I've seen a coach underperform. I was wondering earlier in the year, maybe somebody in the NFL would hire him. But hire him as what? I mean maybe a coordinator. I mean, I say I think he has completely outlived his usefulness at Southern Cal. He shouldn't be there any longer."

Riley joioned USC after serving five seasons as the head coach at Oklahoma, where he was very successful, leading the Sooners to four double-digit win seasons, including his first three seasons at the helm when Oklahoma won 12 games in each of those seasons.

The Sooners made the College Football Playoff in all three of those seasons but were unable to advance to the championship game in any of those years.

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