USC Football: Lincoln Riley Changes Goal Posts On Championship Timeline

Riley seems to be backtracking here.

The USC Trojans 2023 season didn't go the way that anyone would have planned and it saw the program take a major backturn from the year prior. The defense was a major problem once again, and now entering the offseason, they have a lot of questions to answer.

Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley spoke about the championship goals that he has while at USC and it seems that he may be backtracking from the original idea.

“Goal one here was starting to establish some culture and some winning ways and I think building a roster that could be competitive in the first couple of years,” Riley said, “and there’s a bigger picture, a picture that’s more zoomed out, which is I think is starting to gradually work toward building the program in a more ideal sense."

Per Thuc Nhi Nguyen of The Los Angeles Times

The head coach wasn't brought in to just be competitive in the first few years. He was brought in to win championships, and two years in, the team hasn't been close to winning one. 

It's been an underwhelming start for Riley, especially with the team going 7-5 this season. And now with quarterback Caleb Williams likely leaving for the NFL, the challenge will only get harder.

"And that for us is getting to signing full high school classes, developing the guys that we have in house, supplementing here and there with portal guys and then going on. I think we’d certainly like to get more in that direction and I think we have trended there.”

Per Thuc Nhi Nguyen of The Los Angeles Times

Heading into next season, the pressure is really on this Trojans team to take the next step. They have to show that they are truly building a championship-contending team, otherwise, things could get very ugly for Riley going forward.

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