Is it time to reassess Lincoln Riley’s recruiting potential? USC football mailbag
LOS ANGELES — In recent weeks, USC has faced several recruiting challenges, leading to considerable frustration among Trojans fans and raising many questions.
Let’s address some of them…
(Note: Submitted questions have been lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Hey Antonio, I suspect you anticipated the tone of this mailbag. My question is about the subpar recruiting (by USC’s standards) we’re seeing in Lincoln Riley’s third year, despite the new defensive staff.
I admit I’ve been skeptical of Lincoln Riley from the start, and seeing this poor recruiting only reinforces my concerns. I attribute this to his poor track record on defense and player development from his time at Oklahoma, his stubbornness in keeping Alex Grinch, his misguided strategy of treating local recruits as secondary options, and his mediocre recruiting skills outside of quarterbacks.
Recently, some USC fans have blamed the disappointing month on issues related to name, image, and likeness (NIL), disagreements among the three collectives, unfulfilled promises, etc. Some even blame GM Dave Emerick (hired by Riley) and AD Jen Cohen. To me, this seems like denial and an unwillingness to acknowledge that Riley might not be as effective as people believed.
Where do you think the primary blame lies? Should I ease up on Riley, or is he primarily at fault? — Erik W.
USC’s journey with NIL over the past few years has indeed been clunky. I think we can all agree on that.
