INDIANAPOLIS — His eyebrows narrowed at the mention of USC’s conference rivals, his tone firmed, and in the span of a few words Wednesday morning, Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley made expressively clear his program’s place in a new-look Big Ten.
“We are at the top of the Big Ten Conference,” Riley told a handful of media, a couple hours before the second Big Ten Media Day. “I mean, we’re at the top of any conference.”
The first time Riley represented USC at a conference media day, after the school shelled out nearly $20 million to bring him from Norman, Oklahoma, he put his mouth where his money was. We didn’t come here to play for second, he told media at Pac-12 Media Day in Vegas in Los Angeles, a statement that precluded a return to glory for USC behind his offense and Caleb Williams’ Heisman Trophy.
Two years later, Riley strode to the stage inside a colossal Lucas Oil Stadium and stuck to his guns through the rollercoaster that had befallen his program.
Oregon made a splash in its Big Ten statement, sure, planting a massive inflatable Oregon Duck that bobbed on the White River two days before head coach Dan Lanning and company would arrive to speak. But USC had Riley. And unflinching conviction.
“One thing I’ve been steadfast on, since the day I got to Los Angeles, was – our standards will never change there,” Riley emphasized to hundreds of media conglomerated for his opening address. “Our standards at USC are to compete for championships, whether we’re in the beginning of this rebuild that we undertook two years ago.”
Buried within Riley’s words, however, was an admission of a different standard. Rebuild.
It has persisted throughout the past year, through a disappointing season that saw USC fall from 6-0 to finish 8-5, with his consistent admission that USC’s journey was a “climb.” And throughout his conversations and messaging at USC’s appearance at Big Ten Media Day, Riley continued to toe the line with how he characterized his program: trying to assert USC’s place as a major player in the all-new Big Eighteen, but not-so-subtly decompress expectation in his third year of an up-and-down trajectory.
When asked about USC’s ability to compete long-term in the conference with Oregon and Ohio State – programs coming off 12-and-11-win seasons, and who’ve been massive offseason winners in high school and transfer-portal recruiting – Riley pointed to the past as context for the present.
Two years ago, Lanning took over a 10-win program at Oregon. Two years ago, coach Ryan Day and Ohio State came off an 11-win season. Two years ago, Riley came in amid chaos at USC, the program just canning longtime head coach Clay Helton midseason and finishing 4-8.
“I’m not a magician,” Riley told media Wednesday morning, pointing to where Oregon and Ohio State had started compared to his tenure at USC. “I can’t wave a magic wand, and everything just be perfect right away.”
“But find one area that we haven’t made progress,” he continued, firm. “So, this thing’s got momentum. It’s coming. Nothing’s gonna stop it. That’s fine – they started at a different point. We’ll see where it ends up.”
Ohio State and Oregon’s NIL budgets, as well, have drawn constant attention in the offseason, with Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork telling Yahoo Sports on Wednesday that the Buckeyes paid about $20 million to players this past year. And despite the occasional turmoil that’s existed in USC’s NIL operation throughout his tenure, Riley insisted Wednesday – as House of Victory executive director Spencer Harris told the Southern California News Group that the collective had “significantly” more funds available in 2024 – that House of Victory was “probably the most improved collective in the country.”
“I’m not too concerned about what everyone else is doing,” Riley said to media.
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Concerned or not, Oregon and Ohio State have been some of the most active programs in the country on the offseason recruiting trail, while USC was hamstrung by a couple of high-profile decommitments after some early momentum. At the moment, USC has the 24th-ranked recruiting class in the nation in the class of 2025, as pinned by 247Sports; Ohio State and Oregon, by comparison, rank first and fifth.
In February, though, Riley emphasized his focus on building USC over taking an NFL job in February. And he continued to make clear Wednesday he would helm USC for the long haul.
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“Throughout our entire time here, which is going to be a long time, we are certainly looking forward to competing for championships every year,” Riley said in his opening address. “And now, it’s just Big Ten championships.”
And when asked about Riley’s “magician” comments Wednesday morning, standing in the middle of Lucas Oil Stadium on a rare break through a whirlwind day of media, USC quarterback Miller Moss cocked his head and smirked.
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t know,” Moss said, sighing and pausing for a beat.
“Coach Riley’s not a magician,” Moss agreed, eventually. “If he’s not a magician – he’s the closest thing I’ve seen to it.”