The USC Trojans had a 7-6 overall record and a 4-5 record in BIG10 conference play during the 2024 college football season. It was the first season where USC was in the BIG10 conference after coming over from the PAC12 conference.

The Trojans entering the 2025 season will be coached once again by head coach Lincoln Riley. It will be his fourth season as the head coach of this program. Riley has a 26-14 record in three seasons with the Trojans. If USC does not show major progress with the program in 2025, there is a chance that they could be changing head coaches once again.
Paul Finebaum Believes That USC Trojans Head Coach Lincoln Riley Is Under Pressure To Perform In 2025

The BIG10 conference could once again have four teams in the college football playoffs field in 2025. USC showed some promise at the beginning of the 2024 season, but the season didn’t go as planned for them. Paul Finebaum of ESPN thinks that Riley is under pressure to perform in 2025. He said,
“And you asked the question, why? Because he has simply underperformed. He had a pretty decent first year, but since then, it has been very rocky. And quite frankly, I think he would already be gone if it wasn’t for about an $80 million buyout. Even for Southern Cal, that might be too much money.”
Riley has not been the head coach that people thought he was going to be. A few years ago, when he was with the Oklahoma Sooners, some thought that he was going to leave Oklahoma for the NFL. However, he decided to take the USC job instead and the Trojans expect excellence every year. It has been a while since the program has felt like it has been national prominence.
If this program were to get rid of him at the end of the season, it could be the end of Riley as a head coach at the college level. He may need to be an offensive coordinator at another college football program or go to the NFL as an assistant coach instead.
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