Lincoln Riley held a press conference at his first Pac-12 Media Day. While he touched on all the transfers he’s gotten to Los Angeles and even former Oklahoma players Hollywood Brown and Kyler Murray. The main theme of his media availability was the many special benefits of being the head coach at USC.
Uniqueness
“How involved and how passionate our former players are . . . They take so much pride in this program,” said Riley.
“They were part of one of the greatest runs that this game has ever seen. To see how open they’ve been for us, how involved they want to be has been a great thing . . . But it was just day after day after day after day. We’re talking about giants in our game.”
When the Trojans are at their peak and reach their full potential they’re a pro team. Bigger than anything else Los Angeles has to offer, sports wise, other than the Lakers and Dodgers. It means something when celebrities visibly attend the team’s practices and games.
Since USC is coming off an up and down decade or so, the Hollywood culture has dissipated. Riley’s hiring has changed all this. Although, instead of celebrities visibly hyping up the Trojans, it’s the stars of the past.
Past players are helping revitalize the program:
Former running back Reggie Bush and quarterback Matt Leinart have been at the forefront of this revitalization of the program and a return to Hollywood status.
Riley added how there was a USC legend at every practice.
“I certainly recognized the opportunities that existed in L.A. and specifically with USC and felt like there was no school more positioned to capitalize off NIL than us . . . The thing I like about our position is if collectives and donor based funding and all that becomes part of the future and the norm . . . USC will be in prime position,” said Riley.
“If it doesn’t and it becomes more traditional marketing and endorsement deals, would you rather be anywhere than sitting right here in the middle of Southern California, in Los Angeles?”
The modern athlete cares about how to grow their brand just as much as their production on the field. What better place to start a career than L.A.
USC is the most versatile school available to recruits, no matter how the law/rules change, they are prepared. USC’s alumni network can compete with any university in the world and Los Angeles is the brand capital of the world.
Big Expectations
As someone who has played his role in steering the hype train, Riley has confidence his players can handle it. From personal experience, he knows how to navigate pressure. Rare to have a head coach who has led two top seven programs in a five year period.
“I got asked that a lot when I became a head coach at a prominent university (Oklahoma) when I was 33 years old. The reality is if there’s no pressure, then you probably don’t have the same opportunities as others do,” said Riley.
“You’ve got to see the opportunity in it. The opportunity is, if you do it well, anything is possible. This is one of those places. This is one of those programs. Frankly, this is one of those cities that if you do well here, the sky’s the limit. I believe it’s there for our football team.”
In order to reach potential, risks are required. Pressure is felt because success is important to driven people. There’s no pressure when success is not the top priority. Not everyone has the chance to fulfill their peak, if the opportunity presents itself, don’t waste it.
He added he didn’t get a “honeymoon” period at Oklahoma either. Whether it’s because of the fans or his own self confidence, he’s used to instant expectations.
Big Ten Move
“One thing that I don’t feel like has been discussed that much, is forever and ever one of the most watched, impactful games in college football has been the Rose Bowl. You think about some of the epic matchups that have happened in the Rose Bowl. Now you’re going to have several of those happening each year, albeit in different venues. I think it’s going to create some cool and intriguing matchups that will grab attention all over the country,” said Riley.
With the move to the Big Ten, there’s now many more big time clashes for all parties. Helping everybody’s brand to expand and grow.
He added how much the additional money gained from the move can be put back into the program for the athletes. For things like mental health and development.
In Conclusion:
Everybody in the sport knows who and what the Trojans represent. However, it’s a lot easier to recruit kids from the midwest and northeast coast when they can see USC on local tv and not “after dark”.
“USC has always been a national brand, but it opens up with a recruiting base that’s maybe different than ever before in the school’s history,” said Riley.
Make sure to continuing to follow USC here at Gridiron Heroics. Here’s a story about all the USC players on the preseason All-Pac-12 team.