Times of Troy: Should USC’s Lincoln Riley — or any other head football coach — also call plays?
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Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter. Here’s hoping you had a nice, relaxing bye week that was not consumed by a sick toddler. Alas, not all of us were so lucky.
I can’t imagine there was much relaxing for Lincoln Riley this week, either. Once again, USC is at risk of falling out of the College Football Playoff picture by the first week of November. And once again, fans have turned their ire to Riley and his play calling.
I’d say poor execution on defense was probably more to blame at Notre Dame. But objectively, it was not a good night for Riley in South Bend. The NBC announcers openly questioned his decision making on the broadcast. Even Snoop Dogg called him out.
“Who calls a reverse pass to a non-quarterback in the rain?” the rapper and USC fan wrote on social media. “Damn coach, what you smoking?”
After the game, Riley did take accountability for some of his worst playcalls, including the reverse pass. “I’ve gotta be way better for our guys,” he said.
This was supposed to be the strongest tool in Riley’s arsenal. And while he has had his share of dazzling moments as a playcaller, he’s also had other days like this one, when late-game management gets the best of him. By his fourth season at Oklahoma, Sooner fans were also wondering whether it was best if he continued calling the offense.
But maybe that fact has less to do with Riley than the actual degree of difficulty in balancing the two roles. Should any head coach also be counted on to call plays?
Riley has said on multiple occasions that he has considered that question. Ultimately, he has said, he feels his dual role as playcaller and head coach has been an advantage to USC. But if at some point balancing those two jobs ever became a burden, he has suggested he would give it up.
Now … would Riley ever willingly admit that was the case? Hard to say. Recent history is littered with hard-headed college football coaches refusing to give up playcalling responsibilities. The last two to win a national title — Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and Ohio State’s Ryan Day — actually gave up playcalling the very season they won it all.
I don’t know if that would solve what’s ailing USC at this moment. USC’s offense is currently the No. 5 scoring offense in America. No passing attack in college football racks up more yards per game (326). Would it be even better without Riley calling plays? Probably not.
I also can’t tell you if Luke Huard — who has playcalling experience from his time as offensive coordinator at Illinois State, Georgia State and Sacramento State — would be a viable option to step in for Riley. But if the day ever came that he did give up playcalling duties, Huard would be the obvious choice to take over.
What I can say for sure is that in the last half-century of college football, there have been just six head coaches who won the national championship while also calling plays on offense. The last was Jimbo Fisher at Florida State in 2013. Before that, Jim Tressel won a national championship while calling plays at Ohio State. Tom Osborne won three national titles (1994, 1995, 1997) while calling plays at Nebraska. Dennis Erickson won the 2001 national title while calling plays at Miami, Steve Spurrier won with his Fun n’ Gun offense at Florida in 1996 and Barry Switzer called the plays for his Wishbone offense at Oklahoma in 1975.
As far as I can tell, that’s it. For the last 50 seasons. Of course, there are many coaches through that stretch who played a significant role on offense — Urban Meyer, Joe Paterno, Lou Holtz, etc. — but it has been exceedingly rare to see a championship-winning coach also calling offensive plays.
You can understand why. It’s a lot to ask. But Riley still believes he can buck that trend. He clearly takes pride in his role calling the offense. That was, after all, how he rose through the ranks of college football. When I asked him last Tuesday about the most important lesson he’s learned as a play-caller, his answer, I thought, was pretty telling of how he feels on the subject.
“You can’t be scared,” Riley said. “You gotta call what you believe is best in the moment. Not what fans think or announcers think or anybody else. You have to trust your preparation, your guys, your coaches, and I think a lot of times fear inhibits people calling plays of what might happen. I was fortunate to grow up around some guys who called games with absolutely zero fear.
“I got a feel of that.”
And I don’t suspect that feel is going anywhere any time soon.
Midseason report card
Quarterback - A-
Can’t really ask for more out of Jayden Maiava. He leads the nation in yards per attempt (10.2) and his completion rate is up almost 10%. Though, he is coming off his worst game of the season to date.
Running backs - A-
Waymond Jordan was one of the best running backs in college football before he went down with an ankle injury, and Eli Sanders was a terrific second option. With both out, King Miller has been much better than his walk-on tag would suggest. We’ll see if that continues.
Receivers/tight ends - A
Makai Lemon has been the best receiver in college football through seven games, full stop. His ability to get yards after the catch is otherworldly and will make an NFL team very happy next fall. Ja’Kobi Lane and Tanook Hines have been very good as the No. 2 and No. 3. But it’s the tight ends — namely Lake McRee and Walker Lyons — that have put this group over the top.
Offensive line - B+
Relative to expectations, the offensive line has been a pleasant surprise. New offensive line coach Zach Hanson has done wonders with a group that should’ve been a major weakness. Even without the starting left tackle and center, USC’s front didn’t fall apart.
Defensive line - B
USC is definitely much improved and deeper up front. But after getting a ton of pressure to start the season, the same physicality hasn’t quite been there at the line of scrimmage. Losing terrific freshman Floyd Boucard hurts the interior, but ascending pass rushers Kameryn Crawford and Braylan Shelby should both finish the season with the most sacks of any Trojan defender in the past four seasons.
Linebackers - C
Eric Gentry has been a matchup nightmare as expected, but sophomore Desman Stephens has yet to take the leap forward that USC probably hoped. Jadyn Walker has shown life in three-linebacker looks of late. But the lack of depth has proven to be a real problem.
Secondary - C
It’s been a very up-and-down season for USC’s secondary. No one encapsulates it more than Bishop Fitzgerald who leads the nation in interceptions (5) but also has been badly burned on a few occasions. The cornerback room has been frustrating outside of DeCarlos Nicholson and, after two injuries, not as deep as we once thought. Kamari Ramsey has been playing out of position. But there have been some signs of progress in recent weeks.
Special teams - A
USC lost its incoming freshman All-American kicker to injury before the season started and somehow still have the best kicker in the Big Ten. Ryon Sayeri is 12 of 13 this season and hit a 54-yarder in the rain against Notre Dame.
Extra points
—Eric Musselman wanted his team to play two exhibitions away from home as a true test this preseason. And USC followed through with two hard-fought wins over Loyola Marymount and Grand Canyon. Rodney Rice will return this next week and should help stimulate the offense, which was lacking in both wins. But the pieces are there for an elite defense, potentially led by 7-5 center Gabe Dynes, who Musselman said was “unbelievable” in the preseason. USC kept both teams under .83 points per possession.
—Just as the biggest gambling scandal in years hit the NBA, the NCAA voted last week to officially allow athletes and staff to bet on pro sports starting next month. Excellent timing, as always, by the NCAA.
Olympic sports spotlight
After a terrific debut season in the Big Ten in 2024, USC women’s soccer christened a brand-new, state-of-the-art stadium on campus in 2025, with hopes it would usher in another stellar season. But this year hasn’t been nearly as smooth. The Trojans were winless in their last three weeks of the season before finishing out the regular season slate at No. 18 UCLA with a draw on Sunday.
But the draw was just enough to sneak into the Big Ten tournament field. Meaning there’s still a chance that the Trojans can make something of an otherwise trying season.
USC will face Norrthwestern next Thursday in West Lafayette, Ind for the first round of the Big Ten tournament.
In case you missed it
Prep talk: UCLA, USC benefit from Southern California rise in girls’ basketball talent
USC’s College Football Playoff hopes take a big hit in rain-soaked loss to Notre Dame
Is Lincoln Riley on the hot seat? The USC mailbag
What I’m watching this week
A shout-out this week to all of my fellow parents of young kids out there. My son was home from daycare four of five days last week, meaning we got a healthy dose of young children’s programming. Mostly, we watched a lot of “Trash Truck.”
I have to say, amid all the slop masquerading as wholesome kids content, this show — which follows a kid named Hank and his best friend Trash Truck — kind of rocks. My son is deep in his service truck phase right now, so as you can imagine, it hits a sweet spot. And as long as it keeps “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” off of my television, I’m thrilled to watch more of Hank and his pals doing nothing in particular.
Until next time ...
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
