The fall of 2021 created one of the wildest college football coaching carousels we've seen in recent years. On November 28th, USC made the biggest splash hire possible at the time, stealing Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma after the Sooners looked primed to win a National Championship under his leadership. Less than two weeks later, Oregon quietly hired Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning.
Since the two were hired, Oregon has had the success USC fans hoped for, while USC is still waiting for Lincoln Riley to break through. Dan Lanning has made two trips to the College Football Playoff with a Big Ten Championship, while Lincoln Riley has yet to win a meaningful trophy at USC.
While the Ducks have lost a game early in this season, Oregon can still live up to its championship potential, but USC still has to prove it's a contender. Many believe that Dan Lanning can eventually bring a championship to Eugene, while this feels like a true make-or-break year for the Lincoln Riley era.
Dan Lanning could start the end of the Lincoln Riley era at USC
On Friday Night, ESPN's Pete Thamel shared on College Football Live that Lincoln Riley would be reasonably on the hot seat if he's not able to beat the Oregon Ducks on Saturday Night.
“If they lose Saturday, it is reasonable to say Lincoln Riley is on the hot seat.”
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 25, 2026
—@PeteThamel on how important it is for the Trojans to beat Oregon 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6A6yRCblhP
It's certainly fair to put Lincoln Riley on the hot seat, as he hasn't accomplished anything at Southern Cal. The Trojans hired him to try to bring the program back to glory, and it's instead been an era filled with a ton of excitement and no accomplishments of note. Given that Riley has just 1 ten-win season, if he can't build a contender by now, he may never reach that goal.
Since being hired at USC, Lincoln Riley has gone 39-18 with a 25-12 record across conference games. Across that same exact stretch, Dan Lanning is 50-9 with a 32-4 record across league games with two of his losses coming in CFP competition.
Dan Lanning instantly built a winner at Oregon, and he's delivered College Football Playoff runs and a Big Ten Championship. Oregon keeps knocking on the door of winning a championship, and eventually it seems like the Ducks will bring a title to Eugene.
The USC Trojans have been more than patient with Lincoln Riley, but at some point you can't keep letting him get away with the excuse that it takes time to build a winner. In this Transfer Portal era, you can build a winner overnight, and the Trojans just signed the Nation's top ranked recruiting class. The resources are clearly there for USC, but Riley has done less with more.
Dan Lanning, being the coach who put the final nail in Lincoln Riley's coffin, would be especially sweet and perfectly fitting. Oregon has stolen USC's West Coast swagger, and sending the Trojans back to the drawing board as they look for a new fix at the top of the program would be the latest example that USC isn't returning to their early 2000's peak.
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