Riley’s Year – Entering his fifth season at USC in 2026 with no College Football Playoff appearances in his first four years, Lincoln Riley traced a major misstep to an aggressive Year 2 push—one he says came with missed opportunities for key players and even the recruiting
USC’s path back to the top of college football has been long and frustrating for more than a decade. Now Lincoln Riley is heading into his fifth season as head coach in 2026—and for all the talk of building something capable of competing for a national title. the Trojans still have zero College Football Playoff appearances to show for his first four years.
Last season offered something different. USC improved on both sides of the ball and finished 9-4, and the momentum is carrying into 2026 with high expectations. Riley is standing near a moment that could finally change the conversation—especially with a chance at postseason relevance and. potentially. a national-title-caliber team.
But when Riley looked back at what slowed USC down early in his tenure, he didn’t point to a single recruiting class or one game. He pointed to timing—and the cost of trying to accelerate the rebuild.
“The biggest thing that probably affected our timeline was that we went all in to try to really push in Year 2. ” Riley said. “And we missed some key guys in that portal. If you miss. not only does it affect you that year. then that’s also a group of high school kids that you didn’t take. You aren’t developing.”.
Riley’s comments describe a chain reaction: an aggressive push in his second year. missed targets from the transfer portal. and a knock-on effect that extended beyond the immediate roster. If the right additions don’t arrive, the calendar doesn’t simply pause. It moves on—taking opportunities with it.
That matters even more because the stakes of Riley’s first year were already right there on the doorstep. The Trojans were one game away from making it to the four-team CFP in Riley’s first season. with Caleb Williams—who won the Heisman Trophy—at quarterback. So when Williams returned in 2023, it was easy to understand why USC would try to push hard.
Yet that push ran into trouble. A disastrous defense prevented USC from improving the way it needed to, and the mistakes made during Riley’s second offseason bled directly into the following campaign. USC went 7-6.
The next season still didn’t erase the early gap, but it did change the trajectory. USC began to take a step forward again with a 9-4 record last season, giving Riley and the program something more tangible than promise.
Now the 2026 season arrives with a roster picture that feels both hopeful and demanding. USC lost star receivers Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane. Still, quarterback Jayden Maiava is back at USC after garnering NFL buzz coming out of the 2025 season.
The pressure is straightforward: keep building. especially defensively. and finally put the Trojans in the postseason conversation that has eluded Riley so far. If USC’s defense continues to improve and Maiava takes steps forward as well. Riley could finally get the playoff-caliber roster he’s been chasing since those early decisions—and that Year 2 regret—set the timeline back.
Lincoln Riley USC football College Football Playoff transfer portal Caleb Williams Heisman Trophy Makai Lemon Ja'Kobi Lane Jayden Maiava 2026 season college football