Following the precedent set by Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema at the Big Ten Media Days, calling out other programs and conferences has been a bit controversial. However, USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley chose a different path. In describing the phase his program is in ahead of the new season, he referenced his former program, the Oklahoma Sooners, for very noble reasons.

“Yeah, I mean, I feel most confident in this roster, but I just feel most confident in the entire operation, how we’re working on a day-to-day basis,” Riley said on July 28 on Cover 3 Podcast. “And I told people before, I got like the perfect viewpoint of that when I got to Oklahoma. You know, Coach Stoops had been there, and it was the same president, the same AD, and himself for 18 years, which we know that’s a little bit of an anomaly. Still, there was such a steadiness in that program. There wasn’t a lot new day-to-day, and the main thing was the main thing. And I think I would sit here with you guys here today saying this is really the first time that I feel that way just about all of it. And you need all of it to be great.”

A year after his hire as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, Riley replaced long-term head coach Bob Stoops, who retired after 18 seasons with the Sooners. Stoops was not the only old-timer in the program. The president, David Boren, had spent 22 years at the time of Riley’s hire, while athletic director Joe Castiglione had spent 18 years. What this brought about for Riley was much stability that allowed him a smooth transition into his head coaching role. In no time, he had the trophies to back it up. He won four back-to-back conference championships and reached the College Football Playoff semifinals thrice, posting a 55-10 record during his stint.

Heading into 2026, Riley feels the same stability at USC. The changes in the program are not so significant, but the foundation seems ready for an excellent 2026 season. Particularly, Riley is impressed with his current core of players. His satisfactory roster has quarterback Jayden Maiava, cornerback Jnntez Williams, and Waymond Jordan, leading several other elite players.

“And so, the roster is in a really good place; we have a talented roster. We’ve got some depth, especially in some key areas where maybe we haven’t had quite as much in some of the previous years. We return a lot of the things that historically you look at and say that’s a pretty good precursor to having a good football team: an experienced quarterback, an experienced 0 line, our one-two punch at cornerback, I would take up against anybody else’s group. We returned a very talented defensive line.”

Cleveland.com has predicted the USC Trojans to finish just behind Ohio State, Oregon Ducks, and Indiana in the Big Ten. And beyond the experienced players Riley spoke about, the Trojans had the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation in 2026, making their freshmen a star-studded group to watch out for.