Colin Cowherd: Lincoln Riley is unfireable at USC

Since taking over at USC, Lincoln Riley has faced growing criticism. Once hailed as the program’s savior, he’s now the subject of speculation about whether his time in Los Angeles could be cut short.

Riley has overseen the Trojans’ high-profile transition to the Big Ten, and as the 2025 season approaches, fans are eager to see the program contend for a conference title. Whether that happens remains to be seen—but according to FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd, Riley’s job is secure no matter the outcome. He believes the coach is “unfireable.”

“Well, I think I’ve told you this before. The NIL, you know, these coaches that all hate it — actually makes many of the coaches unfireable,” Cowherd told FOX’s Joel Klatt on the latest episode of the latter’s show. “Because if I’m spending $18 million on players, you can’t go to a booster and go, ‘Hey, by the way, can you buy out Lincoln Riley for $72 million and pay the next coach $80 million?’ And they’re like, ‘I’m already giving you $7 million a year for players.’

“So the truth is, Lincoln Riley’s unfireable. I mean, Brian Kelly — you can’t run him out of town. They’re struggling to make NIL payments. USC just spent $300 million on the facility, $18 million on NIL. (USC AD) Jen Cohen’s (not) going to go, ‘You know what? I want an $80 million dollar check for Lincoln and then $80 (million) to hire his replacement.’ So the bottom line is: Lincoln’s safe.

“… You can talk about flushing him out. He’s going nowhere. He’s going nowhere. They’re having a very good 2026 recruiting class. … I think it’s a USC team that’s going to be in a lot of close, interesting games, but not a great team (in 2025).”

All things considered, talk of Riley’s downfall may be somewhat overblown. USC hasn’t exactly fallen apart under his leadership — they came close to a College Football Playoff appearance in his first season. Still, last year’s Big Ten debut left plenty to be desired.

Now entering his fourth season at the helm, Riley holds a 26–14 record with the Trojans. He’s won back-to-back bowl games, but the expectations in Los Angeles are far higher than simply being respectable. Whether he’s the coach who can elevate USC to that elite level remains one of the biggest questions in college football.

Colin Cowherd continues to back Lincoln Riley, predicting USC will be at least average to good in 2025. Whether that’s enough to shift the narrative is uncertain, but either way, the upcoming season promises to be a pivotal one for the Trojans.