Lincoln Riley explains how he decides to kick or receive to start games

Different coaches have different philosophies for every decision they make. That goes all the way down to the coin toss and whether or not to kick or receive the ball to start games. There, even for a coach like Lincoln Riley of the USC Trojans, who doesn’t do the same thing every time, there is a strategy involved in that decision making process.

Riley recently appeared on Trojans Live. There, he shared some insight into that process, explaining that it’s fluid for him from game-to-game.

“Some of it’s just matchups,” Lincoln Riley said. “Some of it’s weather. Some of it is, obviously, your team against their team and how you feel it’s gonna play out. There’s some analytics that we use with that too. I’m always aware of the analytics. I don’t always go for it in terms of following the analytics’ advice, but it is something that we’re aware of.”

There are some coaches who are a bit stricter in their choice to kick or receive. In some cases, the coach may want to put their offense on the field to try to jump out to an early lead. Other times, they may lean on the side of the ball they trust more to set the tone. Others, still, are worried about the middle eight minutes of the game, meaning the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half. There, by deferring until the second half, a team could essentially steal a possession if they manage the game correctly.

This season, USC has only had two games, and Lincoln Riley got to make that decision in Week 2. There, he’d choose to receive in the first half. In that game against Georgia Southern, USC turned the ball over on their opening drive. They would then score on five of their next seven possessions in the first half. The Trojans also prevented Georgia Southern from scoring on either the final drive of the first half or the first drive of the second half.

“So, yeah, I think it’s a little bit of a moving target. But, ultimately, at the end of the day, trying to put our team in the best position to win. That’s probably the one thing I think you could argue how relevant it is or not. At some point, everybody’s gonna see the ball,” Riley said. “But I do think there are some games where we’re a little more strategic with it than others.”

Next week, Lincoln Riley and USC begin Big Ten play and have their first road game against Purdue. All of that will present a new challenge for the 2025 team. So, it will be interesting to see how Riley manages those little decisions throughout the game.