Lincoln Riley opens up about spicing up practices, gives hilarious reaction to losing bet to players

USC Trojans new head football coach Lincoln Riley is about to enter his first season of regular season action as the leader of one of the biggest brand names in all of sports. A few months ago, he shared a funny story with On3 about how he decided to spice up practice by wagering a bet against his own kickers. Unfortunately for Riley, he lost the bet and had to pay up.

“They hit two pretty long ones. I think it was two 45 or 47-yarders. I didn’t go chip shots, so, yeah, maybe I’ll bet on the kickers next time. I shouldn’t have bet against [Alex Stadthaus] and [Denis Lynch]. They both drained it. I think they both enjoyed the shoe on the other foot there. I think they enjoyed having the whistle. I was gonna make sure they didn’t enjoy it. I told them, ‘Don’t get used to it,’ Riley joked.

Last season as the team’s backup, Stadthaus nailed six of his six field goal attempts for the Trojans. Four of them came from 20-29 yards. He hit one from 30-39 yards and one from 40-49 yards. As for Lynch, he’s a rare left-footed kicker. The lefty will compete with Stadthaus for the starting job this fall. As a senior for Newbury Park (Newbury Park, California), he was 10-for-10 on PATs and kicked off 15 times (five touchbacks) in the spring of 2021.

Lincoln Riley talked about how excited his staff is for this year

The Trojans’ head coach also took the time to speak with On3 about how deeply he and his staff believe in the current players on his roster.

“And because of that, there is a type of belief, right now, an excitement among our staff [that is] really, really high. If not for anything, just simply because of how the team has handled us pushing them, us changing the things that we have. You want it to keep getting better, it is getting better. There’s a high sense of urgency every day we walk in the door. Just talking about the staff. Our belief in what these guys can do is very high,” Riley said.

One quick glance at the Trojans’ roster and it’s easy to see why Riley and the rest of his staff are so excited. They plucked two of the best players in college football from the transfer portal in signal-caller Caleb Williams and Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison.

Help is also on the way on the defensive side of the football in the form of lightning quick five-star-plus corner Domani Jackson. He was the crown jewel in the Trojans’ 2022 recruiting class and the highly acclaimed defensive back should make an instant impact very soon. Jackson missed most of his senior season for the Mater Dei Monarchs due to a knee injury he suffered last year, but the gifted corner was expected to make a full recovery. Blessed with lightning quick speed, he owns the title as the fastest man in California high school football history. The 6-1, 180-pound corner was clocked at a blistering 10.25-second 100-meter time at the California Track and Field Championships in 2021.

The USC Trojans kick off their 2022-2023 season against the Rice Owls on Sept. 3 at 6 p.m. EST.