It’s safe to say that the state of college football looks completely different than it did even a few years ago. Lincoln Riley and USC are painfully aware of how the portal has changed the game in college football.
Thanks to the combination of NIL and the transfer portal, every player essentially becomes a free agent each offseason. In addition to having to recruit high school players and transfers, coaches are essentially forced to re-recruit their entire roster each offseason.
USC is being affected by this just as much as any school. Less than 100 hours into the transfer portal opening, the Trojans have already had more than a dozen players enter, including several that were projected to play key roles next season.
On USC’s “Trojans Live” show earlier this week, head coach Lincoln Riley discussed the current state of college football.
“We’re a college football model that’s becoming a professional model,” Riley said. “I know some people don’t want to say that, but it’s here. It is what it is.
“The reality is there’s just some guys who you either can’t or are not going to pay what they want. You have guys have done the NFL thing, you’ve seen it, if your value doesn’t match the money then it’s not going to go well much longer.
“There’s a cutthroat part of that that’s just part of being a professional organization. Again, that’s what we’re becoming. We’re having to make some tough decisions.”
For better or worse, Riley is right: This is what college football has become. It is up to USC to adapt in order for the Trojans to be successful in this new landscape.