Lincoln Riley reveals how culture-building takes place inside a college football program

Recent remarks by Lincoln Riley show how a culture gets changed from soft to tough, from sloppy to accountable, from lazy to disciplined. #USC

On a broad and very general level, one can see that Lincoln Riley is earning high marks as USC head coach. Crucially, he isn’t always hitting the target as a play-caller, as shown against Oregon State. Yet, the Trojans still won that game. Riley the play-caller has been good this year. Riley the leader has been great, getting all these transfers and new faces to play well as a group. Riley’s assistant coaches, most notably defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, have done well in bringing players along and creation cohesion on the roster.

We can all see this is what a winning culture looks like, the kind of culture many skeptics felt USC wouldn’t be able to develop in Year 1 of Riley’s tenure. How has this all come together so quickly?

Riley offered some insights when answering questions from assembled media earlier this week. He discussed his approach to playing receivers and non-QB skill position players:

Riley noted how Travis Dye has been a central helper of the coaching staff in building culture and setting an example for teammates in the locker room and on the field:

Riley then emphasized the importance of his role — not in micro-managing players himself, but in making sure his coaches are coaching their position groups the right way, so that the caliber of instruction in all phases of play is up to standard:

This is how culture is built. So far, it’s a winning formula for Lincoln Riley at USC.

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