Completion of the new football-only facility on the USC campus is about a year and a half away. Lincoln Riley shared his thoughts on the new construction, noting this piece of infrastructure was very important to him during the hiring process and central to him joining the Trojans. On an episode of the Riley Files here at Trojans Wire from 2022, our Oklahoma insider explained Riley’s frustrations with Oklahoma’s administration and boosters for not providing facilities that would be competitive with the other college football powers that were competing for national titles, such as Ohio State and Georgia. USC assured Riley that he would have a complex that would compete with anyone in the country.
He explained the attraction of coming to USC and building the facilities he requires in a recent interview on Next Up with Adam Breneman. “I feel that this is the type of place that should offer you the best of the best,” he said, “and in a lot of ways it does. It’s one of the best educations in the country. It’s one of the best places to live. As one of the greatest college football histories of all time, and I feel like we should have a facility to match that.”
Riley elaborated on his involvement in the project, emphasizing his presence from its inception. He highlighted his role in designing a facility capable of accommodating the evolving demands of college football in the years to come.
“We’re lucky we have a staff of guys that have come from a lot of great programs both at the professional and collegiate level that I’ve had a lot of great ideas and feedback as well. But we’ve really looked to invest in the sports science side of it. The recovery side of it is going to make it the best one in the country with the planning and the availability of resources and all the knowledge and everything that is out here. It’s been so cool to bring so many people to the table from all those different areas. It’s going to make it phenomenal.”
For years programs have negatively recruited against USC. Recruits were told that nobody will see their games aired on the Pac-12 Network that start at 10 p.m. on the East Coast. They would point to the fact that the Pac-12 didn’t have the exposure found in the Big Ten and SEC. They would point to the antiquated facilities that were shared with the other sports. All that has changed with conference realignment and joining the Big Ten. Now USC will have facilities to match Oregon, Ohio State, and any program in the SEC.
Riley is very excited about the completion. “It’s going to be a special moment for this program because it’s needed. Having a facility that represents this place is very important.”
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