Lincoln Riley is one of the best college football coaches of the past 10 years, but if you change the conversation to the best coaches in the sport “right now,” it’s a different story. What Riley did at Oklahoma for several seasons — and then in 2022 at USC — remains special. However, Riley definitely lost the mustard on his fastball in 2023 and faces real questions about how to regain his winning edge.
College Sports Wire’s 12-Pack podcast ranked the top 12 college football coaches “right now” entering 2024. It’s clear that it’s a “right now” list because some of the coaches on the list don’t have a five- or 10-year body of work which is comparable to Lincoln Riley or other coaches who have gleaming career resumes but haven’t been that good in the past 12 to 24 months.
Riley has the career resume, but other coaches who are “hot” in 2024 are on this list — and highly-placed at that — while Riley is nowhere to be found.
For example, Dan Lanning of Oregon is No. 3. Here’s the College Sports Wire blurb on Lanning:
“In two short years, Dan Lanning has become one of the top coaches with what he has done with the Oregon Ducks. While he has yet to win a conference title, Oregon has become one of the top teams to play for in college football. Lanning continues to load up the talent and it feels like a matter of time before he will hoist the national championship trophy. The Kirby Smart protégé is 22-5 and coming off a 12-win season. He will get the opportunity to prove his worth as part of a loaded Big Ten in 2024.”
It’s up to Lincoln Riley to change the conversation in 2024.
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