We will all know if Lincoln Riley’s ship is sailing smoothly at USC

Lincoln Riley wants to be better. USC players want to be better. There is unity of purpose among the Trojans, which should help Riley avoid the traps which bit him in 2021.

On The Riley Files, Oklahoma insider Kegan Reneau explained that Lincoln Riley was putting out a lot of fires behind the scenes in 2021 with the Sooners. These small episodes kept accumulating and took Riley’s focus away from where it should be: the football field.

“There were times when Lincoln Riley had to deal with things internally, like infrastructure and the recruiting offices. He was having to take care of drama or people needing to feel they, in terms of the hierarchy within the program, are being treated the right way. And I ask myself, are those things happening at Ohio State? Are those things happening at Alabama? Are those things happening at Georgia?”, Reneau said. “Every time I ask myself that, every time I hear that, somebody’s getting fired. Somebody is leaving Nick Saban’s program if it’s that way.

“Not every program needs to be run like Alabama and Nick Saban, don’t get me wrong. I’m just asking from the perspective of the things that you heard of, how the office was being run: Was that the most efficient way for them to be taking care of their time?

“Why does Lincoln Riley need to go have a meeting with somebody, a personnel support staffer, why is he needing to go take care of this drama? He needs to be focused on football. Then there was times when I was told those issues were being kicked down the road, and then they continued the feud. Those were the things from an infrastructure (standpoint which were) toxic. I ask myself, are those things happening at other programs? Are those things happening at other elite programs?

“From what I see when those things are brought up, people are getting fired. So that is certainly interesting, right? There’s guys being late to practice, guys not doing what they need to do at practice and not being in the right state of mind at practices, and getting away with it. There’s a lot of things you hear and you ask yourself, is that happening at an elite football program? It certainly is something that you need to keep an eye out on as this thing unfolds at USC.”

Trojan fans should be optimistic, because a new situation and a desire to banish the memory of Clay Helton should lead to a unified group, a cohesive locker room, and a common purpose which creates great communication and strong leadership.

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