USCs Lincoln Riley feeling refreshed as

LAS VEGAS — While the remaining of the faculty soccer world spent the summer time whipped into a frenzy, swept up by the specter of income sharing or congressional intervention or one of the numerous different landscape-altering modifications looming over the game, Lincoln Riley was in a position to really step away and take a breath.

In 4 years as USC’s coach, Riley hasn’t had many probabilities to actually unplug. There was the dash forward of his first season, and the heavy portal push forward of his second. The third got here with a new convention, new protection, new expectations, new stress.

The fourth, by comparability, is beginning on a more relaxed observe than Riley is used to. There have been no telephone calls taking up half a day of his household trip. His fly fishing went largely unbothered. He even golfed at Pebble Beach in May.

“I’d say I’m feeling as refreshed and recharged as I’ve been in a long time,” Riley stated Thursday during Big Ten media days.

Never thoughts that the stress for Riley to win at USC has maybe never been so high, coming off a 7-6 marketing campaign in which the Trojans needed a comeback bowl win to scrape previous .500. The path to successful has arguably never been so unsure, either, with the appearance of income sharing utterly upending how championship rosters are constructed.

In spite of that backdrop, this previous summer time still felt much less daunting to Riley than the remaining. He says he didn’t really feel the offseason chaos that some of colleagues have described in the wake of the House settlement. Some of that added calm he credit to Chad Bowden, USC’s new normal supervisor, and his handpicked entrance workplace, who have taken personnel issues largely off Riley’s plate. Immediately laying declare to the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class for 2026 hasn’t harm in building that trust, either.

But it’s more than that, according to Riley.

“There are less big fixes going on right now, you know?” he stated. “It’s like you’ve got the house built, and it’s kind of all about the finishes now. You’re not trying to put up a wall or anything like that.”

Whether USC is definitely that close to being a completed product is up for debate. The Trojans’ win complete has declined in each of Riley’s first three seasons, during which his file is worse than that of his predecessor, Clay Helton. Now the Trojans enter his fourth with a uncooked, unproven commodity at quarterback, a threadbare linebacker room, and an inexperienced offensive line that may already be down a projected starter.

There’s also the matter of their fourth-quarter points final season, which noticed the Trojans inexplicably cough up leads in 5 of their six losses.

But Riley seems at it in another way.

“It’s the first time where we had an opportunity at the end of the game to win every single game that we played,” he stated.

“The really good teams separate in a lot of their games, and they win the close games they end up in. That’s typically how it happens, and that’s what we’ve got to become. And so the way to do it, every part of your program has to be pretty strong.

“We’ve graduated from being way behind in this area, and being pretty decent in this area to, like, every right now is either good or pretty darn good. Now it’s just about taking those small steps in all those areas to, I guess, hypothetically push you over the hump.”

USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn walks on the sideline during a sport against Nebraska at the Coliseum in November.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

The greatest leap in that regard may once again be on protection, where USC went from one of the worst models in the nation in 2023 (121st in scoring protection) to respectable (56th) under defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn.

That was no small feat, contemplating where they got here from. And the Trojans have added appreciable expertise to its protection since. The entrance seven ought to benefit tremendously from the return of linebacker Eric Gentry and defensive finish Anthony Lucas from damage. And on the inside, USC introduced in two huge transfers on the inside, as properly as a five-star freshman.

“I think the depth, the talent level, and the size of the defensive line, I mean, there’s honestly really no comparison to this time 12 months ago,” Riley stated.

But the Trojans’ path will inevitably, at some level, come down to their quarterback. Riley reiterated his confidence in Jayden Maiava as the Trojans’ starter, even as he once again heaped reward on five-star freshman Husan Longstreet.

Left sort out Elijah Paige stated Thursday that he has seen a main change in Maiava since he entered the offseason as the presumptive starter.

“He’s taken a complete 180,” Paige stated of USC’s quarterback. “[In the spring,] he commanded the offense, and that’s what this team needs.”

Of course, everyone seems to be feeling optimistic this time of 12 months, with more than a month still remaining before USC kicks off against Missouri State.

But Riley isn’t the only one who feels those ending touches underway.

“We’ve gone and gotten some of the very best people in the business,” Riley stated. “They’re not going to attach themselves to something where they don’t see the progress.

“And you do not get a recruiting class like this unless there’s a crazy amount of momentum within the program. Like, I don’t care what else you have. If you don’t have momentum, you do not get a class like we have.”