Lincoln Riley brushes off talk of leaving USC, says ‘I’m home’

USC football coach Lincoln Riley brushed off the possibility of him taking a head-coaching position elsewhere during his signing day news conference Wednesday.

“I tell them I’m a USC Trojan,” Riley said when asked about the potential of other schools being interested in him. “I’m at the place I want to be.”

UCF, which has a vacancy after Gus Malzahn left to become Florida State‘s offensive coordinator this past week, did reach out to Riley, sources told ESPN, confirming a report by The Athletic.

Riley called the potential of him coaching elsewhere “a nonstarter, a nonissue.”

“I’m home,” Riley said.

Riley is 25-14 in three seasons as the Trojans’ coach after a disappointing 6-6 2024. Despite an 11-3 debut season that culminated in USC nearly making the College Football Playoff, the Trojans are 14-11 over the past two years.

After firing defensive coordinator Alex Grinch last season and hiring D’Anton Lynn to replace him, USC improved defensively in 2024, but its late-game execution faltered. Five of the Trojans’ six losses occurred despite them holding a fourth-quarter lead.

While he was at Oklahoma in 2021, Riley was linked to the LSU job but told reporters after the Big 12 championship that he would not be the next coach at LSU. The following day Riley was named to the top job at USC.