Steady improvements at USC are beginning to pay off

USC Pro Day | Ric Tapia/GettyImagesCoach Lincoln Riley has had an up-and-down tenure as the HC for USC so far. The first season in Los Angeles went extraordinarily well. Since then, the record has not been where it needs to be.

By his own admission, coach Riley went all-in early on, making moves that aimed to capitalize on the team at the time. This approach, however, made it so that sustainability quickly came into question.

There was a sense within the program that change was needed. While a lot of the differences are being highlighted now, in practice a lot of the beginnings of the transition that can be seen began to fully take root in 2024.

Now, with a lot of the pieces in place in their…