30 Day Countdown: Day 22- New Coach Profiles, USC

When a team hires a new coach, the storyline usually revolves around how the school chose that coach from all available candidates. In the case of USC hiring Lincoln Riley, the interesting narrative is how Riley chose USC. Riley spent five years as the head coach of an indisputable blue blood in Oklahoma, never lost more than two games in a season, qualified for three CFPs, and developed two Heisman-winning QBs. Every team in the country wanted Riley, so much so that most assumed that if he left OU, it would be to coach an NFL team.

Meanwhile, most Pac-12 fans spent the majority of the last decade joking that the conference would be in trouble if USC ever cleaned up its act and fired Clay…