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The UCF football program has reportedly “inquired about the availability” of USC football head coach Lincoln Riley as a potential replacement for Gus Malzahn.
The Athletic's Bruce Feldman, Antonio Morales, and Ralph Russo reported that UCF made the inquiry last weekend.
“Representatives from UCF reached out to Riley’s representatives last weekend to inquire about his interest in making a move across the country, one source said,” according to The Athletic. “Any discussions about adjusting the terms of Riley’s contract would be between him and USC, sources said.
“The first source added that UCF has not received any word from Riley’s camp that he is interested in leaving USC, and the school is still looking at multiple candidates to fill its head coaching vacancy.”
Could Lincoln Riley leave USC for UCF?
Despite the disappointing stint with USC so far, leaving for UCF would be costly for Riley, who, along with the Knights, would have to pay USC to get Riley out of his current contract.
Since USC is a private university, the details of Riley's contract are not public knowledge, including how much his buyout is exactly if he leaves. Nonetheless, it is thought that USC signed Riley to a 10-year, $100 million deal when he left Oklahoma for the Trojans in 2021 and would owe Riley one of the largest buyout figures in college football history if the university decided to dismiss him.
If he did decide to leave — for UCF or otherwise — he would “owe USC nothing,” according to The Athletic. However, since UCF is unable to give Riley a $10 million-per-year salary, Riley, UCF, and USC would have to get creative if the coach was set on moving from Disneyland to Disneyworld.
“Two sources said even if Riley had an interest in making the move, it would require some payout of his current deal with USC to make up for what he would be giving up in the transition — like a professional sports trade where one team pays a chunk of a player’s remaining salary on a large contract and the receiving team picks up the rest,” per The Athletic.
Riley, who took over for Bob Stoops before the 2017 season, went 55-10 and won four Big 12 titles in five seasons as Oklahoma's head coach. He led the Sooners to the College Football Playoff three times but failed to win a single game in each of those CFP appearances.
With USC, Riley has struggled far more than he ever did in Norman. After an 11-1 regular season in his first year as the Trojans' head coach, Riley, Heisman winner Caleb Williams, and USC were thumped by Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game before squandering a 15-point lead in the final five minutes of the Cotton Bowl vs. Tulane.
Last year, the Trojans, despite having Williams back at quarterback, went 7-5, before winning the Holiday Bowl without Williams, who was selected as the first overall pick in the NFL Draft. This season, USC's first as a member of the Big Ten, proved to be even more disappointing. After a season-opening win vs. LSU and shutout of Utah State, USC lost close game after close game. The Trojans finished the season 6-6, with all but the final defeat by one score or less.
Riley's 25-14 mark as USC football coach is slightly worse than Clay Helton's, his predecessor, 26-13 record in his first three seasons as the Trojans' coach.
