USC football coach Lincoln Riley showed Colorado football coach Deion Sanders some love during Pac-12 Media Day. On Friday, Lincoln Riley was asked about Sanders and the massive roster turnover that he's made upon his arrival to Colorado. The USC football coach was nothing but complimentary toward Coach Prime.

“I give (Sanders) credit,” Riley said, via Sports Illustrated. “We all know what the rules are. We all know what the parameters are. And our job is to build the best teams that we can for the universities that give us the opportunity to do it. No excuses.”

From August to May, 71 Colorado football players entered the transfer portal. Sanders has completely remade a roster that went 1-11 and finished at the bottom of the Pac-12 standings last year. Riley led the USC football team to first place in the Pac-12. Utah beat USC in the conference title game.

“There obviously needed to be a roster transformation there in coach Sanders' opinion, and he went about it aggressively,” Riley said. “Obviously, the success of that for us or anybody else will be determined on the field as time goes on.”

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“From the outside looking in, they've done a great job transforming that roster and bringing in some really good players.”

The USC football team enters the 2023 season as the favorite in the Pac-12. The Trojans are considered to be legitimate national championship contenders. USC football star Caleb Williams will be back under center after winning the Heisman Trophy. Since becoming Oklahoma's head coach in 2017, Riley has never won fewer than nine games in a season.

Sanders didn't attend Pac-12 Media Day because he is recovering from Colorado described as a “routine follow-up procedure.” Sanders had surgery on his leg to remove blood clots last month.