November 28, 2021

LOS ANGELES — Lincoln Riley, one of college football’s most successful young coaches who won 85 percent of his games in five seasons at Oklahoma and led the Sooners to four Big 12 titles and four New Year’s Six bowls with three College Football Playoff appearances, has been named the head coach at USC, athletic director Mike Bohn announced today (Nov. 28). 

 “We are ecstatic to announce Lincoln Riley as our new head coach and welcome his wife Caitlin and their daughters Sloan and Stella to the Trojan Family,” said Bohn. “Lincoln is the rarest combination of extraordinary person and elite football coach. His successes and offensive accolades as a head coach the past five years are astonishing. Lincoln will recruit relentlessly, develop his players on and off the field, and implement a strong culture in which the program will operate with the highest level of integrity and professionalism.  

“Lincoln is universally considered one of the brightest and most talented football coaches in the nation, and the fact that he chose USC is a testament to the strength of our brand, the power of the Trojan Family, and the leadership of our university. This is for our current players, our former players, our alumni, our fans, and our entire university community. Our time is now.”  

Said Riley:  “I am truly excited to come to USC and join the Trojan Family as its new head football coach.  USC has an unparalleled football tradition with tremendous resources and facilities, and the administration has made a deep commitment to winning.  I look forward to honoring that successful tradition and building on it.  The pieces are in place for us to build the program back to where it should be and the fans expect it to be.  We will work hard to develop a physical football team that is dominant on both lines of scrimmage, and has a dynamic balanced offense and a stout aggressive defense. 

“I want to thank the administration, coaches and players at Oklahoma for five incredible years as their head coach.  We accomplished some great things there and I will always cherish my time as a Sooner.” 

“Lincoln Riley is the perfect choice for our new head coach,” USC President Carol L. Folt said. “He is known for caring about the development and character of his players and winning at the highest level. Mike Bohn and I share a vision for the future of USC Athletics and hiring Coach Riley is a huge statement about where we are going as a program. I cannot wait to welcome Coach Riley and his family to Los Angeles and the Trojan Family.” 

Riley will immediately transition to USC. Donte Williams will remain USC’s interim head coach for the final week of the 2021 season, including this Saturday’s (Dec. 4) game at California. 

COURTESY USC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS