The USC Trojans are a mess. That might be a bit of an understatement for the 4-4 Trojans, who’ve sputtered to a 2-4 conference record in their first season in the Big Ten. Head coach Lincoln Riley has had it rough, but he isn’t without his own faults. Riley also recently stirred up controversy after he closed off practice to the media.
That decision didn’t earn the $10 million man many friends in an already frosty situation in Los Angeles. Riley and the Trojans haven’t lived up to expectations. They’ve fallen behind, and as a result, Riley is taking the brunt of it. Choosing to bar the media from accessing practice was a decision that furthered that criticism.
On Tuesday, Riley addressed the situation and his controversial decision.
Lincoln Riley was asked today why USC scratched its media viewing period at practice — he liked how team handled changes last week (team period ➡️ start of practice).
“We’re continuing forward with a lot of the things we did last week. And it just didn’t make sense to have it.” pic.twitter.com/qfFFK8L1fb
— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans) October 30, 2024
“We evaluated some things last week,” Riley said via Luca Evans. “We made some changes to the way that we’re handling pre-practice just with the short week and we liked how our team handled it and responded to it. And so, with that we’r econtinuing forward with a lot of the things we did last week. And it just didn’t make sense to have it.”
That answer probably won’t be enough for many of his detractors. Though at this point, the only way for Riley to get heat off him is for him and USC to turn it around.
