Lincoln Riley Buyout: How much will USC football pay to move on from Trojans head coach?
The frustration between the USC Trojans and coach Lincoln Riley appears to be at an all-time high. After spending the first five years of his coaching career with the Oklahoma Sooners, he bolted to join the USC Trojans ahead of the 2022 college football season. The team looked great as he finished with an 11-3 record and lost in the Cotton Bowl.
People did not expect that first season to be the high point of the Lincoln Riley era but that seems to be where we are. After 2.5 years, he has posted a 22-12 record and has struggled with a 3-4 record this season, which includes three straight blown leads in the fourth quarter.
The struggle has just added to the idea that a Lincoln Riley buyout could be coming soon. However, how much money would that cost the USC Trojans if they were to split?
While appearing on the "College GameDay" podcast, ESPN College Football Insider Pete Thamel discussed the price of Lincoln Riley's buyout if the USC Trojans decide to part with him.
"People are unhappy about USC. My sources told me this week that Lincoln Riley would be owed $90 million if you were going to fire him. Right around $90 million. That's like Jimbo (Fisher) super-sized buyout. It feels like those two are a bit stuck with each other right now, Lincoln Riley and USC." h/t 247Sports
What are the other options with Lincoln Riley's buyout cost?
Riley is in the third year of his 11-year, $110 million contract, and unless the Trojans want to pay a pretty penny just to not have him on the sidelines, the two sides are married to each other for some time.
As time goes on, the number for the buyout is expected to decrease and Thamel continued with how there could be some time before that happens.
"My instinct tells me they're going to run it back because nobody has a better option. It would not be expensive for him to leave and take another college job. But Florida can't hire Lincoln Riley right now if we're going to run out the ground ball. Could he return to the Big 12 and go to somewhere like Baylor?"
Either way, the partnership that the USC Trojans and Lincoln Riley have needs to at least be salvageable, otherwise things are going to continue going downhill fast.