FOOTBALL

USC Saturday Buzz: Lincoln Riley’s Biggest Regret

Lincoln Riley said his biggest regret since coming to USC was taking so many transfers in Year 2 instead of focusing on bringing in high school players.

That’s his biggest regret? How about his coaching decisions? Time management skills? Horrible defense??

But let’s pretend he has a point.

Did he regret MarShawn Lloyd being an offensive leader? Did he regret Emmanuel Pregnon starting 12 games at left guard? Jarrett Kingston being so valuable he started six games at right guard and five at right tackle?

Jamil Muhammad starting 12 games at defensive end? Christian Roland-Wallace being the best cornerback on the team? Mason Cobb starting at middle linebacker?

These were all Year 2 transfers. If USC lost games, it was more because of Alex Grinch or poor decisions by Riley than what these players did. But let’s pretend it was because of the focus on transfers, which wasn’t a problem in Year 1, by the way.

59 thoughts on “USC Saturday Buzz: Lincoln Riley’s Biggest Regret”

  1. KAM: His biggest regret wasn’t losing to Utah twice and then blowing a 15 point lead with 5 minutes left in the Cotton Bowl against Tulane? Losing to rival Notre Dame 2 out of 3 times?

    DON: His biggest regret is USC blindsiding him and leaving the Pac 12 where he expected to dominate. Now USC is a mediocrity in the Big 10.

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  4. In the Pac-12 SC had to contend with ucla, Washington and Oregon. Now in the ‘Big-10’ they deal with those 3 teams plus Ohio St., Michigan and Penn St.

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      2. Actually —with no Ohio State, Penn State or Washington on the schedule —- USC could [and should] top last year’s win/loss record by a lot…

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  5. Riley’s biggest regret has to be Grinch. He should not have brought him with him from Oklahoma and should have fired him a year earlier but Grinch was a friend. He didn’t want to disappoint a friend. A true leader needs to make tough decisions.

    Riley has also learned that transfers don’t really work so well with the offensive line. You need chemistry that typically takes time. And transfers really don’t solve depth problems. Transfers want to start and are usually promised that they will start. He couldn’t solve the defensive line depth issue especially after the Bear quit.

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      1. I don’t think Dart was staying no matter what Riley would have said. Caleb was going to be the starter for two years, and Dart understandably didn’t want to wait.

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      2. After Dart finished his season under master coach Donte Williams he told ESPN, “I might not want to play at USC anymore —I’m not even sure I want to go on living.”

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      3. KAM: Everywhere Caleb has gone there has been failure.

        DON: Under Dart Ole Miss went 10-3 his last year while Caleb went 8-5. Sir Lincoln of Riley chose unwisely, keeping the selfish hot dog.

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      1. …And …Caleb decided to go head case in his last UCLA game….crying big tears afterward when it was too late to start caring …. Plus…his screwball attitude in post practice interviews —blinking & gazing into the sky…. became a subject of anti-USC rumors …not to mention the fact his improvisational style of play angered other players…who began talking about “less superman plays & more team ball” [actual quote from his best receiver]….

        #HisTalentWasOffTheCharts….HisWin/LossRecordWasn’t

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      2. Blame Grinch and whoever coached the o-line that year.

        That season, USC gave up 41 to Colorado (USC won 48-41), 49 to Cal (USC won 50-49), 52 to UDub (USC lost 52-42). Plus they gave up 46 to Tulane (USC lost 46-45).

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  8. Dart really said that?– Next time Dr. Carol asks me to do something, I’ll use that line: “I’m not sure if I want to go on living!”

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      2. ’67 —my actual, often used go-to phrase [when asked to do anything] is “I wish I could…. but I’m feeling a little tired…”

        #…MyCredibilityIsUnderminedWhenIGoOutFor3MileWalk

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  9. KAM: Do you regret having once said, “Whether its right or wrong, it’s time to go after people”

    DON:–And getting heat from my own kind, the conservative personalities

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    1. KAM: I regret I was aligned with the party that tried a coup against a duly elected president.

      DON: Democrats think they can commit treason and get away with it.

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  10. DON: If there is anything the mobs like more than buiding their hero, it’s tearing him down

    KAM: If there are identifiable men in the Epstein papers, in the public’s eye they might be guilty by association even when innocent

    DON: Some men’s reputations will be thrown in the trash. It puts them on the defensive to prove nothing happened, when it should be the other way around

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  12. KAM: The Epstein matter is such a sordid and nasty affair, it’s not really good for the country to be giving Epstein this much attention

    DON: –Took the words out of my mouth

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    1. KAM: Weird how it was ignored when Democrats controlled the presidency, the House and the Senate since BJ Clinton is implicated.

      DON: It makes one think the Fake News is lying once again.

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  13. Is this a sign that the body is breaking down?–Yesterday I was at the park throwing a football for distance about a dozen times, and today I have a bruised toe and back soreness

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    1. Watch out, John — I let my hernia go without medical attention [the way I handle ALL medical problems] until it went black and blue after a tough workout on the heavy bag —- Sybil is still fetched by the story….

      #ItDoesn’tMakeMeHappyToSayThis….

      #…But…

      #ISuspectSybilHasNeverWorkedOutOnTheBagOrThrownAFooball

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      1. KAM: When Sybil was a girl 50 years ago too many threw a football or boxed.

        DON: She played with her Barbie dolls back then.

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  15. KAM: I saw an environmentalist’s bumper sticker the other day, it said, “I am expending my child’s future”

    DON: I get it we’re doing harm to the planet, but you got to feed and clothe 8 1/2 billion people every day

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    1. KAM: The Global Warmist Cult is now predicting the Northen ice sheet will be gone by 2027.

      DON: They never pay any price for their false prophecies. Go to Marina Del Rey, Ventura Keys or Mission Bay and you will notice the sea level hasn’t risen despite 50 years of predictions.

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      2. KAM: The Global Warmist Cult also believed in forcing The Jab on children . We must not question those “experts” wearing white lab coats.

        DON: In May 2025, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a shift in policy regarding future COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. While the original COVID-19 vaccine series was made widely available, the FDA proposed limiting future updated COVID-19 vaccine doses to individuals aged 65 and older and those 6 months or older with specific underlying health conditions. 

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  16. KAM: Returning to our remembering great comic’s lines, Mae West once said, “When a girl goes bad, men go right after her.”

    DON: Or when she commented how “I only like two kinds of men– domestic and foreign”

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    1. Oh crap —the guy with the light shirt was bringing back unwanted memories of Mike Bohn introducing Lincoln with “Is this guy something or what?!”

      #LeaveTheFalseEnthusiasmToAOC

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