We are less than one week away from Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas, Nevada, where USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley will join his 17 other coaching colleagues.
When it comes to the current coaching hierarchy in the conference, it depends on who you talk to, but Riley will typically land somewhere in the middle of the conference.
Two years ago, he probably would have landed at the top, but back-to-back mediocre seasons, at least in terms of wins and losses, have tempered expectations for Riley.
However, there is one key metric where Riley reigns supreme above the rest of the conference.
Golf handicap.
TRENDING: College Football Head Coach Golf Handicap Rankings⛳️
— On3 (@On3sports) July 17, 2025
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USC Trojans Head Coach Has An Elite Golf Handicap
According to On3, Lincoln Riley ranks 8th in all of college football with a golf handicap of 9.1.
For those unfamiliar with how handicaps work, there are numerous factors that go into compiling a true handicap, such as course and slope rating, but Riley’s handicap of 9.1 means that he essentially averages a score roughly 9 over par.
The Top 10 is as follows:
- Tre Lamb, Tulsa +1.3
- Trent Dilfer, UAB 0.7
- Rhett Lashlee, SMU 4.4
- Joe Harasymiak, UMASS 5.6
- Scott Abell, Rice 6.0
- Jason Candle, Toledo 6.6
- Hugh Freeze, 7.6
- Lincoln Riley, USC 9.1
- Shane Beamer, South Carolina 9.7
- PJ Fleck, Minnesota 11.1
Only 3 total Big Ten coaches cracked the Top 20, with Riley at 8, Minnesota’s PJ Fleck at 10, and Ohio State’s Ryan Day at 14th.
Now, if Lincoln Riely can translate some of his success from the links to the gridiron, the USC Trojans will be in for a very successful season.
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Regardless, Riley is poised to lead the program back into national relevance. While 2024 was frustrating, and a 7-6 finish is not going to get the job done, there were vast improvements made throughout the course of the season, specifically on the defensive side, and this offseason has been one of the best in recent memory.
By the end of 2025, Lincoln Riley hopes to be No. 1 in just about every key metric, and he has positioned the program to make that happen.