National Signing Day is off and running and it has been a bit of a down day for the USC Trojans. Of their 20 commits, only two remain unsigned (4-star LB Jadon Perlotte, and 3-star S Stephen Miller), but they missed out a many of the prospects that were trending their way in DL Josiah Sharma, DL Christian Ingram, and LB Madden Faraimo.
Perhaps the biggest and most gut-wrenching news was the announcement that LB Coach Matt Entz would be leaving USC to take the Fresno State head coaching job. The timing was not only unfortunate but most likely had a major effect on the signing day.
Now a new report has surfaced that is equally as interesting.
UCF Inquired About USC Trojans Head Coach Lincoln Riley
Per The Athletic, the University of Central Florida has inquired about hiring USC head coach Lincoln Riley for their vacant head coaching position. The UCF position became available when Gus Malzahn stepped down to take the Florida State offensive coordinator position.
Per the report, “The first source added that UCF has not received any word from Riley’s camp that he is interested in leaving USC, and the school is still looking at multiple candidates to fill its head coaching vacancy.”
Not only would this be a lateral move for Riley, but it would be a step down in program prestige, and would be a significant pay decrease.
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His contract at USC is private, but the reports have always been that he makes roughly $10 million annually. Malzahn made $4 million last season at UCF.
There is also the precarious situation of buyouts. USC would actually have to pay a good chunk of Riley’s salary in order to let him leave.
The rumored amount of Riley’s buyout is around $90 million. So if he was actually interested in making the move and UCF offered him a $40 million deal, USC would most likely have to pony up the remaining $50 million to cover his buyout.
But all of this is most likely moot, as indications are Riley has no interest in leaving SC, as he has stated many times that he is here for the long haul.
It is just another precarious story to break in the midst of the biggest recruiting day of the year.