Lincoln Riley hopes spring game will inspire Trojan fans
Next Saturday’s exhibition will give fans their first opportunity to see and get excited about Riley’s Trojans
Adam Grosbard (OC Register) — As he was introduced as USC’s new head football coach in November, Lincoln Riley stood in the empty Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It didn’t look all that different from game days in the historic venue that fall, with fans often leaving before the fourth quarter if they even bothered to show up at all.
Even in the early stages of his tenure, Riley knew that the dynamic at the Coliseum had to change.
“This place is going to be full,” Riley promised. “This place is going to be the mecca of college football.”
Ahead of next Saturday’s spring game, Trojans fans’ first opportunity to see a Riley team in person, USC is doing what it can to drive people to the Coliseum.
On Wednesday, USC announced it was making all tickets to the spring game free to the public. There will be food trucks and giveaways, as well as photo opportunities with Traveler, at the Peristyle and on the Coliseum field. Players will sign autographs after the game, and there will be bounce houses available for children.
“Our administration, I would really give them a lot of kudos for all they’ve built around this game to make it really fun and interactive for all of our fans,” Riley said in his Saturday afternoon Zoom call.
There’s a part for Riley to play, too, in generating fan excitement. But that will come more on the field than in the marketing offices.
Riley inherited a team that went 4-8 last season. And in Los Angeles, with so many other options for how to spend a day, fans won’t turn up to watching a losing team.
“They want to support excellence. They want to support success,” Riley said. “We understand that. We don’t shy away from that.”
Riley and his staff have spent the past several months trying to provide the infrastructure for a winner, largely through the transfer portal. Potential Heisman candidate Caleb Williams is the headliner at quarterback, but former Alabama freshman All-American linebacker Shane Lee, speedy receiver Mario Williams and former Oregon workhorse running back Travis Dye fit the bill, too.
So it will be a different Trojans team that takes the field for the spring game than the one that ended 2021 with four consecutive losses.
“I don’t know, if you can’t get excited right now about what’s happened to this point, I don’t know if there’s magic words to get that done,” Riley said. “This Saturday will be a lot of fun, but obviously this fall, it becomes vitally important.”
As for what exactly next Saturday will look like, Riley did not want to guess what attendance will be for the spring game. And he wasn’t ready to announce a spring game format, saying any new strains on the team’s depth chart could cause a change.
But the expectation is that USC will at least play a full half of football in front of its fans, and Riley hopes there will be a large turnout for the players who have been working in spring practices.
“I’ll tell you this. It’s not going to be a game of tag. We’re going to play football,” Riley said. “I know it would mean a lot to our guys to have a great, energetic crowd. That’s what we expect, just like they expect things out of us.”
ocregister.com
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LR in Paradise at USC — “My family and I couldn’t be happier to be in Southern California as we begin this new chapter in our lives. It honestly feels like a dream to wake up in paradise every single day. And now, as we start this new chapter, nothing can temper our excitement to chase championships at USC.”
Espn, the clown network does it again. Read this article from RoT. https://reignoftroy.com/posts/usc-football-espn-embarrasses-itself-atrocious-reggie-bush-ranking
I’d say Reggie Bush got docked downward some positions because he brutally left USC in total shambles. That’s real life, Reggie. Sorry, I don’t feel sorry for you. At least OJ got #5 and I would personally slightly rank OJ as the greatest back in Trojan history, both ability and performance-wise. This is partially based on OJ’s being in both the college and NFL HOF, while Bush has made neither. Archie Griffin and Mike Rozier sure don’t belong at their spots, but the other backs on this list are all awesome, and basically interchangeable IMHO. I do wish Reggie still… Read more »
Panthers OC Ben McAdoo names Sam Darnold their starting QB, immediately backtracks McAdoo was asked on Tuesday whether he considered Sam Darnold the team’s starting quarterback heading into the fall. “Sam is our starting quarterback, yes,” McAdoo replied. But just minutes later, McAdoo walked that back. “Announcing the starting quarterback here, I just put my foot in the mouth,” he said. “That wasn’t something I should have said.” While there’s still plenty of time for things to change, Darnold likely won’t be the Panthers’ starting quarterback this season. The Panthers are widely expected to take a quarterback (Malik Willis, et al) in… Read more »
The Georgia Spring Game was this past Saturday. If you missed it, it will be on ESPNU 8pm tonight on the west coast. I plan to record it. May be a good comparison to see where USC is and has to get to.
Miller Moss on Lincoln Riley: “He’s done a lot. I mean, he has an offensive mind. I’ve never really met anyone like him. So being able to be around him and learn from someone like that’s been really, really special. And I think just the way he coaches quarterbacks, he’s very even-keeled. He knows how to deal with us, knows how to deal with our personalities. I’ve been really lucky to be able to work with him in a short time. “His demeanor, how he deals with quarterbacks is really special. I mean, purely his plays. Sitting in the meeting,… Read more »
Moss knows how to grease the skids so to speak. I am sure he is impressed, with what he has to compare LR with. If Riley can turn Moss into a qb that would rival Williams, then he for sure is the QB Whisperer they say he is. With Moss learning things he didn’t know he didn’t know about speaks volumes about what Riley can do for a team. I hope Grinch is on the same level as LR for the defense.
As much as I’d like to see JT succeed at WV, this kind of insight strongly suggests that his growth will be stunted by continuing to hitch his wagon to GH.
It’s never been my impression that Grinch is on the comparative level of Riley, an offensive genius by many varied accounts. But I think that would be an unreasonable ask anyways. However, Grinch doesn’t need to be a genius IMO. He seems to be a somewhat fiery, no-nonsense guy, who will need more talent and depth to bring USC’s D up to par. Here’s how Grinch was described by Soonerswire.com in Feb ’21: “Alex Grinch joined the coaching staff in 2019 to change the defensive culture at OU. He became the defensive coordinator and safeties coach. In his first-year in… Read more »
Well, if Grinch’s defense matches the intensity of Riley’s offense, that is good enough for me. “A lethal combination”.
Poor little gutties. I just came across this little nugget of damaging football info about UCLA. Hard to believe they’ve been this bad for all these years.
Since 1980, Bruin football is 293-205-6, which rounds up to an average yearly record of 7-5.
The beat down continues…good Yahoo article here.
“Five months after absorbing a 62-33 beatdown by its arch-nemesis, USC appears to have scored a runaway victory over UCLA in exposure and excitement. “The Trojans continue to bask in the buzz of new coach Lincoln Riley, who has captured a city’s imagination before winning his first game. “One significant difference between Chip Kelly and Lincoln Riley is that the former has never generated much of a frenzy at his current post. In Kelly’s first game at UCLA, the Bruins drew only 54,116 at the Rose Bowl … and lost to Cincinnati. They went on to set a record low for average attendance in… Read more »
2023 commit RB Quinten Joyner’s JR highlights:
hudl.com
USC added a fourth player to its 2023 recruiting class today when four-star Manor (Texas) RB Quinten Joyner (5-11, 203) committed to the Trojans. Joyner is the nation’s No. 13 RB and the No. 39 player in the state of Texas, according to the 247Sports Composite. Joyner took an unofficial visit to USC on April 2 and followed that up with a visit to ORE on April 9. Antonio Morales (The Athletic): USC is mainly recruiting out-of-state RBs in this cycle because of a lack of options in California, and Joyner has been on the Trojans’ radar for a bit now. He’s listed… Read more »
Every big college football program wants to consider their stadium the mecca of college football. ND, tOSU, LSU, and so on. It only matters that the stadium is full. Even when little Fresno State is sold out the place is rocking and it only seats about 40k. If LR builds it, they will come, maybe not this year, but the bandwagon is going to get full in a couple of years.
Before I knew what a spring game was, I went with my parents to a spring game. McKay brought in former Trojans to play against the new squad. I don’t know much more than platooning wasn’t a thing and someone got hurt, but I remember it being real football. The last spring game my family and I went to was just what Riley said it wouldn’t be, a game of tag. It was a Cat-astrophe. I will pause on Saturday to watch for while, but if I see it being another claymation reindeer games led by Rudolph, I’m going to… Read more »
The “Claymation Reindeer Games led by Rudolph” are thankfully now a thing of the past. With all these new USC players led by LR and the numerous Trojans who had been allowed to stagnate and regress by The Cat, Saturday promises to be a historic USC Extravaganza led by Caleb and Shane. 🿠🿠USC is BACK, without ever even playing a single 2022 game. What LR does during May, June and July in the Portal will be incredibly important, but the first report card comes this Saturday. Two hours of fun in the sun at the latest Mecca of… Read more »
What time is the game?
Noon PT.
Thank you.
Did I hear correctly that ESPN will be there?
Televised on ESPN for two hours at noon Saturday.
Whoops, I should have read on a bit further and I would have had my answer.
If I lived a little closer I would be going for sure. I am looking forward to watching, just to see what the new talent looks like and what the attitude of the players looks like. I am not a fan of espn, the clown network, but I like Herbstreit and think he will be enthusiastic and honest in his coverage.
I wonder how much ESPN coverage of the game will drive what happens on the field?
It’s pretty amazing that downtrodden USC football suddenly landed on ESPN for their spring game, presumably entirely because of Lincoln Riley, who continues to hit all the right notes with his public statements. He’s trying to bring the USC fanbase back in every way he can think of:
“I’ll tell you this. It’s not going to be a game of tag. We’re going to play football,” Riley said. “I know it would mean a lot to our guys to have a great, energetic crowd. That’s what we expect, just like they expect things out of us.”
I certainly like everything that LR is preaching. It has been a long time since there has been kind of excitement. Wish I was closer so I can go.
I would hope that the presence of espn would have minimal effect, that the players are hyped enough to put on a show to demonstrate to the fanbase their desire to win and to show us their new culture. If we see the same crap on the sidelines that Helton permitted we will know that there is a LOT more work to do.