A lot has been made of Lincoln Riley potentially being on the hot seat. While the 2025 season is still salvageable despite USC’s 34-24 loss to Notre Dame, the Trojans’ faithful are not holding out much hope. Having won four Big 12 Championship titles, Riley was entrusted to lead the Trojans back to their glory days. Now it appears as though he has also lost the support of one of his most ardent supporters.

On Wednesday’s episode of The Herd, FOX broadcaster Colin Cowherd spoke to CFB analyst Joel Klatt about the Trojans’ head coach. Cowherd, a long-time admirer of Riley and his offensive play-calling, can’t see USC making it to the playoffs this year. It wasn’t just Notre Dame that left him disappointed. That one defeat encapsulated all the things that have gone wrong since Lincoln Riley took over the program.

“Lincoln Riley as a play designer and caller is A+. How many years do I have to watch USC get pushed around on every road game before I don’t have this opinion? He’s not a culture builder; he is a great, great intellect, but I’m watching them get pushed around by Illinois, and last year Maryland, and last year Michigan, and this year Notre Dame. It’s four years in. This is what they are as a program.”

However, Joel Klatt rebutted, stating that things are improving overall at USC. “I think Notre Dame is just elite at running the football. That’s where Illinois exposed USC, but they are going to be better on the defensive line next year than they have been this year.” Klatt also mentioned defensive end Jahkeem Stewart as one of the young prospects coming through, who will further reinforce the defensive line and improve their record.

Riley’s tenure at USC (31-16) has not yielded the results many hoped for. The Trojans started the 2025 season strong with a 4-0 record, but losses to Illinois and Notre Dame have them facing down the barrel of making zero playoff appearances in four years. As such, it would seem that the wheels are turning, even for a supporter like Colin Cowherd.

However, Cowherd’s words are a bit reactionary. How can you forget the Michigan game? Just a week ago, the Trojans took down the Wolverines at home, and a major contributing factor in that win was their physicality. USC won over the line of scrimmages, a stark difference from what we saw last year.

Colin Cowherd deemed Lincoln Riley “unfireable” earlier this season

By and large, Colin Cowherd has been very supportive of Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans. Known for having some of the spiciest takes, Cowherd has rarely been critical of the QB-whisperer, barring the odd occasion. As a result, the analyst is often seen as a “homer”- or a biased fan. Even though Riley had an underwhelming third season in charge of the Trojans, Cowherd had a bold take on the coach at the start of the season.

Speaking on the Joel Klatt Show on Aug. 25, Cowherd said, “So the truth is, Lincoln Riley’s unfireable, I mean, Brian Kelly—you can’t run him out of town. They’re struggling to make NIL payments. USC just spent $300 million on the facility, $18 million on NIL. What, Jen Cohen’s going to go, ‘You know what? I want an $80 million check for Lincoln and then $80 million to hire his replacement.’ So, the bottom line is, Lincoln’s safe.”

The CFB analyst followed it up by shedding light on their 73-13 Week 1 win over Missouri State. Cowherd dropped a video on X saying, “The game nobody is talking about.” He said, “Listen, a lot of people got enamored with the whole Arch Manning Ohio State, Texas game… but I made sure I kept my radar on for USC yesterday. He further added, “It doesn’t matter; time to move them up a little in the rankings. How about we go… 12th? Let’s not get greedy.”

The Trojans now have a bye week ahead of a showdown against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Nov. 2. They will need to win against the No. 6-ranked Oregon Ducks on Nov. 22 to have any chance of making the playoffs.