Lincoln Riley returns to USC practice, being treated for pneumonia

USC head coach Lincoln Riley missed Monday and Tuesday’s practice due to suffering from pneumonia, according to On3’s Scott Schrader. Riley has now made his return to the practice field with his team.

It was originally reported that Riley missed practice due to an “unknown illness.” Riley also did not appear for his scheduled Trojans Live show on Monday evening, and now it is clear why. With him back at practice, now it seems Riley is good to go for the Trojans matchup this weekend against Cal.

While that is not confirmed as of yet, the Trojans had to do some shifting around throughout their coaching staff this week. Dennis Simmons was working as the acting head coach, while former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury was set to be activated as a new on-field assistant coach from his offensive analyst role.

Riley’s return pushes Kingsbury back to his off-field role, but he remains a key piece to the Trojan staff. To have an insurance policy that was a former NFL head coach this time last year is a luxury even a team like Alabama doesn’t have.

“He’s obviously got familiarity with our offense. He’s got familiarity with a lot of the members on our staff. So I think that that certainly made sense,” Riley said earlier this offseason. “And yeah, I mean, obviously his experience, both on the both on the offensive side will be very helpful in terms of game planning, some of those things that they can do off the field, have another set of eyes, they’re very, very helpful. And then obviously the added benefit with a guy like Kliff is a guy that’s been the head coach at this level and at the professional level, somebody that had to sit in that chair and make those decisions.

“Whether it’s something on game day or it’s something just through the course of a normal week, it’s always great to have another opinion. And then kind of an outside perspective that you know, that maybe it’s not tied to one position … coach Kingsbury was a really great get and it’s gonna make us a lot better.”

Whether Riley is able to return for Saturday’s road trip to Cal remains to be seen, but if one thing is for sure — USC has to win this football game. Threatening to fall out of the top 25 poll for the first time this season, a third consecutive loss would be devastating for USC and quarterback Caleb Williams with his final season with the program.

Opening kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET live on the Pac-12 Network.