Lincoln Riley shares where USC offense has yet to grow

Lincoln Riley believes the USC offense still has some room to grow, but he’s confident they’ll get there.

The Trojans are returning reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, along with some other fantastic talents. However, that doesn’t guarantee anything for USC, and Riley recognizes that.

“There’s definitely some. I mean, all of it. It’s just, you know, all this is not like, ‘Oh, you return these couple players, so it should be this,’ like this is a whole different mix of players,” started Riley. “Individual guys here and there, that’s great. But you’ve got to get them to coexist and to work together and to act as one, and on all three sides of the ball, that’s the fire now. The narrative is all these things return, everybody should just pick up where you left off and that could not be further from the truth.

“Everything’s different. We’ve got so many different faces. So we’re, I think just the group coming together and learning to not just be a group of some talented guys, but be a great that plays very well together, and we’ve got to close that gap there, and really all three sides of the ball right now.”

Of course, the way last season ended for USC is motivation for the Trojans in 2023. After coming so close to the College Football Playoff, the program wants to get there this season.

Time will tell if they’re able to do so, but a lot of that will be on the offense’s shoulders once again. Lincoln Riley’s bunch will be an interesting one to watch, but the confidence level in their abilities should remain high entering a new campaign.

Lincoln Riley says Kliff Kingsbury addition adds a lot to USC’s team in 2023

Meanwhile, after previously working as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals and Texas Tech Red Raiders, Kliff Kingsbury joined Lincoln Riley’s staff at USC. While in Los Angeles, he will be working as an offensive analyst. In particular, he will be working with the quarterbacks.

As Riley explained during Always College Football, Kingsbury adds a ton to USC in 2023.

“It does a lot, first I’d point to just for the entire team,” Lincoln Riley said. “I mean, a guy that’s been a head coach at both of the collegiate and the professional levels. He’s had to make those decisions and sit in that chair, so he’s been really, extremely helpful for me and I think other members of our staff with his experience level.”

Known for his explosive offenses, Kliff Kingsbury took over as the head coach of his alma mater, Texas Tech, in 2013 and coached there through 2018, compiling a 36-38 record. He was fired but landed the Arizona Cardinals job, which he held from 2019 to 2022, earning a 28-37-1 record. 

“It certainly adds a lot to the offensive room,” Riley continued. “We’ve got a lot of really good coaches and I think really good minds in that room and he’s certainly added to it, and just to have that resource for game planning, for how we design practice, for on down to what we do on an individual level that day with the quarterbacks, it’s great to have somebody of his experience and he’s certainly made us better and I look forward to going through this year with him.”