Paul Finebaum doubles down on criticism of Lincoln Riley: 'He is not even a factor in his own league'

Paul Finebaum’s recent criticism of USC head coach Lincoln Riley has been well documented over the past couple of weeks.

The SEC analyst went on record as saying that Riley would be out of a job at the end of the 2024 college football season, and that his only way back to becoming a high-profile head coach again would be to return to his roots as an offensive coordinator.

During an appearance on First Take on Wednesday morning, Finebaum doubled down on his previous critiques of the Trojans headman. His evaluation of the head coach came after Riley left Oklahoma around the same time the Sooners announced that they’d be joining the SEC in 2024.

“Listen, he looked at the SEC, which has thrashed him repeatedly in championship games and in playoff games,” Finebaum said on Wednesday. “I mean, LSU could — go back a couple years ago in 2019 and rewatch the LSU game against Oklahoma. I mean, it was like 55-6 or something. It was embarrassing. And that’s the problem. Lincoln knew he couldn’t compete because he didn’t have the physicality. He had the great players, he had the great quarterbacks and skill position, but he’s never been able to put it on the other side and he knew that wouldn’t compute or compete in the SEC, so he high-tailed it.

“Now, if he knew now that they were going to the Big Ten, he might have thought it over because he’s no better off today than he would have been in the SEC. He is not even a factor in his own league, Doggie. That’s my point. You’re protecting him. You’re giving him an award for what he did at Oklahoma. But that doesn’t matter anymore.”

Riley spent five seasons as the Sooners head coach, amassing a 55-10 record to go with with four conference titles. Joining the Trojans in 2022, he has a record of 19-8 in LA that included an 8-5 finish the the 2023 season.

Now, former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams is off to the NFL and Riley is tasked with finding a new identity for his offense now entering the Big Ten Conference.

“This program is not that big of a deal anymore,” Finebaum continued. “This isn’t John McKay, this isn’t John Robinson, this isn’t Pete Carroll. … It took five minutes for him to crash the program last year. Were you watching? They almost went 6-6.”

The Trojans win total in Vegas was set at 7.5 wins, meaning the books don’t expect much of an improvement for Riley’s 2024 USC football team.

Riley and USC will look to prove Finebaum wrong beginning on Sept. 1, where they can earn a statement victory over LSU during Week 1. The Trojans are 6.5-point underdogs just over six weeks out from opening kickoff.