USC Football placed on probation, NCAA levies $50K fine for exceeding number of coaches

The USC Trojans football program has been placed on one-year probation by the NCAA and fined $50,000 for having eight analysts engage in coaching activities from 2022-23.

With those eight analysts allegedly coaching, the NCAA found that USC exceeded the permissible number of countable coaches by six for two academic years. It was also found and agreed upon by parties involved that USC head coach Lincoln Riley violated head coach responsibility rules allowing these violations to happen in the program.

Despite being found responsible, Lincoln Riley will not be suspended because some violations occurred before the January 2023 rule changes, he wasn’t personally involved, and he promoted an atmosphere of compliance.

“Head coaches are presumed responsible for the actions of their staff, and as a result, Riley violated head coach responsibility rules,” the NCAA release stated. “In this case, however, some of the violations occurred before rules changes effective in January 2023 that shifted head coach responsibility rules from a rebuttable presumption to automatic attachment. Because Riley was not personally involved in the violations and demonstrated that he promoted an atmosphere of compliance and monitored his staff, Riley rebutted his presumed responsibility for the violations occurring before the rules change. For the same reasons, the parties also agreed that a suspension penalty for Riley was not appropriate.”

There was also an agreement that USC promptly investigated the violations when it was notified and worked in collaboration with enforcement staff. That led to an agreement on Level II penalties for USC and Riley.

Along with being on probation for one year and the fine of $50,000, USC is also being hit with a restriction for a special teams analyst from practice and film review for six consecutive days during two weeks of the 2024-25 season, a restriction for the remaining analysts from practice and film review for six consecutive days during two weeks of the 2024-25 season, and reduction in countable athletically related activities for the football program by 24 hours during the 2023-24 season. That final punishment was self-imposed.

This comes amid what has been a frustrating season already for USC with the Trojans going 4-5 overall and 2-5 in Big Ten play. With three games remaining, the Trojans need to win two of their final three games to make it to bowl eligibility.

The members of the panel that oversaw this case included Stephen Madva, an attorney in private practice, Roderick Perry, the chief hearing officer for the panel and former director of athletics, and Steve Waterfield, the director of athletics at Oakland.