Paul Finebaum urges USC to dump ‘fraud’ Lincoln Riley

Lincoln Riley has lost a lot of games with USC, but worse than that, he’s losing credibility for the once-proud college football program. And according to Paul Finebaum, it might be time for Lincoln Riley to get lost.

Saturday may have been a low point for Riley in his five years as head football coach of the USC Trojans. USC lost 41-27 to No. 20 Oregon at home. But this felt worse than a program losing another big game. It felt like a head coach who lacked leadership and control of his program, underscored by linebacker Desman Stephens II knocking Oregon’s Dante Moore out of the game as the star quarterback tried to give himself up by sliding. And Monday morning on First Take, Finebaum went off on Riley, calling him out for his handling of the fallout from the hit.

“Everybody knows who the fraud is. It’s Lincoln Riley… it will cost about $70 million to get rid of Lincoln Riley. But I promise you, USC people, it will be worth it because this guy is bringing your program down to the gutter” – Paul Finebaum pic.twitter.com/Ir21TYRTlF

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 28, 2026

“What we saw here was a tale of an elite coach and a complete fraud as a coach. And I think everybody knows who the fraud is. It’s Lincoln Riley,” Finebaum ranted. “He has the same record at this point in his tenure as Clay Helton who got fired and run off, it cost about $10 million to get rid of him. It will cost about $70 million to get rid of Lincoln Riley. But I promise you, USC people, it will be worth it because this guy is bringing your program down to the gutter.”

There was debate about whether the hit was dirty or just a bang-bang play, but Stephens’ actions after the incident is what garnered the most criticism. With Moore being tended to, Stephens celebrated the hit and was later shown on the broadcast smiling and laughing with teammates on the sideline. And while most of the country was disgusted by Stephens’ actions, Riley initially downplayed the controversial celebration.

“He barely even handled the situation on the field,” Finebaum said of Riley’s initial response to the hit. “Thanks to Dan Lanning (Oregon head coach) there wasn’t an absolute massive brawl afterwards. He kept his team cool which I don’t think was very easy to do. I wouldn’t have blamed the other side if they had just started a street fight with USC after this. Just completely classless. And the fact that Lincoln Riley took until Sunday to suspend Stephens, it’s ridiculous.”

As Finebaum alluded to, Riley did attempt to save face Sunday by releasing a statement that deemed Stephens’ actions as “unacceptable,” suspending his linebacker for one game. It seemed like a clear response to the mounting criticism more than it was holding a player accountable. But it was enough to temper some of the reaction, at least until Finebaum got to a microphone.

Riley was widely viewed as a can’t-miss hire for USC coming from Oklahoma in 2021, where he had a 55-10 record, three College Football Playoff appearances, and two Heisman-winning quarterbacks. But after an 11-3 season with Caleb Williams as his quarterback in year one, Riley has undoubtedly regressed with USC. Regressed to a point where spending $70 million to get rid of Riley might seem like the smartest play.