Ranking each Big Ten football head coach entering 2024 season
3. Lincoln Riley, USC
Riley is one of a couple of head coaches new to the Big Ten who sit near the top of this list as he remains one of the top young offensive minds in college football. The former Texas Tech quarterback began his coaching career at his alma mater in the early 2000s before becoming an offensive coordinator at East Carolina and eventually Oklahoma. Riley made an immediate splash with the Sooners after taking over for Bob Stoops in 2017, going 55-10 across five seasons with four Big 12 titles. Riley鈥檚 brief tenure at USC hasn鈥檛 been quite as successful yet as he led the Trojans to an 11-win campaign in 2022 but just an 8-5 record in 2023. Still, plenty of potential remains under the young head coach and his ability to get the most out of quarterback Miller Moss will be key to USC鈥檚 Big Ten transition this year.
