Craig Has The Scout - USC 2025

Coming Up

Who: USC Trojans

When: 11:00 am – September 27, 2025

Where: Home Sweet Home

How: FOX

Head Coach: Lincoln Riley

Lincoln Riley cut his teeth as a student assistant under Mike Leach at Texas Tech from 2003 to 2005, back when the Air Raid was still a quirk on the West Texas Plains. He bounced around as a GA and receivers coach through 2009, then took the wheel of East Carolina’s offense for five years, dominating CUSA. In 2015, Bob Stoops handed him the keys to Oklahoma’s offense, and Riley promptly unleashed a Heisman factory that won back to back Big 12 titles and made Big 12 defensive coordinators mutter in their sleep. In 2017, Stoops retired and Riley ascended to the throne, armed with a potent offense and a sieve for a defense.

Riley posted a sparkling 55–10 record at Oklahoma, but his teams kept getting bounced from the playoffs. In 2021, USC backed up the Brinks truck and lured him west, hoping his quarterback conjuring and vertical assault would bring the Trojans back to the national stage. The early returns won trophies, just not the team ones USC boosters were hoping for. Riley has finally hired a DC that coaches a defense that can actually tackle and a roster that doesn’t evaporate in November. Riley’s Trojans finally look ready take his offensive pyrotechnics to meaningful games in January.

Offensive Style: Air Raid style passing attack out of Power Spread.

The Trojans line up primarily in shotgun spread sets featuring trips, twins and 2x2 receiver packages. The offense is designed to stretch defenses horizontally and open lanes for quick-game throws and inside-zone reads. Lincoln Riley layers in motion and shifts to reveal coverage and force defenders into conflict, mixing in play-action boots off a gap scheme look and vertical concepts to beat over-aggressive safeties. Riley will vary tempo situationally, mixing up-tempo pace against mismatched secondaries and a deliberate physical ground game when it can tilt the line of scrimmage. This balance of high-octane passing and counter run scheme is explosive.

Luke Huard steps into the offensive coordinator role in 2025 after serving as USC’s quarterbacks coach. He was promoted when Josh Henson departed for Purdue, bringing with him an intimate knowledge of Riley’s offense. Make no mistake though, this is Riley’s offense.

Defensive Style: 3-4 Multiple base with formational flexibility that leans heavily on nickel (3-3-5) and dime (2-4-5) subpackages.