Lincoln Riley

Lincoln Michael Riley (born September 5, 1983) is an American college football coach and former player who is the head coach of the USC Trojans football program at the University of Southern California. He previously served as the head coach at the University of Oklahoma for five seasons from 2017 to 2021, where he won four consecutive Big 12 Championship Games. Playing quarterback himself as a walk-on player at Texas Tech and known for his "Air Raid" offensive scheme, Riley has mentored three Heisman Trophy winners at quarterback (Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Caleb Williams) as well as another starting NFL quarterback in Jalen Hurts. As a fifth-year head coach, he has produced over 28 draft picks including 5 first-rounders, but is 1–4 in end-of-season bowl games and 0-3 in the College Football Playoff. Early career Riley ran track at Muleshoe High School in Muleshoe, a small town of roughly 5,000 in West Texas. He began his high school career at defensive end and made the move to quarterback for his junior and senior seasons. Riley played quarterback at Texas Tech University as a walk-on in 2002, behind senior starter and future Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury and back-up B. J. Symons.