“This job is completely different”

USC Trojans coach Lincoln Riley is in the midst of his eighth season as head coach, his third at Southern Cal. He has been coaching since becoming a student assistant under legendary coach Mike Leach at Texas Tech in 2003.

Although Riley has more than 20 years of experience coaching at the FBS level, he said he has grown tremendously in the last few years since arriving in Los Angeles.

“I think I’ve grown in a lot of ways. The more situations you experience, the more you learn,” Riley noted. “This job is completely different, it is one of the most unique jobs in college sports for huge, very positive reasons. It’s different and I have to adapt to it and try to be the best coach I can be for USC.”

Riley also mentioned the learning curve he's had to go through since coming to USC after seven years in Norman, Oklahoma.

“It was definitely a learning process, there’s no doubt about it,” Riley said. “It was a fun challenge that invigorated and excited me. I love the challenge, I love the challenge of trying to rebuild it.”

When Riley left Oklahoma, he had compiled a 55-10 record in five years, and when he landed at USC, Trojan fans thought the success would continue immediately. That wasn't the case.

“I knew there would be ups and downs and so on along the way. That's part of the fun for me. You have to believe in what you're doing, you've got to believe in what you're building and I certainly do,” Riley said.

Riley added that coaching is like any other profession: to be successful, you have to evolve over time. Something he learned after spending many years as an assistant coach and head coach at two different premier programs.

“You're always evolving right, I mean, you're evolving into a new program, you're evolving into new rules, we (USC) are evolving into a new conference… I'm trying to assess that myself as I can,” said Riley. “I rely on a few people from the outside to give me their opinions on what I’m doing and where I can improve.”

The Trojans will need every bit of Riley to assess himself and learn on the fly, as the Trojans currently sit at a relatively abysmal record of 3-3. USC will face Maryland in College Park, while the Trojans travel across the country to take on the Terrapins on FS1 at 1 p.m