Minor NCAA infractions could wind up being a major issue for USC football coach Lincoln Riley.
Because the university agreed with an NCAA ruling that Riley violated “head coach responsibility” regulations, USA Today speculates the school would be able to fire him for cause without owing his buyout.
Riley reportedly has a buyout of nearly $90 million on his contract.
The outlet labeled this possibility as a potential “get out of jail free card.”
Earlier this week, the NCAA announced that USC would incur a $50,000 fine and be placed on one year of probation for violating rules about “on and off-field coaching activities.”
The NCAA ruled that USC had eight non-coaching analysts on staff that participated in coaching activities in 2022 and 2023, more than the permissible amount of assistant coaches.
Nevertheless, Riley was not directly involved in the matter, and the NCAA said that he “promoted an atmosphere of compliance and monitored his staff.”
“You see the level of penalties that were levied,” Riley told reporters. “If it’s something serious, they’re going to suspend the head coach.”
USC would not ordinarily fire Riley over these types of infractions, but the program has not been performing up to lofty expectations.
Riley is in his third season at USC after leaving Oklahoma to replace Clay Helton and has a 23-13 record.
The program had disappointing losses to Minnesota and Maryland this season.
At least prior to this season, Riley oversaw an electric offense, but things did not go smoothly this year in the transition from Caleb Williams to Miller Moss at quarterback.
It is unclear if USC believes it could replace Riley with a better option, but the minor NCAA infractions could potentially give them an out if that’s their desire.
