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Coaches / Head coach / Lincoln Riley
Form · last two seasons
78
performing to its level
Rating79recent
Peak79best 5 yrs
Career78whole career
confidence

Lincoln Riley

Head Coach · USC

Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.

Chemistry
Chem 67: typical67
continuity at USC · early
Seasons here5
Programs2
Stints3

Career path

Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016
2022–2026USCHead Coach
2017–2021OklahomaHead Coach
2016OklahomaOffensive Coordinator

Chemistry

vs every head coach since 2016 · 62 = typical
How much continuity and loyalty his programs carryat USC
Tenure here — Seasons as head coach at his current schoolTenure here70Staff continuity — Seasons he and his offensive coordinator have worked togetherStaff continuity68Player retention — Players kept vs. the league norm for similar rosters (fewer transfers out)Player retention55Followers — Players and staff who followed him from his previous jobFollowers94QB & coordinator — How long his quarterbacks have played for the same coordinatorQB & coordinator71Roster continuity — Share of starters returning from one season to the next under himRoster continuity43
Tenure here
Seasons as head coach at his current school
70
Staff continuity
Seasons he and his offensive coordinator have worked together
68
Player retention
Players kept vs. the league norm for similar rosters (fewer transfers out)
55
Followers
Players and staff who followed him from his previous job
94
QB & coordinator
How long his quarterbacks have played for the same coordinator
71
Roster continuity
Share of starters returning from one season to the next under him
43
Dashed gold ring on the radar = average (62). Chemistry scale: 62 is typical, 20-50 is a warning sign, under 10 is a collapse.

As head coach

Rating79Form78≈ as usualPeak79Career78
2017–2026 · 10 seasonsRecord 90-28National titles 0Great seasons 4 (top ~7% of all teams that year)
  • Rating 79: his whole career, recent seasons weighted most, measured as how far his teams stood above their era, crediting him with half of what each program already was when he arrived (about the share that, historically, follows a coach to his next job), fading as the program becomes his own.
  • Peak 79: best five-season stretch, 2017–2020 at Oklahoma (45-8, 4 top-10 seasons by team strength), taking over already a national power.
  • Career 78 (#86 since 1936): total accomplishment over 10 seasons (90-28), 0 national titles, 4 elite seasons; full credit for the program he inherited.
  • Proven at 2 programs: Oklahoma · USC.
Over expectation · 2016 on77Results against what his rosters' talent predicted (program lift, evaluation, recruiting, staff building, game management).

Rating = who he is: his whole head-coaching career (since 1936), weighted toward recent years — how far his teams stood above their contemporaries, how much he lifted programs, his great seasons and titles. Form = the last two seasons. Career = the all-time ranking number.

Program lift62
Evaluation58
Results84
Recruiting84
Staff building75
Game management66
SeasonTeamRecordSeason rankvs contemporaries
2026USC0-0#43+0.52 SD
2025USC9-4#13+1.33 SD
2024USC7-6#22+1.08 SD
2023USC8-5#24+0.82 SD
2022USC11-3#19+1.08 SD
2021Oklahoma10-2#23+0.89 SD
2020Oklahoma9-2#3+1.73 SD
2019Oklahoma12-2#8+1.52 SD
2018Oklahoma12-2#4+1.69 SD
2017Oklahoma12-2#8+1.73 SD
Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).

As offensive coordinator

Rating74Peak74

His offense against its preseason projection (value over expectation) and the unit's opponent-adjusted quality.

SeasonTeamUnit (EPA/play)Over expectationSeason score
2016Oklahoma0.18—0.86
Season score: 0 = an average season in this role; positive = better.