Lincoln Riley has not enjoyed the type of success that USC was hoping for in his first three seasons as the school’s head football coach, but he is certainly being compensated as though there are few people who are better at the job.
Riley made slightly more than $11.5 million during the 2023 season, according to public documents that were reviewed by Steve Berkowitz of USA Today. It had been reported that Riley became one of the highest-paid coaches in college football when he was hired by USC ahead of the 2022 season, but the tax return documents are the first full look at Riley’s compensation.
Roughly $10.2 million of Riley’s compensation for 2023 was categorized as base pay, with another $100,000 in incentives and $1.15 million classified as “other reported compensation.” Riley also has a housing loan with a balance due of $3.43 million, though the balance is the same as the original loan amount.
Riley was listed as having $19.7 million in compensation in his first year as the head coach at USC in 2022. The $4.5 million buyout USC paid to Oklahoma was treated as taxable income for Riley, though USC footed the bill.
All of that is a long way of saying Riley makes a ton of money at USC. As Berkowitz notes, it is believed that the $10.2 million base salary would make Riley the fourth-highest-paid coach in college football, though the salaries of coaches at private universities are not made public.
USC is undoubtedly hoping for more return on their investment going forward. Riley is a disappointing 26-14 in three seasons with the school. The Trojans went 7-6 last year. There has been talk of other schools pursuing Riley, but the 41-year-old’s job appears safe for now.
If USC has another disappointing year in 2025 and does not show improvement, the calls for Riley to be fired might start to become difficult for the Trojans to ignore.
