Lincoln Riley to USC – What it means for the Trojans and the Pac-12

Six years ago, then-USC athletic director Pat Haden ushered a handful of reporters into an unglamorous conference room and announced that the school was putting Steve Sarkisian on an indefinite leave of absence. Sarkisian would be eventually fired, but on that Sunday, Haden announced that Clay Helton would be the interim coach.

It was a pivotal moment. Helton had no head-coaching experience, but his lack of baggage was appealing to the program and his affability and stability made him the ideal candidate to save face. Yet USC needed to save more than just face. It needed to revive its football program. Six years later, Helton failed to do that and is gone. So are Haden and his successor, Lynn Swann.

That’s been the USC story for the past decade: a game of musical chairs at the top, while the guy calling the shots on the field was not able to get USC to the top. But new athletic director Mike Bohn has ushered in a clean slate and, now, a blockbuster hire. By landing Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma to be the Trojans’ next head coach, USC has officially kick-started a new era. So, how does Riley fit at USC, and what are the challenges and opportunities that await him?

What are the expectations for Riley at USC?

A home run hire brings with it home run expectations. Had USC hired a less accomplished coach, it could be viewed as reshaping a program that’s fallen on hard times over the past decade. With Riley in tow, however, the expectations for success will be more or less immediate. It’s clear that the message USC wanted to send by hiring Riley is that the Trojans are ready to win again at all costs.

The fact that Riley took the job signals, in part, that USC is still one of the best jobs out there. The name brand and infrastructure have taken plenty of hits, but USC’s position on the West Coast and in a conference that’s begging for a team to…