"Look like a rudderless ship": CFB world puts Lincoln Riley on hot seat as top recruits start flipping 

Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans have struggled tremendously in their first year of Big Ten play. He is in the midst of the worst season of his eight-year coaching career as they are just 4-5 overall (2-5 in conference play). After finishing his five-year tenure leading the Oklahoma Sooners with a 55-10 mark, Riley is 23-13 during his three seasons with the Trojans.

After Shamar Arnoux, a four-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, decommitted from USC to join the Auburn Tigers, fans voiced their concerns with the head coach. 247 Sports' Nathan King reported on X/Twitter:

"BREAKING: Auburn has flipped 4-star USC cornerback commit Shamar Arnoux. Tigers lost CB Dante Core to Ole Miss last week and quickly fill his spot in the 2025 class"

Check out Nathan King's tweet below:

Barstool USC shared the post, adding:

"Uhhhhh."

@Ryan_sovah_Yunt labeled the program as a rudderless ship:

"At this point they look like a rudderless ship... more and more of these are bound to happen unfortunately. As much as I'd like to see a change at HC that could be devastating to the roster as the transfer portal opens."

@YDKI007 believes Riley doesn't deserve one more year if he begins to lose more recruits:

"I said give Riley 1 more year even if he loses out. Specifically bc we still have a great recruiting class coming in. No point sacrificing that by firing Riley. But if most recruits flip, I’d have zero issue firing Riley. I mean u can’t win on or off the field. No point keeping u."

@lostsol24 claimed the program needs a general manager:

"SC needs a GM at this point lol."

@ImWrongArentI is not happy with the state of the program:

"Colossal hole in our boat. This sucks."

@SouthernCal2 compared Riley to former Trojans head coach Clay Helton:

"It's like Hellton never left."

Will Lincoln Riley and USC Trojans play in a bowl game this season?

The USC Trojans sit at 4-5 with three games remaining on their schedule. They will need to finish 2-1 over that stretch to reach the six-win mark that will likely be required for bowl game eligibility. Their remaining schedule features the 5-4 Nebraska Cornhuskers, 4-5 UCLA Bruins and 8-1 No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

While Nebraska is on a three-game losing streak, UCLA has won three in a row and Notre Dame has won seven in a row. ESPN gives the Trojans a 70.5% chance of reaching six wins. If they are unable to reach that mark and fail to play in a bowl game, calls for Lincoln Riley's job will become much louder.