USC football fans will love what Matt Leinart said about Lincoln Riley

USC football head coach Lincoln Riley. (Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports)
USC football head coach Lincoln Riley. (Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports) /
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USC football legend Matt Leinart had the ultimate praise for Trojan head coach Lincoln Riley at the USC Spring Game on Saturday.

There was a celebratory atmosphere around USC football at the Coliseum on Saturday as the Trojans held their annual Spring Game.

New head coach Lincoln Riley hasn’t had the chance to win any games yet, but he’s certainly changed the vibe around the program in his few short months of being in charge.

The fans have bought in and so have the former players like Matt Leinart.

Matt Leinart called new USC football coach Lincoln Riley a genius

“He’s a genius. He really is,” Leinart said about Riley, per Ryan Abraham of USCFootball.com.

Riley has created a reputation for being one of the top offensive minds in the game. Leinart would know what offensive genius looks like considering the offenses he played in under Norm Chow and Lane Kiffin at USC during the Pete Carroll era.

After firing Clay Helton, the Trojans managed to lure Riley away from his successful Oklahoma program with hopes of him reviving the biggest west coast brand in college football.

The goal is for Riley to take more advantage of USC’s offensive talent and natural recruiting advantages to make the team a perennial playoff contender. Since the College Football Playoff began, USC has not made the cut. In fact, they haven’t been realistically close.

The Trojans went 4-8 in 2021, so it’ll take some genius and definitely some time to rebuild the program.

Riley just wrapped up his first spring camp with the Trojans but hopes are high with a wave of transfer reinforcements including former Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams. The journey at USC is only just beginning.

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