A minor NCAA violation could become a big problem for USC football coach Lincoln Riley.
The university agreed with the NCAA's ruling that Riley violated the “Head Coach Responsibility” rule. USA Today speculates The school would be able to fire him for cause without having to buy him out.
Riley reportedly has a buyout of nearly $90 million set into his contract.
The outlet labeled the possibility a possible “get-out-of-jail-free card.”
Earlier this week, the NCAA announced that USC would be fined $50,000 and placed on probation for one year for violating its rules regarding “on- and off-field coaching activities.”
The NCAA ruled that USC had eight non-coaching analysts on its staff for coaching activities in 2022 and 2023, which exceeds the allowable number of assistant coaches.
Nevertheless, Riley was not directly involved in the matter, and the NCAA said he was “facilitating an atmosphere of compliance and monitoring staff.”
“We will see the level of fines that have been imposed,” Riley told reporters. “If it was a serious incident, we would suspend the head coach.”
USC typically wouldn't fire Riley for this type of violation, but the program hasn't lived up to its high expectations.
Riley is in his third season at USC after leaving Oklahoma to replace Clay Helton and has a record of 23-13.
This season, the program suffered disappointing losses to Minnesota and Maryland.
At least before this season, Riley oversaw an electrifying offense, but things haven't gone smoothly this year with the transition from Caleb Williams to quarterback Miller Moss.
It's unclear whether USC believes they can replace Riley with a better player, but a minor NCAA violation could give them an out if that's their wish.
