Lincoln Riley Eager to Return USC Trojans to Winning Ways

Lincoln Riley, the new head football coach of the University of Southern California, speaks during a ceremony in Los Angeles on Monday Nov. 29, 2021. Ashley Landis/AP Photo

LOS ANGELES—Standing on the top rim of the venerable Coliseum on a 76-degree autumn Monday, Lincoln Riley took a glance behind him at the Los Angeles panorama stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Hollywood sign to the gleaming downtown skyscrapers.

“Wow. Is this real?” Riley asked. “Unbelievable.”