USC coach Lincoln Rileys insecurity shows through after epic upset

Lincoln Riley couldn’t help himself.The beleaguered USC coach had been so measured, so calm, so restrained in his interaction with reporters after this monumental triumph when he had every right not to be.Then came a final question about a pathway existing to the College Football Playoff and the Trojans having a chance to do what they had wanted coming into this pivotal season.That’s when Riley made like Mark Bowman on the third-quarter play in which the tight end spectacularly hurdled an Ohio State defender and broke multiple tackles during the Trojans’ 30-18 victory over the second-ranked Buckeyes on Saturday night at the Coliseum.Given an opening, there was no stopping Riley now.“Say that louder for the people in the back,” Riley said, trying to be cute about making sure that everyone could hear.“Yeah – hell yeah it does.

Again, I keep saying, look at all the craziness across the country.The teams that just hang in there, keep going, get better, stay together are going to be the ones that are there in the end, so that’s the nature of it.”Riley wasn’t done.

Far from it.When a team publicist thanked Riley, quarterback Jayden Maiava and defensive tackle Alex VanSumeren – in essence excusing them to leave – Riley pulled out a piece of paper with prepared notes.“I’ve got one other thing I want to say here,” Riley said, glancing at the paper.“I just took a second, I wanted to make sure I articulated my thoughts.”Oh, this should be interesting.“This program is built on eternal joy, not external applause,” Riley continued after initially stumbling over his words.

“This win’s for all the staff members, the players, the leaders, the admin, all the people within the walls.I said before this game that I’m the right person for this job and as long as all those people know that, that’s all I care about.“I appreciate being a part of this university and all it does and I appreciate our kids and our staff and I’m going to cont...