Lincoln Riley reveals what prevented him from hiring Gary Patterson two years ago

In 2024, USC hired D’Anton Lynn to be its defensive coordinator. Lynn spent the past two seasons with the Trojans before accepting an offer this offseason to become Penn State‘s DC. In a conversation on Trojans Live, USC head coach Lincoln Riley revealed he attempted to hire current defensive coordinator Gary Patterson back in 2024.

“I tried to hire him two years ago, and he wasn’t totally ready at that point,” Riley said. “Anybody that gets to know Gary, he’s an all-in or all-out type of guy; there’s no halfway. I think he was interested in the job two years ago, but I think just where he was, he wasn’t ready to commit to it. He knew he was gonna have to commit to it, and he was just in a very different place this time.

“We had some good conversations initially, and I made it a part of a bigger process and talked again. We kind of talked before there were so many people that wanted this job, which was awesome. It was a fun process to go through, but ultimately, got back to him, and I think he just checked the boxes on what we felt like we needed in this program right now.”

USC officially hired Patterson on Jan. 21 to replace Lynn. Most notably, Patterson was TCU’s head coach from 2000-21. He is a two-time AP Coach of the Year and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this year.

Patterson was a consultant on Baylor‘s staff in 2024, but hasn’t called plays for a team since 2021 at TCU. Now, Patterson has an opportunity to bring his wealth of experience to Southern California.

Patterson will have a solid foundation to build on at USC. The team ranked No. 49 in total yards allowed per game last season. Additionally, the Trojans have reeled in several notable defensive transfers this offseason, including former Iowa State defensive back Jontez Williams.

Moreover, USC had the No. 1 class in the 2026 recruiting cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings. Lincoln Riley believes USC has the necessary pieces to have one of the top defenses in the country next season.

“I’ve been able to call plays against a lot of people that most would consider the great defensive minds of this era. Our guy, Coach Patterson, doesn’t take a back seat to anybody,” Riley said. “The challenge that his defenses were, year in and year out, I just never really faced anything much like that in my opinion.

“He’s going to be a big part of helping us take that next step defensively. The time to be a leader is now. I mean, it is; we have it. We have what we need to have. We’ve made some really nice improvements here in the last few years, but it’s time to be great, and I think Coach Patterson brings that. He brings that edge and that mentality and that experience that’s tough to find.”