Whatever your opinions on him as an all-encompassing figurehead tasked with steering a program on all fronts, you can’t knock Lincoln Riley about one thing. His origins as an offensive whizz-kid. Which indeed afforded him the chance to be a head coach at Oklahoma and now at USC. Before the Ben Johnsons of this world revolutionized offenses in the NFL, you had Riley doing the same at the collegiate level. That monicker of “quarterback whisperer” wasn’t handed to Lincoln Riley prematurely or undeservedly. It was earned.
4 of the QBs Lincoln Riley has coached across his two programs are bonafide NFL starters today. Namely, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts and Caleb Williams. 3 have won the Heisman, and one is a Super Bowl MVP. All franchise quarterbacks. The proof is very much in the pudding. Coach Riley can recruit QBs and then develop them better than most of his contemporaries. He’s unequivocally a great judge of talent at the position. Which makes his latest comments on Jayden Maiava all the more noteworthy.
After starting the 2024 season as backup to Miller Moss, Jayden Maiava ascended on the depth chart down the stretch. This was due to USC’s overarching struggles, in tandem with Moss’ own play being substandard. To be fair to Maiava, he made the transition as seamlessly as he possibly could’ve. As someone who only just joined the Trojans via the transfer portal and had no real time within Lincoln Riley’s expansive yet intricate system, Maiava more than held his own. He won 3 of his 4 starts and did enough to be QB1 for ‘25. However, whether it’s fair or not, his predecessors cast a shadow on him. The ilk of quarterback Coach Riley has worked with before means the standards are very high. Despite a good introduction, Jayden Maiava is yet to show the quality and mettle required to live up to those gaudy standards. Which Riley concurs with.
Lincoln Riley interviewed with the Big 10 Network, where he was asked questions pertaining to Jayden Maiava. In particular, his confidence in Maiava being the starter. As well as the progress he has shown since arriving at USC from UNLV last off-season. Instead of airing on the side of diplomacy and giving a vanilla non-answer, Coach Riley laid his real assessment. “[Maiava’s] still young. Even coming out of last year, with regards to our system. The way that we teach, the way that we do things. So we have a lot of target areas of growth for him,” he remarked.
Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
“He’s the kind of kid that’s just going to take anything that you give him, and he’s just going to put his head down and go to work. He’s incredibly humble, he’s incredibly selfless, and he’s willing to take constructive criticism. He has a realization, knowing that, ‘Yes, I did some good things. But there’s a whole lot that I’ve got to get better at,” added Lincoln Riley. He then proceeded to lay out what was equal parts an indictment on Jayden Maiava, as it was a fair evaluation.
“As good as he played [in] a lot of spurts last year, it can certainly be much better. So yeah, I think he’s learning. He’s becoming a stronger leader, you know. Have more voice and a presence on our football team. [Maiva is] certainly getting, I think, a good feel for how we want to play, as we continue to grow in this offense,” said Coach Riley in summation. Jayden Maiava has an opportunity that quarterbacks crave for- learn under Lincoln Riley. But heavy is the head that wears the crown. He’s got to exact the coaching with graft and, most importantly, wins. Because Riley sure needs the wins, pronto. He’s not the QB coach or offensive coordinator after all, he’s the head coach of the USC Trojans. A capacity that comes into question if Maiava doesn’t reciprocate the trust being bestowed upon him.
Lincoln Riley’s comments follow an analyst’s warning against locking in Jayden Maiava as QB1
Although Lincoln Riley aired some fair yet resounding criticism of Jayden Maiava, he confirmed him to be the starter earlier in the week. Well, not explicitly. But reading the tea leaves all but guarantees it. While he maintains that “the best guy is going to play” quarterback for him, Riley also acknowledged, “Does Jayden come in a step ahead in experience and all that compared to the other guys in the room? Of course he does,” When the Big 10 Network interviewer referred to Maiava as the starting QB, Riley had no pushback whatsoever. Which, again, does imply he’s the starter ahead of the likes of 5-star true freshman Husan Longstreet. But is this the correct call? One analyst isn’t too sure.
Joe DeLeone of “The Ruffino and Joe Show” was surprised by Lincoln Riley’s early confirmation of Maiava as QB1. “I was stunned by how Lincoln Riley spoke so confidently and said, ‘Jaden’s clearly the number one quarterback right now.’ It motivated me to pull up some film on how Maiava played.” he said. DeLeone elaborated on this film study and his findings. “I thought that Maiava brought a different play style to the offense. They finished the year strong because Maiava was a bigger, stronger, more physical athlete than Miller Moss was…But as I was watching the Texas A&M game, I was just hoping for more…And I couldn’t help but feel anxiety the entire time I was watching him. Because he was all over the place.” For context, Maiava threw 3 picks in that Bowl Game. Which even his 4 TDs cannot offset.
“I’m saying this to say—I don’t know if it should be this clear-cut [that] Jayden Maiava starts,” added Joe DeLeone. He reckons Husan Longstreet should get more of a look-in. But throwing a freshman to the deep end, especially when the head coach’s future is a bit precarious, doesn’t seem ideal. You’d still think Lincoln Riley would’ve looked past the inexperience if he deemed Longstreet ready, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Alas, you’ve got to trust his judgement on this one. But the further away we go from Caleb Williams, the more that sheen of being the QB whisperer dissipates. Coach Riley needs this one to be one of his many hits, because the repercussions could be really bad. Jayden Maiava’s $604k NIL evaluation is rather insignificant relative to Riley’s multi-million buy-out. But it wouldn’t prevent the USC brass from pulling the trigger on it.
The post Lincoln Riley Makes Big Jayden Maiava Admission After Tough $604K Revelation Piles Pressure on USC HC appeared first on EssentiallySports.