With USC finishing as the top recruiting class in the 2026 season, Lincoln Riley is on top of Cloud 9. However, as Notre Dame football fans are well aware, the Trojans' coach has a habit of getting in his own way. His comments about paying players are taking the focus off his big win and instead making him look cartoonish, yet again.
This time, Riley demonstrated he doesn't seem to understand the history of his own program. Earlier this week, he sat down to talk with Colin Cowherd about the state of the sport, especially with NIL and revenue sharing.
Riley framed the NIL era as a turning point that has redistributed power across the sport. It's helped allow programs outside of one traditional footprint to compete at the highest level. And then he dropped the quote that Notre Dame fans have to find hilarious.
Notre Dame fans know why Lincoln Riley’s NIL comment is a self-own
"Now there’s not just one part of the country paying players," Riley stated. "Everybody's able to do it and it’s a great thing because I think it’s been able to create a more level playing field."
Riley's comments are clearly aimed at the SEC, as it was the world's worst-kept secret that those teams were paying players under the table back when that was something not allowed.
The problem with Riley's comment is that he happens to lead a program that was punished for paying players under the table. It wasn't all that long ago, either.
There are plenty of coaches who could make the kind of comments Lincoln Riley did. Notre Dame fans wouldn't be out of line in pointing the finger at SEC schools, but Riley should demonstrate a bit more awareness of his surroundings and the history of the school he leads.