Not a lot. No, that’s not what Riley’s salary is as the head coach at USC. Far from it. Not a lot is what we know about the specifics of the deal that the Trojans signed their head coach to when they pried him away from Norman back in November 2021.
As a private university, USC is under no obligation to provide the details of Riley’s salary or contract. While the information may make it into the public sphere at some point, the actual figures behind one of the most substantial contracts in college football are currently a closely guarded secret.
So, what do we know — or at least think we know — about Riley’s salary and contract at USC? As first reported by Robert Hefner on Nov. 29, 2021, Riley’s total salary across the term of his contract is $110 million.
MORE: 2023 Pac-12 Weekly Football Schedule
With the assumption that it’s likely a 10-year deal for the former Oklahoma head coach, that would put Riley’s annual average salary at $11 million. However, there have been several reports that put his 2022 salary estimate at $10 million.
it isn’t unusual to see CFB coaches have a staggered salary across the term of their contract. It is possible, and again completely conjecture due to the privacy surrounding his contract, that Riley’s salary starts at a base of $10 million and increases incrementally over the life of his deal.
Either way, on a pure salary basis, that puts Riley amongst the upper echelon of college football coaches. Based on USC’s 11-3 campaign in the 2022 season and an assumption of a $10 million salary for the year, Riley would have netted just over $900,000 for each win that the Trojans tallied. Not too shabby.
