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Paul Finebaum pitches Deion Sanders as next head coach for high-profile B1G program
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Paul Finebaum believes Deion Sanders would make sense as a potential successor for Lincoln Riley at USC.
Finebaum pitched the idea while appearing alongside Stephen A. Smith on First Take on Monday. Riley’s hiring was widely celebrated as a huge success when he arrived after the 2021 season, but USC has struggled in his first 2 years at the helm.
Despite having arguably the nation’s best quarterback over the past 2 seasons, USC failed to win the Pac-12 in either campaign and managed just 7 regular-season wins in 2023.
With the momentum of Riley’s hiring now dissipated, Finebaum is looking for a longterm “solution” at USC.
“To me, it’s about trajectory,” Finebaum said. “And I think he’s lost the momentum. He had that town … You have to win in LA, otherwise, you lose badly. And I think he’s losing badly.
“And instead of harping on Lincoln Riley, I decided to come up with a solution. I thought about this the other day … I believe the answer after this season is Deion Sanders. He’s going to be tired of Colorado. Because quite frankly, it’s not prime time. He’s done well, as well as he can, with his son, and Travis Hunter and all the Stephen A and Shannon Sharpe appearances. But that’s going to dry up this year because because they’re not going to be that great. But you put Prime in Tinsel Town, and I think you have one of the great combinations in history.”
Finebaum followed up his take with more thoughts on the fit between Los Angeles and Sanders.
“Lincoln Riley is a good coach, he’s got a great résumé,” Finebaum said. “Deion Sanders just exudes exactly what that community is all about. He takes the recruiting there, which Lincoln had and then lost. But I think he sustains it, especially now.
“Can you imagine a year from now [if] Deion Sanders walks into Big Ten Media Days? Everybody else, get out of the way.”
Here’s video of Finebaum’s comments:
.@finebaum says Deion Sanders would be the perfect replacement for Lincoln Riley at USC 👀 pic.twitter.com/9HbqEYDG4u
— First Take (@FirstTake) July 22, 2024
Expectations nationally are relatively low for USC as the Trojans enter their first season of Big Ten play. USC is +2000 to win the Big Ten Championship this season, per FanDuel — 5th in the league behind Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State and Michigan.
As for Sanders, he’s entering his 2nd season at the helm in Colorado. The Buffs missed out on bowl eligibility last season and aren’t expected to be much better in 2024. Colorado’s regular-season win total has been set at 5.5, per FanDuel.
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GET THE APPSanders’ team will once again be built on transfers in 2024. Colorado’s transfer class ranks No. 8 nationally for this cycle, per 247Sports Composite rankings. Colorado’s overall class (including high school prospects) ranks 22nd nationally. For context, USC pulled in the No. 20 class under Riley for the 2024 cycle.
Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.