USC tax return reveals annual salary for head coach Lincoln Riley

USC’s federal tax return for 2023 showed that Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley made a little over $11.5 million in total compensation.

The tax return for the 2023 calendar year was provided by USC on Thursday after USA Today requested the document. The return revealed that the 41-year-old coach, who arrived at USC in 2022 after 5 seasons at Oklahoma, also has a housing loan with a balance of $3.43 million that hasn’t been paid down at all yet.

According to the document, a little over $10.2 million of Riley’s annual salary at USC was in base compensation. Riley’s compensation also included a $100,000 payment for bonuses and incentives, plus almost $1.15 million in what the federal form termed “other reportable compensation.”

Thursday’s revelations will provide the public with the first full look at what Riley is really making per season at USC.

Riley is one of the 5 highest-paid head coaches in college football, as USA Today’s coaching salary database shows. He was 1 of only 7 coaches who made at least $10 million last year.

The federal return also shed some light on former USC head coach Clay Helton, who was fired by the school early in the 2021 season. The return revealed that in 2023, USC continued paying Helton buyout money. Helton was awarded $4.25 million by USC in 2023, which brought his total compensation through that year to just over $9.1 million.