By Bruce Feldman, Antonio Morales and Ralph Russo

UCF has inquired about the availability of USC coach Lincoln Riley in its search for a replacement for Gus Malzahn, three people privy to those discussions said The athlete on Wednesday.

There was no indication that Riley was interested in the move, the people said. He’s reportedly been on a 10-year contract for three seasons that pays him about $10 million per year.

People talked to them The athlete on condition of anonymity because all discussions were private and UCF did not publicly disclose details of its coaching search.

Riley’s contract is not publicly available because USC is a private school, but moving him away from Southern California – if he wanted to leave – would likely cost tens of millions of dollars, either for the Trojans or for the school looking to poach him.

According to a source, UCF officials reached out to Riley’s representative last weekend and inquired about his interest in moving across the country. Any discussions about adjusting the terms of Riley’s contract would be between him and USC, sources said.

The first source added that UCF has received no word from Riley’s camp that he is interested in leaving USC and that the school is still looking for multiple candidates to fill the head coaching vacancy.

Firing Riley, whose win total has declined in each of his three seasons with the Trojans, would cost USC about $90 million, according to one of the sources. If Riley were to change schools, he wouldn’t owe USC anything. But UCF is in no position to repeat the deal Riley made at USC. Malzahn earned $4 million at UCF in 2024.

Two sources said even if Riley had an interest in the move, it would require some payout from his current contract with USC to make up for what he would give up in the transition — like a professional sports deal where a team pays a portion of a player’s remaining salary on a large contract and the receiving team covers the rest.

Riley was hired at USC by former athletic director Mike Bohn, who resigned in the spring of 2023 amid controversy. University President Carol Folt also oversaw the hiring and will be retiring this summer, meaning two of the main parties involved in bringing Riley to USC will be gone.

Jen Cohen, Washington’s former athletic director, was hired as head of the athletic department in August 2023. She inherited Riley and his contract.

It finds itself in the unenviable position of having a football program that isn’t doing well but having a coach who is too expensive to move on from. In the spring, Cohen navigated a delicate situation with men’s basketball coach Andy Enfield, whose term had expired but whose track record was too good to justify firing. He eventually took the SMU job and Cohen hired Eric Musselman from Arkansas to replace him.

Even if there is a suitor for Riley, getting out of his deal appears to be more difficult.

Malzahn left UCF after four seasons as head coach to become offensive coordinator at Florida State. The Knights posted a 10-15 overall record and a 5-13 league record in their first two seasons in the Big 12 after switching from the American Athletic Conference. UCF received only a partial share of Big 12 revenue last year, about $18 million, and is scheduled to receive about $19 million for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

In 2025-2026, the number increases to the full share, which is expected to be about twice these numbers.

Riley is 25-14 at USC since being lured to Los Angeles from Oklahoma after the 2021 regular season. It was a seismic move for the Trojans, taking away a coach with a 55-10 record in Norman and two Heisman Trophy winners in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray.

The Trojans went 11-3 in Riley’s first season, with another Heisman winner in Caleb Williams, the star quarterback who followed the Oklahoma coach to USC. But since then the results have been trending in the wrong direction.

USC achieved an 8-5 record in 2023, its final season in the Pac-12, and finished its first regular season in the Big Ten with an overall record of 6-6 (4-5 in league play).

After the 2023 season, Riley said The athlete that he “didn’t come here (USC) for any short-term reason and as long as SC continues to give us the support and the things we need to continue to build this, this wasn’t a two-year rebuild.”

Recruiting did not meet the high expectations that came with Riley’s hiring. USC continues to regress on the field each season and the program doesn’t seem to have much direction going forward, making Riley’s prospects seem hazy at best.

(Photo: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)