Lincoln Riley’s USC ended its 2025 season with a 30-27 overtime loss to TCU on Tuesday. The Trojans finished the season 9-4 overall, including a 7-2 mark in Big Ten play, and now turn their attention to the offseason.
What Recently Fired Coach Is Being Linked in Recent Rumors to Lincoln Riley’s USC?
Everything shifted for Riley in December 2023 when he lured D’Anton Lynn away from UCLA. However, that momentum didn’t last, as Penn State pulled Lynn from USC this month. It brings him back to Happy Valley, where he previously starred as a cornerback.
With Lynn gone, Riley is facing huge pressure to keep USC’s defense moving forward. Barstool Sports’ Liam Blutman has emerged as one of the voices linking Pete Kwiatkowski to the Trojans as a potential replacement at defensive coordinator.
Kwiatkowski served as the Texas defensive coordinator for the past five seasons, but the Longhorns fired him on Dec. 18. They turned to former South Carolina and Florida head coach Will Muschamp for the role.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian explained the move in a statement. “At this time, we just felt it was best for our program to move in a different direction, and having the opportunity to hire Will Muschamp provides us the leadership to take our defense to another level,” Sarkisian said.
At the time of his firing, Kwiatkowski was working under the final year of an extension worth $5.7 million, which included $1.8 million in 2024, $1.9 million in 2025, and $2.0 million in 2026.
Kwiatkowski consistently produced elite defensive units during his tenure in Austin. Texas fielded the nation’s third-ranked defense last season, which even earned him a finalist spot for the 2024 Broyles Award, given annually to college football’s top assistant coaches.
The Longhorns allowed just 19.8 points per game this year, ranking 25th nationally and earning an 86.00 score in the PFSN College Football Defense Impact Metric. Under Kwiatkowski, Texas also reached the College Football Playoff in consecutive seasons and sent 12 defensive players to the NFL Draft.
Kwiatkowski’s exit resonated within the program, particularly with edge rusher Colin Simmons,
“That one hurt a little bit with PK being my coach coming in from high school, putting me in the right positions to go make plays,” Simmons told the media. “Like Coach Nansen said, it’s a business and things happen, so all we got to do is just keep on building from that.”
Simmons recorded 89 tackles, 20 sacks, six forced fumbles, and one interception throughout two seasons under Kwiatkowski.
Given that track record, USC could quickly turn to Kwiatkowski as a solution on defense, especially considering Texas posted stronger defensive numbers this season than the Trojans. USC surrendered 22.4 points per game, ranking 48th nationally, and finished with a 76.8 score in the PFSN College Football Defense Impact Metric.
