USC may have taken a step back in Lincoln Riley’s second season, but the coach remained comfortably among the top rung of college football’s highest-paid coaches in 2023.
USC paid Riley more than $11.5 million in reportable compensation in 2023, according to the school’s latest federal tax returns, obtained by The Times. His $10.2 million in base compensation ranked No. 4 nationally in 2023.
Of the $11.5 million credited by the school to Riley, $100,000 is listed under bonus and incentive compensation and $1.15 million is categorized as other reportable compensation.
Perhaps that felt like a bargain to USC compared to the previous year, when it shelled out nearly $20 million in reportable compensation to land Riley, $4.5 million of which was used to pay his buyout at the University of Oklahoma.
USC found itself paying a different buyout in 2023, this time for its new athletic director.
When Jennifer Cohen took the job leading USC’s athletic department in August 2023, the school had to pay to get her out of her contract with the University of Washington. The school’s federal tax returns credit Cohen with over $3 million in reportable compensation, but the buyout, which was reportedly $1 million, was included in that total. Cohen is listed as making $687,185 in base compensation, as well as $200,000 in bonuses and incentives. The school reported $2.11 million in other reportable compensation to Cohen, almost half of which would presumably cover the buyout.
USC credited men’s basketball coach Andy Enfield with $4.6 million in compensation during 2023, his last season as coach, while university president Carol Folt was second only to her football coach in compensation, with a reported payday of nearly $5 million — less than half of what Riley was paid in 2023.
Riley isn’t the only football coach at the time being paid handsomely by the university. USC paid former coach Clay Helton $4.25 million in 2023, despite having fired him in September 2021. USC paid Helton more than $9.1 million to Helton in 2022 and 2023 when he wasn’t coaching at the school.