USC head coach Lincoln Riley had plenty to talk about when it comes to football — as he hired several new members to his staff this offseason — but as he heads into his fourth season as head coach of the Trojans, there is plenty going on off the field nearby that demands his attention as well.
Most pressing has been the L.A. wildfires and the damage they caused to USC’s surrounding community last month. About 57,000 acres of land and property were destroyed and many lost their lives in the tragedy.
Riley and USC will get to football, but as he met with the media for the first time in 2025, he had to make sure to let the greater Los Angeles community know that the Trojans are behind them.
“Obviously, all the damage from the fires in previous weeks has been something that’s been heavy on the heart of our entire program,” Riley said in the new staff news conference (h/t On3).
Riley relayed that the USC football program has been trying to stay engaged in efforts to help the community through this time and that there was a “very limited” amount of people within the program who were affected directly by the fire.
That doesn’t mean the Trojans haven’t been impacted emotionally, though, and they’re going to keep supporting their community moving forward.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the people affected and our entire community. It’s something we feel,” Riley said. “We know USC is a huge part of Los Angeles, the amount of support that we get, how close this city is — it’s very near and dear to us. So, just want everybody to know we’re here and going to continue to support those efforts — the first responders, the families affected as much as we possibly can.”
