USC football history: seasons, coaches, rivalries, bowls

Zeitgeist staturePower Program I#5 all-time– holding

Stature and coaches, 1936–2026

The program’s standing over time, with every coach’s tenure beneath it — read down to see who was there for each rise and fall.

USC is Power Program today. Dynasty tier in 2004–2005.

Notre DameUCLA#1 nationally

DynastyBlue BloodPower ProgramNational ProgramRegional Program

Run↔pass identity, by season

Every coach, tenure by tenure, on the coaching page →

All-time 38-53-5 since 1926 · .395 win rate

Streak L3 Notre Dame holds the last 3

Trophy Jeweled Shillelagh In play each fall

Next 2026 season date set by conference

No fan reading for this rivalry yet this week. The heat trend and each side’s mood appear when fans start talking about it.

The last 5 · year-by-year

L 2025 Loss 24-34
L 2024 Loss 35-49
L 2023 Loss 20-48
W 2022 Win 38-27
L 2021 Loss 16-31

Program outlook

Eleven national titles. Seven Heismans. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — home of three Olympics. And a fourth year of Lincoln Riley's restoration that ended with a blown fourth-quarter lead in an overtime bowl loss. USC has never been this complicated.

Since Jun 14: W 25-21 vs Washington; W 31-23 at Penn State; L 7-24 at Wisconsin; W 30-18 vs Ohio State. 7-2 this season.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

Tailback U is not a marketing claim. It is a lineage: O.J. Simpson, Charles White, Marcus Allen, the unbroken procession of Heisman running backs that ran through the Coliseum for four decades. John McKay built the template; Pete Carroll turned it into a primetime spectacle that owned Saturday nights in the early 2000s. Eleven national titles, more Pro Football Hall of Famers than any other program, Conquest echoing after touchdowns while Traveler circles the field. USC does not speak as a program trying to get somewhere. It speaks as a program that belongs at the top, always, and is tired of explaining the recent gap.

Lincoln Riley's restoration arrived at 35-18 through four seasons — a real number, a winning number, and at USC an unsatisfying one. The 2025 season went 9-4 with a No. 16 ranking and a 7-2 Big Ten record. Jayden Maiava threw for 3,711 yards, posted a nation-leading 91.2 QBR, and earned All-Big Ten honors. Then TCU beat the Trojans 30-27 in overtime in the Alamo Bowl after USC led in the fourth quarter. Maiava returns. The No. 1 recruiting class of the Riley era is signed. The internal fracture is sharpest it has been: the faction that sees the trajectory — four years of steady improvement — against the faction that says trajectory is a bridge word, and after four years in the Coliseum with that roster and that city, the Playoff is the only argument that closes the case.

The 2026 season is Riley's clearest referendum. Not whether USC is good — the depth chart makes them good — but whether good is the point. The Big Ten runs through Columbus and Ann Arbor and State College. The Coliseum will be full. The question is whether the program that used to own Saturday night is ready to take it back.

On the field

USC's football identity is pedigreed and skill-rich — the Saban blueprint inverted, built on the recruiting advantages of Los Angeles rather than process replication. Riley layers spread-RPO concepts over a historically pro-style foundation: fast reads, manufactured space for receivers, Maiava operating from the pocket with designed QB movement available. The Trojans run at the skill premium of a talent-dense SoCal roster, trust the matchup, and rely on the Coliseum atmosphere to complete the package. The defensive rebuilding in the Big Ten is the piece that determines how far the offense can carry them.

Program outlook · as of Jun 14, 2026

USC has won 7 national titles since 1936

1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978, 2003, 2004

How titles are counted

The final AP poll from 1936 and the Coaches poll from 1950 through 2005, then the winner of the BCS and College Football Playoff title games. A program may claim others, named by selectors we do not count.

1962: AP poll and Coaches poll
1967: AP poll and Coaches poll
1972: AP poll and Coaches poll
1974: Coaches poll
1978: Coaches poll
2003: AP poll
2004: AP poll

USC has won 68% of its games since 1915 — 74% at home, 60% on the road.

822-347-41 all-time · 112 seasons · 1915–2026

Home 489-153-16

Away 293-169-25

Neutral 40-25

33%

1910s

83%

1920s

68%

1930s

58%

1940s

59%

1950s

72%

1960s

78%

1970s

67%

1980s

56%

1990s

80%

2000s

66%

2010s

64%

2020s

Era record 102-57 13 seasons

Best season 11-3 2022

Top-10 finishes 3 AP polled only

Trajectory · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned

Program quality AP rank (inverted) CFP appearance

Swipe left for earlier seasons

Chapters · 13 seasons · tap to open the archive

'14 9-4 '15 8-6 '16 10-3 '17 11-3 '18 5-7 '19 8-5 '20 — '21 4-8 '22 11-3 '23 8-5 '24 7-6 '25 9-4 '26 7-2

USC’s 2014–2026 record is 102-57.

Lincoln Riley

Lincoln Riley has held the program for 5 seasons — the era is established.

Era Lincoln Riley · 2022–presentPrev: Donte Williams (2021)OC: Luke HuardPrev OC: Josh Henson (2022–2024)DC: Gary PattersonPrev DC: D'Anton Lynn / Eric Henderson (co) (2024–2025)

The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →

5 years · era

USC and Notre Dame, meeting by meeting

Notre Dame leads the series 53-38-5 (since 1926); in the last 10 meetings, USC is 2-8

2025: Notre Dame won 34-24. After this game, Notre Dame led 53-38-5.

Last 25 meetings: ▲ USC won, ▼ Notre Dame won, by how much

Each step is one meeting: up when USC wins, down when Notre Dame wins, flat for a tie. Counts every game in our records since 1926. Tap the line for any season.

USC in History

Utah 34, USC 32Game · Oct 21, 2023
USC and UCLA leave the Pac-12 for the Big TenConference change · Jun 30, 2022
Lincoln Riley leaves Oklahoma for USCCoach change · Nov 28, 2021

Moments in USC history

USC 52, Penn State 49Rose Bowl Game · Jan 2, 2017
Utah 47, USC 24Pac-12 Championship Game · Dec 2, 2022
Tulane 46, USC 45Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic · Jan 2, 2023

1972

The McKay era

Three national titles under John McKay — 1962, 1967 and 1972, the last of them a 12-0 team

2004

The Carroll years

Back-to-back AP titles under Pete Carroll — 2003 shared, then a 13-0 run in 2004

2005

The Bush Push

USC survives Notre Dame on a last-second goal-line shove during the Carroll dynasty

The 2005 Rose Bowl

Vince Young's fourth-down run beats USC 41-38 to end the dynasty's run at a third straight title

Heartbreak

2024

Reggie’s Heisman restored

The 2005 Heisman is returned to Bush — a long-awaited piece of institutional vindication

Moment of the year · 2026

Won 30-18 vs Ohio State

Week 9 of 2026. Beat a top-2 opponent on the field.

vs Top-5 (#2)

2022–2026

USC has sent 20 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — 4 of them in the first round.

Strong. 4 first-round picks. Recruits with NFL ambitions notice.

20 picks · 4 in round 1

#1 Caleb Williams Quarterback · 2024 ·

Chicago Bears · #8/140 final season

#8 Drake London Wide Receiver · 2022 ·

Atlanta Falcons · #30/468 final season

#20 Makai Lemon Wide Receiver · 2026 ·

Philadelphia Eagles · #6/485 final season

Succeeded by Jay Fair · 3★

#2 all-time · 84 first-round picksthe talent factory →

#	Program	Record
1	UCLA	5-0
2	Indiana	5-1
3	Ohio State	4-1
4	USC	4-2
5	Illinois	3-2
6	Iowa	3-2
7	Minnesota	3-2
8	Northwestern	3-2
9	Oregon	3-2
10	Wisconsin	3-2
11	Michigan	2-3
12	Nebraska	2-3
13	Purdue	2-3
14	Washington	2-3
15	Penn State	1-4
16	Rutgers	1-4
17	Maryland	0-5
18	Michigan State	0-5

USC’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026

2014 · Clay Helton (co)2015 · Clay Helton (co) (interim) / Tee Martin (co)2016–2018 · Tee Martin2019–2021 · Graham Harrell2022–2024 · Josh Henson2025–2026 · Luke Huard

Defense2014–2026

2014–2015 · Justin Wilcox2016–2019 · Clancy Pendergast2020–2021 · Todd Orlando2022 · Alex Grinch2023 · Alex Grinch / Brian Odom (co) (interim) / Shaun Nua (co) (interim)2024–2025 · D'Anton Lynn / Eric Henderson (co)2026 · Gary Patterson

Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)

Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Things this fanbase does every Saturday — none of them invented in the last decade.

Traveler (the white horse)

since 1961

A white horse ridden by 'Tommy Trojan' costumed rider gallops across the Coliseum field. Started Sept 30, 1961 (vs Iowa). Each Traveler is a real horse — Traveler IX is current. The horse is stabled near LA Equestrian Center. Sword raised, helmet plume waving — the entire pageant is pure Hollywood Trojan iconography. The horse has its own Twitter following.

Spirit of Troy (band, ’the greatest marching band in the history of the universe’)

since 1880 (band founded); cultural-icon status from 1979 Tusk session

USC's marching band, famously the only college band to play on a Grammy-winning album ('Tusk,' Fleetwood Mac, 1979). Plays at Olympics, presidential inaugurations, movies. The band's 'Fight On' is the recognizable hook. The Spirit of Troy treats every halftime as a national television performance — and at the Coliseum it often is.

Conquest (the post-victory ritual)

since 1962

The Spirit of Troy plays 'Conquest' — the 1947 Captain from Castile theme by Alfred Newman — accompanied by victory bell-ringing. Conquest is the canonical USC victory song, even more than Fight On. Coaches stay on the field to participate. The song's brass swell is among the most cinematic moments in college football.

Victory Bell (vs UCLA rivalry trophy)

since 1942 · trophy game

295-pound bronze bell, originally on a Southern Pacific locomotive. Won by the rivalry victor each year. Painted in the winner's colors and displayed on the winning campus. The 1965 UCLA wildcat theft (Bruins took it from USC) is part of the lore. The most-photographed trophy in the LA-area college sports calendar.

Tommy Trojan Statue

since 1930

Bronze statue of a Trojan warrior on campus. During UCLA Week, USC students cover Tommy in tape and tarps to prevent UCLA fan vandalism. The annual 'covering' ritual is itself an event. Tommy faces east — toward UCLA's Westwood campus — which is either symbolic or coincidence depending on who's telling the story.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.

Canon appearancesMoments that made college football's permanent record.

Featured in The Canon

Lincoln Riley — USC, November 2021

The 25 Best Coaching Hires of the 2020s

Caleb Williams

The 100 Best Players of the CFP Era

#51

Sam Darnold

The 100 Best Players of the CFP Era

BowlsLast 5 bowls 2-3, 24-17 since 1972

Recent postseason (1972-2025): 24-17

Most recent: 2025 Alamo Bowl — loss 30-27. Last 5 postseason: 2-3.

2025 L 2024 W 2023 W 2022 L 2019 L

Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

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All-time top community posts

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USC

Stature and coaches, 1936–2026